Judder when pulling away

Hi

Defender 110 300tdi. Judders when pulling away when cold (i.e. left overnight), but very quickly stops juddering after only a few hundred metres of driving. Occasionally get slightest bit of judder when changing up higher gears (maybe second to third) when revs are low. Been like this for at least 6 months with no significant worsening of the problem. I've tried injector cleaner but nothing else. If I was pushed I'd say it feels like a mechanical issue.

Anything else I should be trying before I put myself at the mercy of my local LR specialist? I am an inexperienced, but optimistic, amateur when confronted with car trouble.

Thanks

Dave

How is the starting ? Go's on first turn or takes some winding ?

Is it clutch judder? A damp clutch can do this

kermit_rr said:

Is it clutch judder? A damp clutch can do this

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Clutch plate? Weak, broken spring or contamination.

Starts fine.

Kermit, when you say "damp" are you thinking contamination or just atmospheric damp, cos it's been doing this all through the summer, including when garaged.

Engine or gearbox mounts weak/split/loose?
When did you last grease/check the prop u/js?
Have you checked/adjusted the handbrake?

davesh said:

Starts fine.

Kermit, when you say "damp" are you thinking contamination or just atmospheric damp, cos it's been doing this all through the summer, including when garaged.

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Was thinking water, is the wasting plug in place? If so take it out and go for a drive to warm it up, then put it back again

As it starts fine I would first check that the handbrake drum releases fully. With brake off check drum can be moved by hand, chock front and then jack one rear wheel.
What happens is the handbrake expander does not let go all the way and you get judder until it does. Clean up or renewal sorts.

How many miles on the clutch? Mine got juddery at 110-120K. New clutch and DMF-solved.
Mike

That happens to mine in winter. You've got to get a heater that works, remember to shunt the fan slide to feet fan and best to do five minutes of star jumps in the house before you set off. It's the only way to stop the right leg from shaking.

mikegsxr said:

How many miles on the clutch? Mine got juddery at 110-120K. New clutch and DMF-solved.
Mike

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How do you get that long out of a gearbox? Recently I cannot get a gearbox (recon) to last so the clutch gets replaced when the next gearbox refurb happens rather than when the clutch wears. I got 200k out of the original but the last two has been 60k and 80k, and I am now on my 4th.

dag019 said:

How do you get that long out of a gearbox? Recently I cannot get a gearbox (recon) to last so the clutch gets replaced when the next gearbox refurb happens rather than when the clutch wears. I got 200k out of the original but the last two has been 60k and 80k, and I am now on my 4th.

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something not right there :/

kermit_rr said:

something not right there :/

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Apparently it is, when I complained last time one needed replacing, Jamesmartin pointed out that with the age of the design (lt77) 60k was a fair distance and even when new plenty of them required rebuilds at this point. it is just annoying as with the mileage that I do it means I am swapping a gearbox every 2-3 years. But the plus side is that is not long enough for anything to seize and I can do it fairly quickly now!

dag019 said:

How do you get that long out of a gearbox? Recently I cannot get a gearbox (recon) to last so the clutch gets replaced when the next gearbox refurb happens rather than when the clutch wears. I got 200k out of the original but the last two has been 60k and 80k, and I am now on my 4th.

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It does seem odd if you got 200K out of the original. My original R380 is on 206K. It sounds and feels fine, but I am wondering how much longer it can go on!

Mackers said:

That happens to mine in winter. You've got to get a heater that works, remember to shunt the fan slide to feet fan and best to do five minutes of star jumps in the house before you set off. It's the only way to stop the right leg from shaking.

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Ooer missus.

Col

Al2O3 said:

It does seem odd if you got 200K out of the original. My original R380 is on 206K. It sounds and feels fine, but I am wondering how much longer it can go on!

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The original gear box was still going strong but the trasfer box dropped its oil, and siezed chewing up the gearbox output shaft. At the time I was a student so needed the cheapest fix which was an exchange recon rather than having mine rebuilt (which I have done every time since) but it means the box I have now is not my original which happily made 200k..

dag019 said:

The original gear box was still going strong but the trasfer box dropped its oil, and siezed chewing up the gearbox output shaft. At the time I was a student so needed the cheapest fix which was an exchange recon rather than having mine rebuilt (which I have done every time since) but it means the box I have now is not my original which happily made 200k..

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Bad luck
When your gear box 'goes' what actually goes on it?

l've never had much luck with recon gearboxes, had them on various cars, never seem to last all that long.
Unfortunately it's the only option now with older Defender gearboxes, unless you can find a good used one.
My TD5 is on 126,000 miles and still fine, had a clutch and DMF at 80,000 as it started to slip.
I bought it at 56,000 and the previous owner towed a boat with it, maybe accounting for the clutch failure at 80,000
But the gearbox and transfer box have been fine so far.

There is a guy near Norwich who is meant to be really good on the lt77?
Met him a few years back and he was setting up on his own to repair them, I can remember him commenting about the cost of the shims.

Al2O3 said:

Bad luck
When your gear box 'goes' what actually goes on it?

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Bearings, the first one was a cheap unknown rebuild which failed very quickly the following two have been Ashcroft rebuilds, but it is still the bearings that fail. Oil is changed every 24k, and always has been in my ownership. It has 340k on the clock, and I am currently doing 23-30k a year. A lot of that is company mileage however so even if the gearbox does go every couple of years, the mileage allowance more than covers the parts, it is just annoying I have to change it that often.