MuddyMat

New Member
Hi All, strange things happening with my clutch. Any insight or advice would be very much appreciated.

Just had a new manual gearbox fitted. During reassembly the garage called and said the master and slave cylinders were shot so recommended replacement. I agreed to this.

Also, the car only had a new good quality clutch about 20k miles ago, so we didn’t change that.

Get the car back, when pushing the clutch down there is very little resistance until almost at the bottom. It feels like the travel when in the resistance zone is only about 2” or 4cm.

Getting into 1st and reverse are very tight. Worse when cold.

Drive it like this for a day…

Next day, pulling away, just finding the biting point in 1st and there is this pop, and the car lurches and stalls. I’ve still got the clutch peddle about an inch of the floor.

Then, into neutral, start engine, back into first and the clutch feels different. The resistance when pushing it down now starts much higher, like it used to… If say there is 6” total travel on the clutch peddle, now the resistance starts much higher, around 4” instead of the 2” I had before the pop.

The gear selection is also easier.

I’m racking my brain… what can that have been?

It’s like a return spring was maybe stuck, or the piston in the cylinder was stuck… and now it’s freed itself.

About an hour later I’m parallel parking, enjoying my new found easy gear selection and for a second the peddle feels different again. Perhaps a bit squishy…. But the garage tells me the system has been blead properly… and then it pops again. My clutch peddle is practically on the floor but just for a second I lurch forward almost hitting the car in front and the engine stalls.

Then its fine again for about an hour driving around town.

Same thing happened again later in the day. So that’s 3 times now.

I’m stumped… I’m hopping (perhaps foolishly) that it’s a teething gremlin and will disappear on its own with a little more use.

If anyone has any thoughts about what this could be then I’d love to hear from you.

Many thanks

Mat
 
The D2 clutches are noted for being difficult to bleed. Are you happy it's been bled ok? One piece of advice I was given is to depress to pedal with a pice of wood etc and leave it overnight to allow the air to travel up to the master cylinder.
Griff
 
Having bled mine, yes, it can be a bit of a bitch. Take it back, and ask them to test drive it if they don't believe you...
 
Thanks for your input All, I really think you’re all right.

I’m not one to accept poor service and I’m not shy about complaining.. however on this occasion the practicalities of taking the car back to the garage and asking them to investigate an intermittent issue… well… ! No idea if they would have any clue… there is more Landy knowledge on this site than in a 1000 local garages.

I drove it again today… short local trip but there was no issue with the clutch.

I really think, as a few have suggested, the clutch is difficult to bleed well and so there was probably a little air in there and now its probably worked it’s way through the system.

(Loving my new gearbox, I had a custom extra high ratio for 5th and now I do 70mph @ 2500rpm, as the car was remapped it copes with this well)

ttfn
 

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