Clutch Gone??
 

I have a Con SE CDT Tourer that's now done about 230K. It had a clutch and slave cylinder change in the last 20K miles. As of yesterday it will no longer go into gear if the engine is running but is OK if the engine is off. There is pressure on the clutch pedal so doesn't feel like the master cylinder has gone. Before this I had no indication of any problem. Parked up after driving fine, Came back to drive home and wouldn't go into gear. It has not had the fly wheel changed. Only thing I would say is since the clutch was fitted it was always a bit juddery when engaging when hot as in slow stop start traffic. Any ideas before I start to take the box off? Thanks and Happy New Year to you all. JB

where did you get the clutch and what make was it also what make was the slave


andy

Check fluid level in reservoir.
Good luck

If it's the original Master Cylinder, it's likely to be the culprit.

Check around the bottom of the bell housing between the engine and gearbox for leaks. If there are none. Bleed the clutch whilst keeping an eye on the fluid level in the master cylinder.

Clutch
 

I fitted a LUK clutch and the slave was one for a landrover (if I remember correctly) as they are meant to be better than the OEM rover ones?? I will check the master cylinder before doing anything but the pedal feels fine. Is there any chance I may also need the flywheel? Its never been changed. I don't ever intend to ever get rid of the car as I have had it from new so don't mind fitting the correct parts. How do I tell if it needs a flywheel? If I do need to change it out again where is the best place to source the parts?OR as I am pushed for time at the moment get the job done. I am currently in the St Albans area. Would appreciate any advise. Many thanks for your all your comments. JB

You almost certainly don't need a new flywheel. You'd have plenty of vibration and juddering if you did. The post clutch judder is usually caused by the bottom engine/gearbox mount having been disturbed, they're quite fragile.

Bleed the clutch and report back before needlessly throwing a lot of money at what could be a cheap fix. I'd change the master cylinder as a matter of course if it's still on the original at that mileage. The seals disintegrate and wreck the slave cylinder if left in place. You'll see black particles in the fluid when bleeding the clutch if the master cylinder seals have gone south.

The only way to be sure of the flywheel, is to measure the free play. I think I read 25mm of free rotation, is normal and acceptable, beyond that it needs swapping. It can be measured in situ.

Clutch
 

Great. many, many thanks. Will get the clutch bled and report back. Think I will get the master cylinder changed anyway. As far as the bottom engine mount goes, I changed this to the Powerflex bush when I did the clutch. just the large bush and theft the original small one as it was fine. Is there a small Powerflex one for the diesel? I didn't think there was at the time...Also just our of interest, does the top engine mount ever need changing? Mine looks fine but just a thought. All the best JB

This is just my guess - if the lower mount appears not to fully line up (centred) then I would suspect a top mount as failing. There is one mount at each side of the engine, so if one failed it would drop on that side, throwing the lower mount out of line.

Clutch
 

Thank you. I will check all and let you know what happens. JB