I don't like the look of this..

[303Gunner]

While driving back from the Central Coast late one night, and still 2 1/2hrs from home, I suddenly found the clutch pedal sink straight to the floor. I soon discovered that I had lost all hydraulic pressure to the clutch release, but the clutch itself was working fine. A crawl in the gravel revealed a drip of fluid forming on the pipe fitting into the slave cylinder, but still no clutch pressure.

I made my way to an all-night servo and bought some brake fluid and a bottle of drink. I topped up the clutch master reservoir and using the drinking straw on the bleed nipple, tried to bleed the system single handedly. All that did was provide more fluid to drain out of the pipe fitting.

I resigned myself to a clutchless, double de-clutch trip home in the night. Due to the weight of the 6x6, I couldn't key start it in 1st gear, and had to use 1st Lo. Lo to High range has no synchro, and being a fairly new vehicle to me, I was not still quite up to proper Rev-to Road Speed range of each gear. Some gear changes were pretty ugly, but provided I kept it moving, gears within High range were fairly good on the long trip home.

Next day, a look at the problem revealed a split pipe to the Slave Cylinder.


Near the flare, the pipe had fractured for about 3/4 of the circumference. No matter how tight the fitting was torqued up, it would pump out fluid. This was caused by a Previous Owner cross-threading the fitting into the Slave Cylinder.

I made up a new pipe and fittings, but because the thread in the Slave Cylinder was damaged, the new pipe would not go into it. Into the pocket again and get a new Slave Cylinder. When I removed the old Cylinder, the clutch release push rod came out with it.


Up to now, this had all been very interesting. But this was the part I did not like. Some swear words, etc. The little black plastic clip on the end of the push rod is supposed to clip over the release arm and hold the push rod in place. The cylinder end of the push rod dangles out of the opening in the bellhousing so you can insert it into the Slave Cylinder. But no  . without the plastic holding the end of the rod on the release arm, I can't re-install the Slave Cylinder.

I can hold the rod in position against the release arm, but when I remove my fingers from the rod to install the Cylinder, it won't stay in position. I can fit the pushrod into the Cylinder (like how the old one came out), but the rod won't stay up to align with the release arm.

Am I right in thinking that the next step now is to remove the gearbox, in order to clip the rod onto the end of the release arm? (Nooo..). And if so, does the Gearbox come up through the seatbox or drop down? And does any know the weight of the LT95?

If the gearbox has to lift up through the seatbox, this will utterly re-inforce to me all the negative stereotypes of Land Rover Mechanical Logic.

Problem: Leaking clutch hydraulics

Step 1: Unbolt and remove Passenger door.
Remove Seats.
Remove seat box.
Disconnect Handbrake cable.
Disconnect PTO lever.
Disconnect 3 driveshafts.
Disconnect PTO Driveshaft.
Disconnect PTO actuator.
Disconnect Hi/Lo vacuum line
Disconnect Speedo cable.
Unbolt bellhousing bolts
Unbolt mounts.
Use engine crane to lift out gearbox.
When out, TAKE 10 SECONDS TO RE-INSTALL THAT FREAKING LITTLE BLACK CLIP!
and put everything back in.
Then,...
(Toyota and Suzuki owners commence at this point onwards)
Fit new Slave Cylinder, bleed hydraulics.

*More swear words at this point*

[Barefoot dave]

G'Day T.
Geez mate, that sucks.
Giving me flashbacks from a couple of years ago.
I checked the bolts on my TD5 auto flex plate and a bolt head fell out.
NOT from the plate but a different size and just the shorn off head!
ID as a bell housing bolt, housing to box (
So, bought another for $2.40. and commenced the RandR of the box in the driveway using jacks and ropes.
Never again.
All kinds of dramas.
Eventually got to it and the remains of the bolt were only finger tight. 10 secs later, job done and start the replacement.
fun fun. Don't get me started on the 'Secret' bell housing bolt at the back of the engine and not in the Workshop manual....

Sorry mate, no help, but understanding of you pain.
Dave

[Sixty]

Don't drop the box!!
Section of hose or pvc is your friend!! Insert the pushrod into the hose/pvc, line it up with the arm and push, clip locks around the arm and pull out the hose/pvc.

