Clutch issues

[Paul Goldsmith]

On arrival home at the weekend after our 200+ miles return from Yorkshire I couldn't engage any gear as the box was still engaged when I depressed the clutch and double de-clutching made no difference. Our gear changes had been become noticeably more tricky for the last 50 miles or so.

Luckily I managed to coast our van to a parked position that night but I was too tired and it was dark to investigate at the time.

I took a peek last night and found our clutch now seems operative again and the gears can be selected plus driving the van a short distance seems fine.

Apart from a visible gearbox oil leak (I still need to get our van level to check quantity remaining) My other investigative work highlighted a possible issue with our clutch slave cylinder which had its rubber boot removed from the cylinder. I popped it back over the cylinder but it feels a really loose fit and all look dry inside the end. Also the slave piston rod is not fixed into the slave mechanism - is this normal ?

None of this looks good to a clutch novice like myself, it appears in the WM to be a simple and cheapish job to replace. Other than the main clutch fluid level itself, is there anything else I should look into before proceeding ?

Thanks as usual

Commer 'Hi Tor' by TorCars

 

[commeracer]

sounds like you might have air or a leak in the clutch line, try bleeding it

"you were only supposed to blow the bloody SLIDING doors off"

 

[Panky]

You seem to be loosing some travel on the clutch, as Tim said bleed the system but check the level first - it may have dropped over time to alow for clutch wear and if it wasn't filled up enough you could be drawing air into the system. The rod isn't connected to the slave cylinder - that's normal.
One other thing to check - what side of the bellhousing is the slaver cylinder bolted to? It should be on the back face (so that it pushes against the bell housing when operated) otherwise you loose a load of travel.

Harvey the RV

 

[Paul Goldsmith]

Cheers guys, I've got a dirty weekend ahead (crawling under the van) to try and fix as the gearbox is soaked in oil

Commer 'Hi Tor' by TorCars