Go Back   The 75 and ZT Owners Club Forums > The 75 and ZT Owners Club Forums > Technical Help Forum
Register FAQ Image Gallery Members List Calendar Mark Forums Read
Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 20th July 2021, 14:10   #1
sylvester
Loves to post
 
Rover 75 Tourer

Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Rochester Kent
Posts: 256
Thanks: 18
Thanked 22 Times in 9 Posts
Default Yet more clutch grief!

I had the clutch on my 2003 CDTi Tourer replaced as a precaution nearly 18 months ago by a chap near Burton on Trent who was doing them as a special deal for £350. All that was the matter with the existing clutch was a sometime reluctance to snick cleanly into 1st gear. The car had 140,000 on the clock and as I'm the only owner I know it was the original.
Anyway, this has proved to be a disaster - the 'new' clutch has been nothing but trouble from day one. Even as I drove it away it was worse than when I delivered it and when I tried to change down on leaving the M1 it would not go into any gear. I stopped at the lights on the slip road and after a lot of trying it eventually got it into some gear and limped a mile or so to my daughters place in Kimberley.
The following morning I found that it was working ok so i took it back to Burton where the mechanic opened the bleed pipe and let out some air and said that should do it. I then drove home to Kent and all was well including a period of several miles of stop start on the M1.
It worked ok for a week or two but then one evening I had a repeat of my experience as above.
Several events since including changing the master cylinder but eventually I decided to take it back to Burton to get it fixed. The car was with the chap for three weeks and eventually told me he had traced the problem to a faulty slave cylinder so I travelled up to collect.
Must stop here pro tem but will complete this sorry tale later!
sylvester is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 20th July 2021, 22:02   #2
Ducati750cc
Loves to post
 
Rover75 tourer

Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: Ashton
Posts: 428
Thanks: 121
Thanked 206 Times in 145 Posts
Default

...........who was doing them as a special deal for £350.............

............The car had 140,000 on the clock ............

............where the mechanic opened the bleed pipe and let out some air and said that should do it..................

...........The car was with the chap for three weeks................

.............and eventually told me he had traced the problem to a faulty slave cylinder.........


Alarm bells should have rung loud and clear when the price for a clutch on a 140,000 mile, 18 year old car, was £350.


You didn't mention exactly what it was he replaced, nor the make or quality of the parts and I would be surprised if he offered the old units to see any wear.


But any good mechanic worth his salt would have suggested at least a friction plate, pressure plate and slave cylinder and guide as a minimum, and mention that a new master cyl would be a good idea, also he should have shown you the results of measuring the dual mass flywheel play, to ensure you should get another 140,000 out of the new clutch.


I know this may sound harsh, but the phrase " Buy cheap buy twice. " still stands the test of time.


As well as the initial cost, if you add in the time to return the car several times, have a master cyl fitted and being without the car for 3 + weeks, the costs to you have potentially doubled and reading through your post, it appears the saga hasn't ended yet !
__________________
Common sense isn't a gift, it's a punishment because you have to deal with everyone who doesn't have it.
Ducati750cc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21st July 2021, 09:12   #3
sylvester
Loves to post
 
Rover 75 Tourer

Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Rochester Kent
Posts: 256
Thanks: 18
Thanked 22 Times in 9 Posts
Default What I now know!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ducati750cc View Post
...........who was doing them as a special deal for £350.............

............The car had 140,000 on the clock ............

............where the mechanic opened the bleed pipe and let out some air and said that should do it..................

...........The car was with the chap for three weeks................

.............and eventually told me he had traced the problem to a faulty slave cylinder.........


Alarm bells should have rung loud and clear when the price for a clutch on a 140,000 mile, 18 year old car, was £350.


You didn't mention exactly what it was he replaced, nor the make or quality of the parts and I would be surprised if he offered the old units to see any wear.


But any good mechanic worth his salt would have suggested at least a friction plate, pressure plate and slave cylinder and guide as a minimum, and mention that a new master cyl would be a good idea, also he should have shown you the results of measuring the dual mass flywheel play, to ensure you should get another 140,000 out of the new clutch.


I know this may sound harsh, but the phrase " Buy cheap buy twice. " still stands the test of time.


