TD5 making the clutch lighter for next to nothing

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lightning

lightning

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High Peak
After six months and 6,000 miles the clutch on my Defender TD5 was still a pain in traffic

So l fitted the replacement clutch pedal spring kit. For those who don't know, it consists of a replacement spring and three plastic bushes.

It's easy to fit. Remove the giant coil spring from the clutch pedal and replace the bolt. Remove the top from the clutch pedal box and (with your wife or a block of wood holding the clutch pedal down) remove the nut from the master cylinder push rod, releasing the pedal.
Fit the three bushes on the pedal and locate the top of the spring in each side. Pull the pedal up as far as it will go and using a pair of pliers, press the lower part of the spring into the bush.
It's fiddly to do, but on mine it went on first try.

Refit the nut/washer on the clutch pedal (wife or block of wood needed again to hold it down)
Refit the top on the pedal box.

The difference is amazing. The clutch is much lighter with a better action. The spring goes over centre as you press the pedal down, so actually assists towards the bottom of the pedal travel, rather than giving increased resistance as the original spring does.

Goodness knows why it was not fitted as standard. The holes have been present in the clutch pedal/box since the 1980's. I believe it was fitted as standard with the Puma engine from 2007.
 
Last edited:
I just checked on our 1997 300tdi and it has the spring fitted.

I wonder what happened with the TD5. Maybe they wanted to give farmers a bit of a left leg workout while driving their Defender.
 
I like the left leg workout aspect as well, my left leg is easily twice the size of my right one. I do have lots of trouble walking any where now though, unless its round and round.....:p
 
Lightning, yes fitted one last year it is amazing the difference it makes.
I toyed with fitting a servo but was advised by local LR main stealer to try the spring mod. Genuine LR part, I think all in it was £25.00 ish money well spent.
This is typical of Land Rover they knew that the peddle on the TD5 was heavy but waited until they had customer complaints to make a designe change.
 
Tim4x4 said:
Lightning, yes fitted one last year it is amazing the difference it makes.
I toyed with fitting a servo but was advised by local LR main stealer to try the spring mod. Genuine LR part, I think all in it was £25.00 ish money well spent.
This is typical of Land Rover they knew that the peddle on the TD5 was heavy but waited until they had customer complaints to make a designe change.
Click to expand...

300 came before the td5. for some reason they reverted back to the big arse spring
 
My 2p worth, deffo worth fitting.

although be aware some of the springs available on tinternet have to have the "ears" adjusted otherwise they will never fit. had to remove approx. 2mm from the end of each "ear".

Also managed to fit mine without releasing the clutch cylinder rod.

cheers
 
It is possible without releasing the clutch pedal bolt on the master cylinder.

Tie a piece of string around the bottom of the spring, after fitting the top two parts. Pass the string over the pedal pivot and then pull on the string with one hand to compress the spring, while guiding it with the other hand, into the mounting bush.

Watch your fingers though.
 
Very interesting, thanks! Any links to to said product? My clutch is so stiff that I regularly call Arnold Schwarzenegger round to help me drive the thing. :-/
 
lightning said:
After six months and 6,000 miles the clutch on my Defender TD5 was still a pain in traffic

So l fitted the replacement clutch pedal spring kit. For those who don't know, it consists of a replacement spring and three plastic bushes.

It's easy to fit. Remove the giant coil spring from the clutch pedal and replace the bolt. Remove the top from the clutch pedal box and (with your wife or a block of wood holding the clutch pedal down) remove the nut from the master cylinder push rod, releasing the pedal.
Fit the three bushes on the pedal and locate the top of the spring in each side. Pull the pedal up as far as it will go and using a pair of pliers, press the lower part of the spring into the bush.
It's fiddly to do, but on mine it went on first try.

Refit the nut/washer on the clutch pedal (wife or block of wood needed again to hold it down)
Refit the top on the pedal box.

