TD5 clutch problem?

We recently bought a 2003 Defender from a local dealer.
It's done 112,000 miles and is a really good one, drives very well.
There's one issue and that's the clutch. It's very abrupt in the fact that it is hard to change gear without shunting the transmission. Particularly in reverse, difficult to do it without a "thunk" as the drive engages.
Once the clutch "bites" it's progressive and doesn't slip or judder.
Is this a clutch issue or could the DMF be worn out? The biting point is about normal, the same as on my 110.

It could be nowt to do with the clutch, may just be that the baulk rings/synchro's are knackered in the gearbox. Might be worth throwing some fresh MTF94 in the box to see if that improves things at all, but it's likely to be a sticking plaster only.

Gear selection is OK. That is, you can put it into first or reverse gear without any problem.
It's when you bring up the clutch to move off, unless you are very careful there's a lurch as the clutch begins to bite.

lightning said:

Gear selection is OK. That is, you can put it into first or reverse gear without any problem.
It's when you bring up the clutch to move off, unless you are very careful there's a lurch as the clutch begins to bite.

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Got it my bad, misunderstood what you had written (I'm bit fick!).

Are you 100% certain it still has a DPF? Some people for unknown insane reasons replace with a solid disc and remove the DPF. Td5s can drive as described if they do.

Clutch likely went (if it did at all) around 75k check if its had a replacment or not...

You mean does it still have a dual mass flywheel (DMF)?

I don't know!

The dealer is happy to have a look at it, so l will take it in.

Mine started doing that lately. There's a bit of a clunk from the transmission sometimes when engaging reverse and sometimes it's a little reluctant to go in. Feels like I'm getting a bit of slip occasionally on hard acceleration too.

I was thinking about the clutch (it's done nearly 72,000 miles so in the right ballpark), and it's about due a gearbox oil change the next time I service it.

bankz5152 said:

Are you 100% certain it still has a DPF? Some people for unknown insane reasons replace with a solid disc and remove the DPF. Td5s can drive as described if they do.

Clutch likely went (if it did at all) around 75k check if its had a replacment or not...

Click to expand...

Mine has a solid flywheel and does _not_ exhibit this behaviour. And my reason for fitting solid was known and sane

DMF yes lol was having lunch...

Just topped up my fluid and it's a lot better (well, maybe I speak too soon). So sometimes it's easy to overlook the obvious things.