As well as the initial cost, if you add in the time to return the car several times, have a master cyl fitted and being without the car for 3 + weeks, the costs to you have potentially doubled and reading through your post, it appears the saga hasn't ended yet !
Many thanks for your response, Ducati.
The full story!!
I was intending giving my tourer to my grand daughter but had some reservations about the state of the clutch as mentioned above. I called Apple MG my local Rover specialist near me in Kent. They wanted £750 - I didn't want to lumber my impecunious GD and just happened to mention this to another Rover Tourer driver I met. He told me a chap did his clutch a few weeks previously and charged £350 - I then found one or two reports that owners on this Forum which I have not been able to find gave glowing referrals for Marshall Performance based near Burton on Trent so I contacted them. As the business was about 40 miles from my daughter in Kimberley Notts I combined this with a couple of days stay.
The rest is as above.
Alarm bells!! I should have followed my instincts on arrival at the premises. This was a converted cow shed with two ramps with vehicles already receiving attention. There were parts and tools scattered on the ground and I have always had the view that the best mechanics were fastidiously tidy and as clean as possible. But I'd already paid for the part (£150) and he came well recommended so left the vehicle to be collected the day after.
What with all the subsequent too-ing and fro-ing the price Apple quoted would have been the better option. To add more misery to this, my grand daughter decided she didn't want a "granddad" car so I've still got it and my issues haven't gone away.
I did write a follow up as mentioned above but somehow it disappeared.
The car works ok from cold but after a half hour, 12 miles or so it becomes increasingly difficult to shift gears in particular manoeuvering into a parking space when it is reluctant to go into reverse..
If it is left for a while it improves and seems to be better after a few pumps of the pedal though there isn't much free pedal apparent.
I am about to have yet another go at bleeding the clutch but from what's been said above I wonder if the clutch itself is the culprit when it is up to temperature.
To further add to my woes last week the side of the car was damaged by a passing heavy vehicle whilst it was parked outside my house ripping the mirror off and putting grooves in both nearside doors. I haven't been able to track down the culprit, the most obvious being a refuse truck but the local authority say their on board camera's show the mirror already hanging by its wires when they visited the close and invited me to come and see for myself.
So what now! My insurance have told me they won't pay out what could be £2000 to put right and will write the car off.
I've already managed to find another mirror and installed it. If I can't fix the clutch by bleeding it and I'm faced with paying a fortune to have the job done properly - I suspect Apple will say take it back to your chap in Burton!
I see he is still in business now moved premises in Burton and advertising specialist repairs for MG Rover vehicles.
Insurance is due next month and I'm faced with the possible inevitable conclusion that I'm going to have to scrap it before throwing more money at it Very sad, been mine from new and until last week was still quite presentable.
If I do decide to scrap it I might offer it 'as is' to anyone on this Forum on a come and get it basis.
sylvester is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21st July 2021, 23:35   #4
Mogmike
Regular poster
 
Rover 75 saloon

Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: St Albans
Posts: 40
Thanks: 19
Thanked 3 Times in 2 Posts
Default More Clutch trouble.. Something similar..

Hi.. I'm just about to post a similar clutch mystery but with a little extra to maybe help identify {well by somebody who knows about the particular hydraulics of the Rover 75}..the problem.
My car is a 2005 Rover 75, 1.8 petrol 58k on the clock and a meticulous service history.. However like you I. An drive the car absolutely fine for about 15 minutes, sometimes much longer, then it starts to snick going into gear and the pedal travel seems to decrease.. In fact I did post on here the worst time it did this when the pedal travel decreased so much that I limped home in 2nd as I could not change gear any more. Fortunately I was not far from home. When I had calmed down, a couple of days later, I put my foot under the pedal and lifted it back up (without any difficulty) and then the clutch was back to normal. I have now plucked up the courage to drive it a little more and have made two 30 plus miles where, as soon as I notice the snicking of the gear, or me staling on take off from stand still as the clutch travel has altered.. I put my foot under the pedal and lift it up and hey presto we're back to normal and the clutch is fine..??
You might try this on your car as it may be the same problem.. That is., that I don't think it's the clutch at all as it works just fine but something is affecting the return of the pedal and I suspect the hydraulic system and a return valve if there is one although the hydraulics operate fine when the pedal is returned by my foot..
Any thoughts would be most welcome.. I shall also post this as a new posting from me but thought it might help you in your diagnosis... All the best any way
Mogmike is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 22nd July 2021, 05:32   #5
Mike Noc
This is my second home
 
Mike Noc's Avatar
 
Rover 75 CDT Manual Connoisseur SE, Rover 75 CDT Automatic Connoisseur SE & a Freelander Td4.

Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Hampshire
Posts: 11,531
Thanks: 3,470
Thanked 3,119 Times in 2,247 Posts
Default

Worth stripping and cleaning out your master cylinder Mike.
Mike Noc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 22nd July 2021, 07:35   #6
sylvester
Loves to post
 
Rover 75 Tourer

Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Rochester Kent
Posts: 256
Thanks: 18
Thanked 22 Times in 9 Posts
Default

Thanks Mogmike
I don't know the clutch system on your 1.8 petrol but suspect it is not like the later 75 CDTi models.
However I have had this problem and I'm aware that pulling the pedal back with my toe can restore the clutch.
sylvester is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 19:53.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright © 2006-2023, The Rover 75 & MG ZT Owners Club Ltd