Clutch problem - are these symptoms of DMF failure (Zt-T CDTi, 04)?

[Blue Straggler]

Hello and apologies if this has been covered on other threads; right now I am on a netbook in a café and it's a bit slow for doing searches etc.

So, I bought my blue MG Zt-T CDTi (04 plate) in mid April. Been running pretty nicely indeed, Steve "Arctic" did a full service (and a bit more) early in June and advised new brake discs and pads before too long. I've got those parts now and was planning to get them fitted tomorrow....except....

just got in the car and noticed an INSANE amount of play in the clutch. i.e. it is totally "loose" for 80% of its travel, only biting in right at the end.

With the engine running, I cannot put it into any gear except 3rd (with some considerable effort). With the engine off, I can put it into any gear then turn the engine on with clutch depressed, and drive away in that gear only.

I think with the engine off, I DON'T get that much play (which is presumably what enables me to put it in gear). I can't check this right now as this café and my car are in different locations (home broadband is also problematic at the moment. "Only in threes" as they say).

Car is on about 116k (3k of which I have done since April).
There have been no gradual symptoms, indeed I had a good weekend running my parents around in it from Loughborough to Stratford on Saturday, then around the Peak District on Sunday. Absolutely no problems with gears. It's been parked up since Sunday apart from me firing it up stationary to check a couple of bits and bobs in the electricals.

Has anyone else experienced this?
DMF and clutch were apparently replaced last August (I bet I am JUST out of warranty....need to dig up that particular bit of paperwork PDQ I guess)

Help

[lexey5900]

hi
i too have just added a cdti to my collection with the same problem have checked it and in my case it turns out to be the slave cylinder see if there is any fluid under the gearbox if not check in the drivers footwell as it might be the master cylinder

[Blue Straggler]

Thanks, nothing has gone onto the ground, I will look around footwells etc. I am not very well tooled up to look under the gear box (on-street parking, don't own axle stands etc and more importantly don't yet know my way around the innards of the car!)
It is most likely going to the garage tomorrow anyway as I had it booked in for brake fitting though those discs and pads are currently 6 miles away as I had them delivered to my office! Oops. Bit heavy to bike back with them....might just postpone everything until I can have a think about it all - if the garage is going to be poking around with slave / master cylinders they might as well do my brakes at the same time. Sigh.

[johnny t]

My slave went at about that milage but there was no evidence of fluid leak at all I kept bleeding it for about 6 months until I bit the bullet and had a freelander salve fitted. Even when removed there was no evidence of a leak but it did fix it

[David Lawrence]

Thanks, nothing has gone onto the ground, I will look around footwells etc. I am not very well tooled up to look under the gear box (on-street parking, don't own axle stands etc and more importantly don't yet know my way around the innards of the car!)
It is most likely going to the garage tomorrow anyway as I had it booked in for brake fitting though those discs and pads are currently 6 miles away as I had them delivered to my office! Oops. Bit heavy to bike back with them....might just postpone everything until I can have a think about it all - if the garage is going to be poking around with slave / master cylinders they might as well do my brakes at the same time. Sigh.

If you have the engine cover fitted it wont be going on the ground it will be inside the cover. best to check it. might get away with topping up the fluid for a while.

[Blue Straggler]

Thanks guys (back online at home now after 55 mins on the phone to Orange/EE support!)

David I will take a look at that.
Johnny - the slave had gone last August (way before my ownership) and it was replaced along with clutch at DMF when the car was on around 99k I think. I wouldn't expect these things to last only another 16k or so :confused:
Hopefully "just" a random leak?

[Blue Straggler]

I say "the slave had gone". I don't know that. I know only that I have a receipt showing replacement of DMF, clutch and slave.

[johnny t]

Have you checked the fluid level in the master cylinder? I know it's a long shot and I've never heard of it but could the pipework be chaffing on something and damaged,, because it certainly sounds like an hydraulic problem
Good luck
John

[andy willi]

send me your contact details i can help you out


andy

[Blue Straggler]

Thanks guys. I have just dropped the car off at my Local Friendly Garage for the day, they will check it, bleed the hydraulics etc and see what they can find. If lucky, it's a big air bubble. If unlucky, I'll be living on economy-price beans on toast for the next few months.

