Took my 90 (300tdi, R380, G Reg) to my local landy shop for a couple things. As soon as he was in the car he said two things

1. Your gearbox is on its way out
2. Clutch is extremely heavy

The first was justified by a noisy rattle when the clutch was up (quite bad) and the gearstick was stiff. The second was obviously the clutch pedal was really heavy!

When I went to collect the car, he said the gearbox wasn’t as bad as he thought – it drives fine with the usual 3rd / 4th gear guess work. He said he sprayed the turret and it loosened off the gearstick stiffness.


Anyway, I have been reading a lot about this rattle and now understand its probably due to either clutch springs, or release bearing against the fork?


I put in a new heavy duty clutch about 300 miles ago and I don’t remember the rattle before that. I don’t think I lubricated the inside face of the release bearing against the shaft and I know the plastic clip that holds the bearing to the fork hardly stayed in when I was setting up. I also put on a new slave and master cylinder – same part number as I took off. All new clutch fluid too.


So my questions are

1. Should springs on a new clutch plate rattle? If not, I guess its more likely the bearing?
2. Does that plastic clip stop the bearing rattling? If so, is there a way to retrofit a new one if the original wasn’t good? Or a work around? The rattle is really loud and sounds horrible!
3. Should I have lubricated the shaft the bearing sits on? I did the plates on the fork, but not the shaft the bearing runs on. Would this explain the heavy clutch?
4. Can I change the master or slave cylinder to help with the clutch? I have a ‘200 tdi’ style pedal, so the clutch spring modification isn’t possible for me.

Hi Rory, I've only changed my clutch once and my gearbox is still ok, so haven't had to do anything with it. However, I'll answer best to my knowledge and that might encourage others to be more specific.
No, your new clutch, springs etc shouldn't rattle.
No, the plastic clip does not stop the bearing rattling. I suspect you are talking about the U shaped clip that holds the push rod retainer in place during assembly. It's not needed after that.
Can't remember lubricating mine, don't think so! From what I've read such rattles are often the main input shaft bearing on the way out.
Not sure about the cause of your heavy clutch. Don't know if it's the slave/master set up or you might have a restriction in the system.

Was it a Land Rover dealer/'specialist'? If not then of course the clutch felt heavy - it is! Did it feel heavier to you after fitting the new hd clutch? If so, then it's probably got a stronger diaphragm spring.

There's no point in lubricating the release bearing because it hardly touches the tube it's over. Did you put a new bearing in when you did the clutch change?

Ashcroft Transmissions say:
"My gearbox rattles on idle, in neutral, with the clutch up

This is very common on Diesel engined vehicles. The clutch friction plate has a ring of springs, which are there to soften the knock of the diesel engine to stop it being transmitted to the driveline. Often especially with a new clutch these springs are quite tight and a lot of the engine knock goes through to the gearbox and makes the gears "chatter" together when the box is in neutral and the clutch up, it goes when the clutch is depressed. This can sound quite bad and does vary from car to car but is not detrimental to the life of the gearbox and we view it as an undesirable characteristic of the LT 77 and R 380 as opposed to a fault with either the gearbox or the clutch."
https://www.ashcroft-transmissions.co.uk/frequently-asked-questions/r380-faq-s.html