Defender Clutch Problem.

Had a problem with the clutch in my 300tdi defender 130. I'm hoping it's a hydraulic problem which is easy to fix, but a mechanic I've discussed the problem said he's seen a similar problem occur in 300tdi discos on 3 occasions in the last 12 months.

Symptoms are, clutch pedal stays at floor after depressing and clutch does not disengage. After flicking the clutch pedal back up, and manipulating it up and down a number of times, the clutch returns to life and seems to be fine. It did it to me a couple of weeks ago and a couple of days ago. It's fine at the moment.

I've had air (somehow) sucked back into a slave cylinder before and I'm checking that for signs of wear (armed with a replacement on consignment).

The problem I've been told about is the lever that depresses the throw out bearing (yoke?) is made of pressed metal, and the ball that it pivots on can wear through and cause intermittant problems. This is just before it gives up completely.

My long winded question is, has anyone seen this? And is it a common problem?

Many thanks in advance, Craig

The clutch arm problem is very common - on average an arm lasts about one and a half clutches, and as such should be replaced at the same time as the clutch - this more often than not avoids the problem. However, from the symptoms you describe, while not to be ruled out, I'd venture that you have a master cylinder problem - the arm failing usually identifies itself by not being able to select gears with the engine running, but being able to with the engine stopped and then starting up. It could be wear, or it could be just that the end float on the master cylinder has not been set up correctly which can lead to all sorts of interesting problems, one of which is sucking air past the slave seals on the basis that something has to give to allow the pedal to come back up!

For all you Td5 owners, you'll be pleased to know that the problem has been cured, by introducing a new clutch arm, part no. 576137. The one from a Series III. It's even got the Vital Little Bit!

Richard