Def saves an 8hr R&R of a transmission 

[Phoenix]

I hope that works for 303gunner 60, would be a lot better than the alternative!

Rotten luck on the whole episode, hopefully it all gets sorted out!

I did a similar thing when doing my series 3 engine swap, forgot the little plastic clip holding the thrust bearing in place.  Answer, put it in with a LONG pair of pliers bought for the purpose through the access hatch.  avoided a 2nd engine out!

[Sixty]

As long as he holds his tongue right should be easy 

[303Gunner]

Just refreshing this old thread with the final solution to my problem.

I ended up making a "Special tool" to refit the rod and clip. Special tools always sound pricey and you only ever end up using them one then put them way in the Special Tool-Box, to be never seen again.

I tried Sixty's suggestion of PVC tubing over the rod, but the clip kept rotating down and wouldn't engage the release arm. I needed a way to hold the clip while trying to align it and push it firmly onto the release arm, but loose enough that it would release easily when I had succeeded in clipping it on and not drag the clip off the arm.

The tool I made was comprised of a bit of scrap copper water pipe and some copper wire, Cost $0.00. Crude, but it worked perfectly. And having used it once, it's now been put away again where my descendants will find it many years from now and say WTF is this??

[Carzee]

Thx, a great little solution to slave clutch woes.
Saturday was sunny so it was time to help out a friend. One of the three Perenties in the recent Canberra campfire group had since lost clutch pedal and couldn't be driven. Trying to bleed the sys on your own is .... So we got together and it came good after being bled up. What had gone wrong? We had a spare slave and flexible hose ready but didn't swap out any parts. I had been worried about the slave arm problem as i have never dealt with it. Thx for your photos, a real help. Anyway, the perentie pedal is good to go again, but for how long we wonder.

[303Gunner]

Trying to bleed the sys on your own is ....

The easiest part of the whole process. A 2 minute job for one person.

I made up a 2m length of 6mm clear tube and bent a 100mm length of brake piping into a "U" shape. Push the brake pipe into one end of the clear tube. No funky non-return valves or any other trickery, just plain plastic tube. The 6mm tube will push over the bleed nipple, and the bent pipe hooks over the side of the clutch reservoir. Crack open the bleed nipple about 1/4 to 1/3 of a turn. Fill the reservoir with fluid. Give the clutch 5 or 6 pumps, pausing at the bottom of each stroke. Check the clear tube for the position of the bubbles. If they are close to the slave cylinder, pump the pedal a few more times. Tighten the bleed nipple. Job done. Put your finger over the end of the bent pipe to seal it when you pull the tubing off the bleed nipple, and you won't spill any of the (approx. 20-40ml) brake fluid in the tubing.

The air bubbles will rise in the clear tube by gravity alone. The pause between pumps will allow the bubbles to rise far enough up to not be drawn back into the cylinder when you release the pedal. By hooking the bent pipe into the reservoir, the fluid is recycled, but you will still need to monitor the level to ensure air is not drawn in when pumping the pedal. If you wish to flush the fluid and replace it with new, just hook the bent pipe into a bottle or container to catch the old fluid as you pump through new fluid.

Of course, this will also work when bleeding brakes making it a one-man job. The pipe is long enough to reach the master cylinder when doing the front brake, and when doing the rear brakes, long enough to reach a container sat up higher than the brake bleeder, such as in the back of the vehicle or on a stand next to the vehicle.

When finished, push the end of the tube over the open end of the pipe to seal out any messy leaks or the entry of contamination, chuck it in the tool box!

[FFRMAN]

Wow fantastic idea. My slave is on the way out and I'm the only one on the farm ( no helpers around) so will use this method.

Thanks
Scott

[philmcdau]

Similar issues that I am having with a post up yesterday "Clutch hassles' there is some interest here that may help.

When I removed the slave cylinder it was in pieces in the housing , the spring and piston had been pushed into the housing. The rod to the release arm came out and I found the end ball had broken off. I found it in the housing.

I had this welded back on today, got a new slave cylinder put it all together and while it is holding fluid the clutch will still not engage.

Stripped again and there seems to be no pressure on the release arm in the housing... so when the slave pushes the rod forward it means it stays forward. This to me measn a problem on the other end where it meets the clutch working parts..... thoughts on what it may be and am I up to removing the gearbox now and look at a deeper problem.