It is not possible to bleed the clutch

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Gunny

New Member
Posts
184
Location
West sussex
My clutch does not disengage the gearbox a 100 % so gear change can be difficult so far I have
Bleed the clutch manually that is one person in the cab on the clutch pedal the other outside on the spanner, up down up down. No good can’t get 100% pedal.
I have pressure bleed the system with Gunsons easybleed. No still no 100% pedal.
I have pressure bleed with the car on a high lift garage jack under the rear axle.
I have pressure bleed with the jack under the front axle.
I have chocked the pedal to the floor and left it like that over night.
I went to a land rover repairer and asked how they bleed these systems only to be told they have the same ------- problem
And all this is due to fitting a new Borg& Beck clutch, I also fitted new lever, new slave cylinder, new master cylinder. I have read that Discovery’s can be a bit difficult to bleed; not wishing to give my true feels on this matter lets just say Really REALLY.
Has anyone ever got a discovery clutch to work properly.
 
Is the slave cylinder push rod the correct length, some have a spacer thingy at the gearbox end as well.
 
make sure where your pipe go into the master and slave that they are tight and not letting in air.
also checkl your gearbox oil level

Yes pipe tight, gearbox hmmm yeah I'll check it, did do oil change around this time last year, but you never know thanks for that
 
Is the slave cylinder push rod the correct length, some have a spacer thingy at the gearbox end as well.

yes rod is ok, reason for clutch change was only because the lever had done the usual and holed so changed everything while there. thanks for your tip though
 
I'm 99% sure it's impossible on a 200tdi but is the clutch in the right way? One of my friends fitted a clutch on a discovery ( I know not very helpful!) before and he put it in the wrong way and you could only get half a clutch. Ended up having to redo the job. In fact I think I know someone else who done the same on a td5.
 
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My old V8 Disco had similar issues and had to have the slave cylinder 'reverse bled' where the fluid was pumped in through the bleed nipple and purged the air backwards to the master cylinder that way - it's a ball ache messy job but thankfully worked as the last resort to get the bastid pedal up and the clutch disengaging properly
 
I'm 99% sure it's impossible on a 200tdi but is the clutch in the right way? One of my friends fitted a clutch on a discovery ( I know not very helpful!) before and he put it in the wrong way and you could only get half a clutch. Ended up having to redo the job. In fact I think I know someone else who done the same on a td5.

Yes this is a possibility on some vehicles putting the friction plate the wrong way round, and yes because I have tried so much to get this clutch, I even pulled the engine again to double check my fitting, but all ok but certainly worth a mention thank you.
 
My old V8 Disco had similar issues and had to have the slave cylinder 'reverse bled' where the fluid was pumped in through the bleed nipple and purged the air backwards to the master cylinder that way - it's a ball ache messy job but thankfully worked as the last resort to get the bastid pedal up and the clutch disengaging properly

I was talking to a mate yesterday he’s a tractor and heavy machine mechanic, and after going through everything I had already tried he suggested this as a last resort. A reverse bleed so you must been on the right track thanks for your help, so weather permitting give it a go over the week end and report back.
 
I've bled clutches on everything from Ferraris to Fiats, I regularly bleed MX-5 clutches which have a similar arrangement (with a longer routing, and they can be an arse) but I've never come across anything as difficult as a Disco to bleed. I found a mityvac on the bleed nipple and about an hour pumping the pedal were needed from dry to fill and bleed the system properly.
 
My old V8 Disco had similar issues and had to have the slave cylinder 'reverse bled' where the fluid was pumped in through the bleed nipple and purged the air backwards to the master cylinder that way - it's a ball ache messy job but thankfully worked as the last resort to get the bastid pedal up and the clutch disengaging properly
oil can with clutch fluid in, flexi pipe to nipple.
pump can and bubbles come up thru resovoir.
(jc's method, shouldnt be messy, found it quite easy and effective.)
 
When I changed my master/slave I had to reverse bleed mine just to get it going from dry,then bleed the normal way to get a good peddle. They do airlock themselves easy when dry.
 
Ok guys I emptied the system of all fluid and then reverse bleed the system, got no more air out of it than I did doing a bleed the normal way, Clutch remains the same ****, checked gearbox oil all fine there. I also wrote to land rover them self’s at the beginning of the week asking for their take on this vehicle, not so much as an acknowledgement from them. I have replaced many clutches over the years in an assortment of vehicles and had one or two that needed a little more care when bleeding, but this Discovery system has to be the worsted setup I have ever had dealings with, and the fact that land rover dealers also cannot get it right beggar’s belief. Don’t think I have been so ****ed off with a vehicle in all my life.
 
I found when bleeding a Ford Fiesta some years back with an Eezi Bleeder I got better results if i idled the engine when bleeding. I dont know if it will work on a Disco but was planning on trying it after I have installed new brake calipers on my Disco 1
 
If your having this much trouble there must be a part at fault. I've bled quite a few 200 and 300 tdi clutches without an issue both manually pumping pedal and tightening and loosening nipple and also with an eezibleed.

Think it's time to start swapping parts.

Mark
 
I have replaced the master cylinder twice just in case it was that at fault, also the slave twice, I have introduced a nut between the slave pushrod and the slave cup to give the whole thing a longer push, I have changed the feed pipe in case that was faulty. I have pulled the engine and taken the whole clutch back out and replaced the whole clutch with another new one in case the clutch was wrong.I have blead inside out.
 
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