motor off - gear change fine, motor on - hard gear change

Hi,
1st post, just learning the ropes with my Disco.
here's one I need to get some ideas on before spending €900 to replace

96 disco, manual
with the engine off, can change gears fine, including reverse
when you turn the truck on, gear change is close to impossible.
turn it off again and gear change isn't a problem.
peddal also feels like it has more force behind it with the engine off.

replaced the slave and master,
bled it over and over again,
used pressure bleeder to do that.

any ideas.
don't want to drop the trans to find it was something simple.
brakes are also starting to fade down.
if your on a hill, press the brake to hold it, after a few seconds the truck will start to creep forward unless you apply another bit of pressure.
had the the fluid in the brakes changed.

129K on the clock
just bought it 1,200 miles ago.
the last owner would need a crystal ball to know that the clutch would go so quick, I think anyway.

any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
thanks,
dave.

Sounds like you are getting clutch drag ( i.e. when you press clutch pedal to disconnect engine input to gearbox its not disconnecting completely)
Three general causes; 1 faulty diapraghm plate
2 insufficient cltch release travel
3 partially siezed primary pinion in spigot bush in flywheel
You need to check that you are gettin full travel of the clutch slave cylinder , you can eleiminate this by pressing clutch down, then clamping hose then release pedal and GENTLY pressing pedal gain whilst releasing hose clamp untill pedal goes hard this will achieve full travel of clutch slave push rod. If you are still getting drag then its either 1 or 3
In which case its a engine gearbos seperation job ,
HTSH
The clutch system is not servo assisted so engine running or not makes no difference to cluch pedal force
The braking system is totally seperate from that of the clutch so problems not connected .

Thanks Tacr2mann,
I'll give the clutch travel test a shot this afternoon and post back the results.
tks,
d

hi,
I thought I could get a hold of a hase clamp but couldn't so can't test till tomorrow.
Here is one thing to add,
turn on the truck, try to engage 1st, no luck.
pump the clutch peddal say 10 times to the floor in succession and you can engage 1st.
drop it to neutral, wait a few seconds and your back where you started needing to pump the peddal again.

any thoughts on this bit?
thanks,
dave.

hi Tacr2mann,
sorry, another bit to add that i should have,
when the truck is turned off, the clutch peddal is a lot stiffer,
turn on the motor and instantly it feels easier to push to the floor and you can't engage any gears. (additional bit, with the motor off, engage 5th, clutch and drop it to neutral you hear a distinct click like the push rod that the slave push rod presses against flick back)
tks,
d.

It could be that your clutch release lever in the bell housing has split and is down over the pivot, its a fairly common problem means gearbox engine split to replace not good news

the reason that its better with a lot of quick pumps is you are getting slightly more clearance on the clutch as the hydraulics are probably pumping up slightly but thats not going to help you really

thanks Tacr2man for your help.
i have a sneaky feeling that a bit of work will need to be done.
my local fix all cars garage guy told me the easiest way to drop the trans off the engine is to shift the engine forward and then drop it.
is there an easy way to do it or do i have to go through all this to get it done?
Thanks,
Dave.

Havent you got a LR spoecialist garage nearby (not a main stealer)
If you are going to drop the trans cant see the need to move the engine forward , if you are not going to drop the trans then you can do it by moving the engine forwards as you only need about a six inch gap JMHO

hi,
nope, only a main dealer and he tried to screw me last time.
only got the truck, the previous owner had never taken it out of 2wd, so i did and then couldn't disengage dif-lock, wound up the trans.
the main dealer said, need to flatbed here and we'll fix it.
called a parts guy i knew, said just jack up one front type in turn and spin it off on the jack and it worked fine. don't like dealers!
my fix it all guy, wants to change the clutch, pressure plate, fork etc to fix the problem.
if he thinks you have to pull engines forward and drop trans down to do it, it's worrying.
what's the easies way to change the clutch that youve found?
thanks again for your help,
dave.