Clutch panic

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strewth

New Member
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4
Location
Northwest
Hi, I'm hoping somebody can advise me on a clutch problem.

Approaching lights, go to stop, brakes, dip clutch - won't come out of gear.
Comes out as slow down. Then won't go back in. Lots of crunchy noises. Limp home.

Had a new clutch 3 years ago, new heavy duty fork, new slave cylinder.
Can't see any leaks. suspect master cylinder. swap it for a new one. Bleed hydraulics. Got some pedal resistance but doesn't feel like as much as there was before (was really heavy).
Won't go into gear with the engine running (without a lot of crunching)

So...now what? Have i just not bled it properly? Has something else broken?

Supposed to be towing at the weekend. Not looking good.
Thanks for whatever help you can offer.
 
It's good practice to change the slave along with the master anyway but I assume you've checked for fluid at the wading plug hole in the bell housing?

It might be as you say and you need to rebleed or it could be a faulty replacement master.

It would be nice to think a heavy duty fork would last longer the 3 years.....
 
blue beasty said:
It's good practice to change the slave along with the master anyway but I assume you've checked for fluid at the wading plug hole in the bell housing?

It might be as you say and you need to rebleed or it could be a faulty replacement master.

It would be nice to think a heavy duty fork would last longer the 3 years.....
Click to expand...

Hi, thank you for your replies, sorry for being a bit dim.
It's a discovery 1, 300tdi, 1995
Spent evening bypassing the clutch damper, taking the slave cylinder out (looked fine, not wet under the dust cap, piston moves smoothly) putting it back together, bleeding it and finding that nothing has changed (although there's a new noise come from somewhere!)

With the slave cylinder off the rod was sticking out of the housing an inch or so. It feels like it's attached at the other end. It moves in and out smoothly. When it's pushed in as far as I can get it with my thumb, there's sound like something metal making contact with something else metal. Can't push it any further than that b hand. I suspect this is going to sound daft, but it doesn't feel like it's broken (does't scrape, it's not notchy, reluctant, unhappy?)

Still not convinced that the clutch pedal feels as heavy as it used to.

On the bleeding front: two of us, one pressing the pedal, the other opening and closing the bleed nipple while the pedal is being held down. Repeated that until there were no more bubbles.

What am I doing wrong?
 
strewth said:
Hi, thank you for your replies, sorry for being a bit dim.
It's a discovery 1, 300tdi, 1995
Spent evening bypassing the clutch damper, taking the slave cylinder out (looked fine, not wet under the dust cap, piston moves smoothly) putting it back together, bleeding it and finding that nothing has changed (although there's a new noise come from somewhere!)

With the slave cylinder off the rod was sticking out of the housing an inch or so. It feels like it's attached at the other end. It moves in and out smoothly. When it's pushed in as far as I can get it with my thumb, there's sound like something metal making contact with something else metal. Can't push it any further than that b hand. I suspect this is going to sound daft, but it doesn't feel like it's broken (does't scrape, it's not notchy, reluctant, unhappy?)

Still not convinced that the clutch pedal feels as heavy as it used to.

On the bleeding front: two of us, one pressing the pedal, the other opening and closing the bleed nipple while the pedal is being held down. Repeated that until there were no more bubbles.

What am I doing wrong?
Click to expand...

Is the slave bleed nipple at the top ? Is the fluid in the master cylinder 'black' ?
Easiest way is to reverse bleed, pump the fluid through the nipple until the res fills, they can be a pain to bleed ...
 
Last edited:
Hi, yes, bleed nipple at the top.
The fluid in the reservoir was black, that was one of the reasons I swapped the master cylinder for a new one, but no change.
I've v little experience of bleeding clutches.
What would it feel like - the pedal doesn't feel as heavy as it did
Will see if i can cobble together something to reverse bleed it.
Thanks.
 
thrust bearing shagged would be my guess, ive just retired my 300 because of this, i will get round to it one day but in the mean time bought another one to keep me on the road.

exactly the same symptoms and almost identical past history and time line.
 
Hi, tried bleeding the master cylinder from the bottom.
No joy, filled up quickly but couldn't get any resistance on the pedal.
Bled in normally again, got some pedal but still not as heavy as it used to be, still couldn't select a gear with engine running.
Called AA.
Bloke reckoned the diaphragm had gone - would explain the lighter pedal and the not being able to change gears.
Gave in and sent it to a local garage for new clutch.
 
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