Clutch Slip Travel Risk?

[Jake the Peg]

The Poor Chap is 'gonna' have a terrible trip, One half of his Brain will be thinking about flipping Burgers and supping ale , And the other half will be thinking about when his Clutch is 'gonna' let go....

@Higgy i think he was already there turning to us to say go for it, but if it’s slipping in mud, how much confidence would you have setting off for a long trip? I’m with you on the supping ale tho

 

[David]

Check the slave cylinder pushrod. If it is tight it could be keeping the clutch open slightly. Unlikely but worth checking 5 minute job rather than 5 days lol.

Happened to my 78 troopy

 

[Dave2000]

@Higgy i think he was already there turning to us to say go for it, but if it’s slipping in mud, how much confidence would you have setting off for a long trip? I’m with you on the supping ale tho

And perhaps, God help him if it does fail and his wife finds out he ignored the advice of people on here some with 50 years of experience voiced opinions that it was at best a chancer!


Regards

Dave

 

[Toadshade]

All right all right. I get it. And for the record I never discounted any advice. It was either take my truck, cancel the trip, or take a Mini Cooper into the Appalachian mountains for 4 days during heavy snow. For all those waiting to find out if I am stuck on a mountain top, I am back and the truck held up just fine. Now I get to drop the clutch on my own terms.

 

[Shayne]

Alls well that ends well , and unless your heading off grid sometime soon I’d just see how it goes . As posted earlier Chapel gate glazed his with a boot full of throttle and it hasn’t been mentioned since so I’m assuming the slip cured itself as the glaze wore off under normal driving .

A 2.5 ton truck is not designed to do drifting wheelspin doughnuts when you drop the clutch on a boot full of throttle so something has to spin .

 

[IRLGW]

Just be aware that if you destroy the clutch to the point of loosing drive, then you will possibly be looking at a flywheel re-surface too. Dont ask me how I know that but in an 80 with a slipping clutch you can still tow a defender 90 with a trailer and two bails of silage!

 

[Toadshade]

Well that's one way to get a Defender around. Only other way I know is on a tow truck

 

[Dave_S]

Clearly never owned a Defender. My Tdi 90 was a match for my 80 series LC (and more reliable).

 

[Gav missin]

I had 6 defenders over the years and I got to say they were not. I'd never own another.

 

[Toadshade]

Clearly never owned a Defender. My Tdi 90 was a match for my 80 series LC (and more reliable).

My knowledge of Land Rovers is based on slipped sleeves on the Buick (gas) engine. I work with a guy who does nothing but rebuilds them for what he considers suckers for continuing to fix them. Other than that I know nothing about them. On the other hand I would do anything for one of those aluminum frames.

 

[Dave2000]

My comp prepared Discovery was very reliable, but found I was underneath it most weekends fixing this leak oh and that one........no wait is that another?

Regards

Dave

 

[Towpack]

I had a '94 300Tdi Disco for seven years prior to getting the 80 and to give it it's dues, it never actually let me down although I had a near miss with the timing belt issue which I caught just in time. It got some stick doing many motorway miles towing a boat to and from Scotland with no EGT or oil pressure gauges and I never gave it a thought! The build quality wasn't the best though. It was 11 years old when I sold it in 2005 and the dreaded aluminium/steel corrosion was starting to show in places. It looks like the MOT ran out in 2010 so it may well have met it's end.

 

[Chris]

If the 80 had actually leaked a little, perhaps it would heve kept the dreaded tinworm at bay for a few of them.

 

[essexpete]

I have got under mine periodically with a knap sack sprayer lance with a mixture of diesel and hydraulic oil.

 

[Dave_S]

I had 6 defenders over the years and I got to say they were not. I'd never own another.

TBH all of these trucks are now 20 odd years old and maintenance is more an issue than the original build quality. Absolutely, Yotas were better built out of the box (in the 80s and 90s at least), but by this time its mostly about who and how its been maintained. My Tdi was certainly more reliable than my 80 Series of the same era, despite being used and abused. I've owned most makes of 4x4s over the years from Zuki 413 through to Pinzgauer 712 and pretty much everything in between, and most frequently I see reliability (after initial purchase) as being more linked to maintenance than initial build quality.

Lets not forget that LCs also rust for fun, 12v 80s suffer BEB failure, the much praised lockers are regularly FUBAR... etc... Anyway, you get my point.

I like my 80 series, I like my Hilux more, but I've never understood the animosity for other makes and models. I'd probably never own another Puma LR (the engine/gearbox never worked properly), but I'd have a 200/300 Tdi in a heartbeat if the money was right - unfortunately the Defender market is even more ridiculous than the LC market at the moment!

Anyway, back to the OP - glad you survived your trip

 

[Toadshade]

Very true. We keep these old trucks on the road by mostly modifying the bad parts out. I know my lifted, three battery, solid roof rack with awning, solar rear boxed touch screen stereo'd truck would be on the cover of Car and Driver if built in the day even though I am not claiming to have done a pro job. (But I do wish LC's came with an aluminum frame.)

 

[IRLGW]

I have owned 3 defender 90 including a county fitted with a fourtrak 2.8tdi. If you have one with a sheared outputshaft from towing a plant trailer with two bails of silage on board then the 80 with the slipping clutch will still tow it and the rain wont come in the door pillar and run down your face. The best fun I ever had though was in my first defender90 with a 2.5d and some skinny tyres. The best £600 I ever spent?

 

[Gav missin]

I loved my defenders at the time. Landcruiser or anything else were simply out of my price range at the time. However they did simply just let me down time and time again. And I did look after them. I changed so many engines (300tdi) belt failed x2 due to misalignment on the gears from factory. All which should have been done on recall years before but obviously were missed. 200 tdi (probably best engine) ran away on its oil and the old 19j turbo diesel well I'd rather forget that old shitter. You knew by the sound of the very first crank on the engine if it was going to start or not on a cold morning. Leaking doors awful seating position pedals offset from the seat having to drive with the window open so you could have somewhere for your elbow and a heater that didn'tdo what it say on the tin. Diffs that really were made of cheese and axle swivels constantly leaking and eating bearings. They do have a place in my heart for nostalgic reasons and I'd take one over any of the modern town car shite landrover are currently pumping out. But in 20 years of owning Toyotas I've been towed home once from a pay and play where I absolutely mullered it on rocks in a lake 5 ft deep. Front cv rear diff pinion and filled gearbox full of water (auto).

 

[Dave_S]

Hey Gav - Gotta agree - the 19J was shockingly bad, but I ran a 200 Tdi as a comp machine for 7 or 8 years and never had an issue with the engine or box, didn't use oil or water. I did blow a couple of diffs, but only during comp work - I can't recall ever having to get towed home, everything was always fixable I drove it a couple of thousand miles around Iceland and only suffered one blown bulb the entire trip, which I was pretty impressed with, especially given the corrugations on the Icelandic roads.

Strangely I never found the seating position or pedal placement at issue, though I did crack my elbow off the door more times than I care to remember

But back to my main point - my 200 Tdi had previously been owned by a mechanic mate of mine and he'd been super diligent on servicing, so the truck was "right" when I started. By comparison the previous owner of my 80 series was clearly mechanically challenged and fudged a number of issues that only showed up over the first year or so over ownership - much of the reliability issues we had on the 80 were down to this bad maintenance, mismatched parts, etc....

 

[Shayne]

If any of us were handed a brand new 80 today , how long would it last with the benefit of hindsight ?

Neighbours would be saying "whats that idiot oiling his window rubbers for"