[Blue Straggler]

Johnny T (and everyone else!) - it was indeed the master cylinder (so I have no comeback with the garage that did the DMF, clutch and slave....and that would have been a right old ball-ache anyway TBH)
No work carried out yet, but I am told the part is about £150 and it is a horrendous fiddly job to do.

Basically the piston in the cylinder is stuck down i.e. it won't return - hence all the play in the pedal. Chap had a go at coaxing it outward but ultimately diagnosed it as "knacked". :sad:

Thanks all, and fingers crossed it get sorted in a straightforward manner. This garage is good, I have used them before and they don't make stuff up.

[johnny t]

It is fiddly but if you're handy and reasonably tall (to reach over the engine) it's not that bad, i think there's a how to somewhere on here. At least it's not the slave!
Good luck

[Blue Straggler]

Cheers Johnny. I am not ****** touching it - these things are beyond me at the moment!
The extent of my own work on this car so far has been to jack it up, pop it onto an axle stand, get underneath and reattach the stray exhaust heat shield, then attempt to remove the rear bumper to push out a dent (failed because one last screw had a rounded head - will have to drill it out possibly!)

Why is it better for the master to go rather than the slave - is it because the slave takes out the clutch and DMF when it goes?

Thanks again.

[johnny t]

It's a big job, gearbox off and expensive. There's a guy selling uprated aluminium master cylinders on here if your interested

[Blue Straggler]

Garage just rang to say job done.

New cylinder and fitted, plus fitted my new discs and pads (that I bought from EuroCarParts) all round and adjusted a binding caliper, £430 all in, does that sound reasonable? I had feared that the cylinder and its fitting alone would run to £350+ TBH.

Just looking to get a feel for whether I have found a good garage - I think I have but if you guys think I am paying over the odds then do let me know!

This time round I was somewhat over a barrel with an undriveable car so it had to be done PDQ.

Thanks for the advice.

[Saga Lout]

Hard to comment when you can do everything for yourselves, I could have two weeks in Greece for that sort of money...So maybe 6 hours in Grease....You get my meaning....

[RPWC]

You really should have taken Andy upon his offer of help, he operates a mobile service and his speciality is the clutch systems on these cars., I do feel you could have got the job done somewhat cheaper if you had .see here:smilie_re:http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=138490

[Blue Straggler]

Thanks Richard - and belated thanks to Andy for his offer, I think I omitted to reply to him directly (for which, apologies Andy!). I was a bit flustered and didn't look into every option, I admit. But Doncaster-Loughborough is 64 miles, so let's factor in some mileage, prob £55 at reasonable commercial travel cost of 45p per mile. Brings master cylinder to £175 + £55 + something for Andy's time. Then I'd still need the brakes fitting. May not have been THAT much in it. I dunno.

I don't have a driveway, a shed, or any decent tools or skills. It would take me days to get started on this stuff and I'd probably screw it all up!

[RPWC]

Thanks Richard - and belated thanks to Andy for his offer, I think I omitted to reply to him directly (for which, apologies Andy!). I was a bit flustered and didn't look into every option, I admit. But Doncaster-Loughborough is 64 miles, so let's factor in some mileage, prob £55 at reasonable commercial travel cost of 45p per mile. Brings master cylinder to £175 + £55 + something for Andy's time. Then I'd still need the brakes fitting. May not have been THAT much in it. I dunno.

I don't have a driveway, a shed, or any decent tools or skills. It would take me days to get started on this stuff and I'd probably screw it all up!

Worth bearing in mind for future reference, Andy used to have a garage and knows the cars inside out and back to front, as his price list says, you can go to him. He has a big garage at his house, I have never been, but.he told me once , when I visited his former garage on route to the NEC

[Blue Straggler]

Thanks. I didn't mean for my last reply to look petulant. I need to spend a bit more time on the forums and learn peoples' names and what they do :}

[andy willi]

next time contact me i could have saved you allot of money i think you have over spent but you are back on the road i only charge for the cost of fuel and not my travel time if you ever need help let me know


andy

[Blue Straggler]

Thanks Andy.

[Blue Straggler]

PS I'd had broadband issues at home on Thursday too which just exacerbated my flustered state!