The difference is amazing. The clutch is much lighter with a better action. The spring goes over centre as you press the pedal down, so actually assists towards the bottom of the pedal travel, rather than giving increased resistance as the original spring does.

Goodness knows why it was not fitted as standard. The holes have been present in the clutch pedal/box since the 1980's. I believe it was fitted as standard with the Puma engine from 2007.
Click to expand...

I wish I had found this post before doing mine!

I followed the LRO magazine article in their June 2011, it's a bit vague on which part of the spring to locate first... I hooked the centre on first (mistake, having read the above!)... one side went in OK... second side was a pig to say the least... perseverance paid off, as I now have a much lighter pedal :D

I see that Paddocks now do a Britpart kit for this at just £17.40... I used genuine, and it's said here that some aftermarket springs may require trimming??
 
My 200Tdi pedal lacked the holes for it. Swapped it for a 300Tdi one. I was under the impression that all 200Tdi and earlier pedals lacked the holes.

300Tdi pedals have the holes with the new spring fitted. On Td5 they still have the holes but went back to the old spring for some inexplicable reason, but at least you can upgrade easily.
 
My 1994 tdi had the wrong pedal and box ! So fitted a take off puma box/pedal inc spring and master cylinder cost £45
 
I fitted the spring to my 04 td5, it did make a noticeable improvement!! It was a doddle to fit, press the bushes in, pedal pressed all the way to the floor and pop the spring in!!!!!
 
After 8 years I got round to doing this simple mod today and the difference is amazing. Could not believe it would have such a marked effect. Now I cant get my old lady out of my Fender. Before this she would only drive it in an emergency. May have to put the old spring back on if this keeps up. Seriously though for those of you dithering just get it done.
lightning said:
After six months and 6,000 miles the clutch on my Defender TD5 was still a pain in traffic

So l fitted the replacement clutch pedal spring kit. For those who don't know, it consists of a replacement spring and three plastic bushes.

It's easy to fit. Remove the giant coil spring from the clutch pedal and replace the bolt. Remove the top from the clutch pedal box and (with your wife or a block of wood holding the clutch pedal down) remove the nut from the master cylinder push rod, releasing the pedal.
Fit the three bushes on the pedal and locate the top of the spring in each side. Pull the pedal up as far as it will go and using a pair of pliers, press the lower part of the spring into the bush.
It's fiddly to do, but on mine it went on first try.

Refit the nut/washer on the clutch pedal (wife or block of wood needed again to hold it down)
Refit the top on the pedal box.

The difference is amazing. The clutch is much lighter with a better action. The spring goes over centre as you press the pedal down, so actually assists towards the bottom of the pedal travel, rather than giving increased resistance as the original spring does.

Goodness knows why it was not fitted as standard. The holes have been present in the clutch pedal/box since the 1980's. I believe it was fitted as standard with the Puma engine from 2007.
Click to expand...
 
Any idea if this mod works on a TD5 Disco 2? We've got one that is ready to back n the road but similar issue - wife wants to keep it but can't cope with the heavy clutch any more. If there's a mod I can use , car stays.
 
It depends on how early your D2 is, the very early ones had the same pedal box as the D1 300TDI - those have got the ears to accomodate the spring, later ones (mine unfortunately) don't.

You can also fit an aftermarket slave cylinder from LOF clutches that makes the clutch ~ 30% lighter, I'm going to put one on mine in the not too distant future - but I'm also going to try and retrofit the D1 style pedal box mount so I can fit the spring.

See here for the slave -> https://lofclutches.com/shop/clutch...-f-powerslave-for-td5-discovery-and-defender/

And here for the spring info -> https://lofclutches.com/shop/clutch...covery-1-300tdi-powerspring-pedal-assist-kit/
 
Just found this thread, never heard of this spring thingie. I have a 2004 TD5 D2 - I take it I don't have "ears" so i only have the option of a LOF reduced effort slave cylinder to prevent my left leg taking steroids? (I wouldn't actually mind a beefier left leg, but I really don't fancy seeing that on my misses. :D )
 
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