Defender 300 tdi clutch slip

[Roverdrive]

A tale of woe with a (so far) happy ending.

While on holiday in the Lake District last weekend, the clutch started to slip in 4th gear, after we had been parked up for the day in Grizedale. ( no slipping from the site to Grizedale )

I changed down to third and kept the revs down to get back to the site.

Left the 110 parked up the next day as wanted to try to limp home on the Monday towing the tin tent.

The following morning, the problem was still there, but no worse with 1.6 tonne on the back.

Drove home at 50mph in 4th gear on the motorway, with no slipping.

When close to home, changed up to fifth and floored it up to 60 mph - no slipping!

Had a conversation with the guru at Overlandrs, and he suggested rather than a clutch, to try replacing the hydraulic hose to the slave cylinder, as hydraulics seem to cause the most problems on older vehicles.

Lo and behold, the hose that was on had a very sharp turn out of the slave, and when draining the fluid, it appeard to be very thin and watery looking.

Since changing the hose, I have not had any problems with the clutch slipping, but ave only driven about 50 miles so far.

I am guessing that there was sone water in the fluid, and combined with a partial obstruction, the colder temperatures in the Lakes turned the fluid to slush which was slow to come back out of the slave.

Certainly worth spending a couple of quid on a hose rather than taking the engine out!

Mike

[Mo Murphy]

Cheaper than a new clutch Mike another thing that causes clutch slip is poor adjustment of the master cylinder push rod. So always worth checking cheapest and easiest things before forking out your hard earned.

Mo

[Roverdrive]

Mo

Certainly was! I had checked the free play on the pedal, which is another common problem I believe.

Just thought I would post up in case anyone else can benefit from my good fortune. :-)