Wanted a vehicle I could work on myself, I certainly got that!&#33

[dudley]

We got rid of a Rover family hatch and replaced it for a Defender. We or should I say, I, decided on a 300tdi and not a TD5 as I wanted to be able to service and work on it myself and not have to take it to be plugged into a computer, ok TD5 owners will probably dispute that, but my point is I am no mechanic, but quite handy and looked forward to working on it, and it has not disappointed me, as to date it has given me plenty of opportunity to hone my mechanic skills. I have serviced it a couple of times now, fine! Replaced the rear cross member, had to be done! Now trying to sort out an electrical fault, what a pain! Rebuilt the front end after my wife Jane parked it hard into the back of a moving fuel tanker, but that is hardly fault of our Defender.

But today the clutch pedal has stuck down.

No oil visible inside under pedal,

Pedal manually pulls back up ok,

Pedal does not drop or pull down on its own,

It does go into gear, but it is possible it is a bit more difficult than before but hard to say when your fiddling to pull the pedal back up with your toe.

Do you think it is Slave or Master Cylinder or how do I identify which has gone or should I do both.

It’s a '98 300TDi with original clutch and done 60k miles.

Thanks Steve.

[bigstevemex]

hi steve thanks for reply about fusebox.ref this fault it may be that the pushrod from the slave has pushed through the clutch fork.it is a well documented failure and im sure there will be plenty about it on here.on the subject of changing one or other cylinder i always change both as they seam to wear out together.if you want to know if the release fork has pushed through you can remove the slave and peer inside with a strong torch to see what has happened.it is also advisable to change the clutch flexy hose at the same time as they collapse internally and restrict the flow of fluid when you release the pedal.also take out the metal pipe and flush it through with carb cleaner or similar then blast out with compressed air if avaliable.as an AA patrol i see alot of defenders at the roadside with clutch faults and they have often just been repaired at a garage.for a simple sytem alot of people get it wrong but there is a huge technical archive and the members on here are the best i have found on a forum.hope you sort it out.do some research and dont be afraid to ask.take care steve

[ashtray]

i had the clutch fork problem on my old disco, very quickly the clutch pedal travel and height diminished (by quickly i mean a few hundred yards or 3 or 4 gear changes and then it went all the way to the floor, kept pumping it and it eventually locked up. I had to limp home without the use of the clutch. If your clutch is still operation then it should not be a clutch fork issue as they fail almost instantly resulting in no clutch operation. It sounds to me like an hydraulic issue.

[cackshifter]

How much fluid in the reservoir?

[Maverik]

Hmmm, well in the clutch system there are verious springs that should help the pedal to return to the top, the big two are the clutch annulus spring itself, and a spring that is attched to the pedal assembly istelf, you can see it if you have a look in the footwell, (behind the sound damping if you have it).

You'd know if the clutch annulus spring had gone as you wouldn't be able to lift the clutch. you could have lost the pedal spring? that would potentially stop the pedal from returning up, could have broken/corroded through?

The other spring is in the piston housing itself, but thats relativly small in comparrison.

If the pedal spring is still in tact, then I would guess that one of your cylinders had started to deteriorate.... but if that had happend then they would be bypassing and you would not be able to operate the clutch properly.

I'd check the pedal return spring first, should look like this one... then check the resovioir for black rubber bits (very fine bits) - means some of your seals are on the way out.

[dudley]

Sorry cackshifter I have been working.

The reservoir is fine, fluid at maximum line.

[dudley]

Thanks Maverik but the pedal you show is different to mine and I do not have the long spring you circled in red. The pedal you show comes out of the bulkhead at almost a horizontal angle whereas my pedal comes through the bulkhead higher up and comes down more vertical into the footwell. As it comes through the bulkhead into the footwell there are two heavy springs each side of the pedal, and they look fine. I will check for fine rubber bits in the fluid tomorrow.

Thanks Steve.

[western]

Thanks Maverik but the pedal you show is different to mine and I do not have the long spring you circled in red. The pedal you show comes out of the bulkhead at almost a horizontal angle whereas my pedal comes through the bulkhead higher up and comes down more vertical into the footwell. As it comes through the bulkhead into the footwell there are two heavy springs each side of the pedal, and they look fine. I will check for fine rubber bits in the fluid tomorrow.

Thanks Steve.

picture is 90degrees out of true, that spring has probably been replaced by a single stronger item, yours should have 1 spring of a different design like this item 2 page 477

the brake pedal should have 2 return/assist springs

[Maverik]

I've been thinking about this and I'd have another look at the return spring closely - maybe pop the hatch of the top of the pedal box?, make sure it hasn't gone ping - it could deceptivly look ok, when really you have broken off one of the ends etc.). From the parts book Ralph has listed you can see you obviously have the internal type return spring (I just learn't something as I didn't know there where 2 types!) As your clutch is still working I'm struggling to picture what would generate enough friction to allow the peddal to stick down especially against the force of the pedal return spring. It could be that it is literally the death throws of your (educated guess) master cyclinder, so the seals are still sealing but are chewing themselves up in the cylider bore causing the stickyness...

Have a look underneither at the slave, see if its leaking? it may leak into the flywheel housing so you might see something coming out the flywheel housing drain hole...