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[Flying Torquewrench]

Over the last few weeks, when the car has warmed up it felt like the clutch pedal was sticking.

Today the noise (clunking) and sticky feeling became a lot worse. Once we got back into the car I was able to select a gear but initially the gearbox would not engage. After pressing the clutch pedal a few times the gearbox would engage but with no control over it at all, ie it would grab instantly without being able to drive off slowly.

I had the car recovered to a garage as it will be a gearbox off job, that I can’t do at home. Both the recovery guy and the mechanic think that it might be the flywheel. We don’t know for sure until they look into it tomorrow.

When I had the clutch replaced a couple of years ago the mechanic advised me already that the flywheel was out of limits regarding the amount of play.

The Patrol has just turned 22 years old and a new flywheel will set me back £1200 plus labour.

A lot of soul searching is going on if I should invest the money to buy a new flywheel or bite the bullet and buy another car. At the moment I am leaning to buying another car. :freak3: I would be very sad to see the Patrol go but I don’t think there is another sensible option.

Before making a final decision, does anybody know a dual mass flywheel (in good condition) for sale in the UK or a conversion kit to a solid mass flywheel?

Many thanks.

 

[macabethiel]

Is it a hydraulic clutch? It could be the slave or master cylinder are leaking

 

[solarman216]

What year is yours, are you sure it has a DM flywheel, I would be changing it for a normal one if it is Rick

 

[solarman216]

I could be interested in taking it off your hands, Rick

 

[zippy656]

Could also be a leak in the pipe over the back axle. Not sure if the patrol has the pipe

 

[Flying Torquewrench]

As far as I am aware it has an hydraulic clutch.

It was built in 1998 and it definitely has a DM flywheel, found that out when the clutch was replaced. Nissan quote £1200 for a new flywheel and the internet isn’t cheaper.

Have had a look last night for a solid mass flywheel but can’t find anything in the UK.

 

[solarman216]

Mine was registered in 97 so there are clear differences between the two, I have a valve with a bleed nipple on it on the nearside under the diff lock control valves, no idea what it does, in some documentation I have seen reference to Vac assisted clutch, but as far as I can see there is no Vac connection and if I deplete the Vac from the system it does not seem to make any difference to the pedal feel, someone some place must have a 2.8 with a solid flywheel? Rick

 

[Flying Torquewrench]

Thanks Rick and everybody else!

After initially telling me that it might be the flywheel they have now confirmed that it is a hydraulic issue. After the car was dropped off by the recovery agent yesterday they managed to drive it round the block.

At the moment the clutch slave cylinder is sticking and a new one should be installed later today. The other mechanic at the garage has a Land Rover Defender and he had the same issue with his car. It turned out to be the clutch slave cylinder so this is where they started troubleshooting this morning.

Before all this happened I had planned to take the patrol apart again this summer as the MOT has an advisory about some corrosion. I might see how much it would cost to import a solid flywheel from Australia and fit it at the same time when the body is off.

 

[Flying Torquewrench]

By the way Rick, if he ever goes up for sale then I will put it on the forum first anyway. :thumb2

 

[macabethiel]

Thanks Rick and everybody else!

After initially telling me that it might be the flywheel they have now confirmed that it is a hydraulic issue. After the car was dropped off by the recovery agent yesterday they managed to drive it round the block.

At the moment the clutch slave cylinder is sticking and a new one should be installed later today. The other mechanic at the garage has a Land Rover Defender and he had the same issue with his car. It turned out to be the clutch slave cylinder so this is where they started troubleshooting this morning.

Before all this happened I had planned to take the patrol apart again this summer as the MOT has an advisory about some corrosion. I might see how much it would cost to import a solid flywheel from Australia and fit it at the same time when the body is off.

Pleased it was just the hydraulics for the cost involved I personally would replace the slave cylinder plus any hoses. I would not fret about the flywheel wear as usually when the disc and pressure plate are replaced even if there is a little wear on the flywheel it works okay as they do have some tollenerances in the set up .

 

[Flying Torquewrench]

It is safely back at home.

Slave cylinder was the issue, most likely due to the car not being used a lot and the age of the components. The house was most upset when it initially looked like it was game over for the Patrol.

Thanks to everybody for your help. It was quite stressful till the right diagnosis was made. Where we live is inaccessible to HGV’s and we are in the middle of replacing our driveway. So the Patrol is unmissable at the moment as that is the only way we get building products to the site.

 

[elty001]

Glad you're all sorted and it turned out to be a reasonable repair.
Just shows how S**t garages can be when diagnosing faults.
This is why I do my own repair work.
Hate to think what I would have spent on garage Bill's over the years

 

[Flying Torquewrench]

In all fairness Elty, the garage is very good.

The car wouldn’t start anymore when the recovery guy came to collect us. With some cars (not sure about the Patrol) there is a sensor on the flywheel and if the flywheel packs up then it will inhibit the engine from starting.

We dropped the car off at 4pm and by 4:30pm they had already driven around the block with it and ruled out a fault with the flywheel. I called them first thing in the morning with ideas of this forum but he already diagnosed the clutch slave cylinder.

Most repairs I do myself but this could have potentially been a case of removing the gearbox which I can’t do in my current garage. Just haven’t got the space for it. Been building a bigger garage but hit some issues with the council and had to demolish. Now nearly three years later we finally got planning permission (via an appeal to the Inspectorate) and with a bit of luck we should be up and running in 2021.

 

[Flying Torquewrench]

Update

A quick update as it seems that the problem hasn’t been sorted completely.

The drive back from the garage was fine but is only about 5 miles. Yesterday was the first time that I took the car out for a longer drive and the problem has returned. As the car gets warmer every time when you release the clutch pedal it clonks.

If I let the car cool down then it all works fine again till it warms up. I will take the master clutch cylinder off and see if there are any problems with that. Might even just replace it as it is not the most expensive part.

 

[Lazy-Ferret]

Are you sure the clonk is not in the pedal? There are a number of issues with it. Some crack the matal on the mounting. Sime have a bush wear problem.

On mine, it was adjustment. The pedal has an over centre spring, so when the pedal is at the top it lifts the pedal, but when you start to press the pedal, it helps you push ir down. Often it sticks at the point just before it snaps over from pushing down to lifting up. Try lifting the pedal with your toe after you have changed gear, you miggt feel it pop up.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[Davey Boy]

Is the ‘clonk’ something you can feel?
Is it in the pedal area or under your seat?
D

 

[Flying Torquewrench]

Thank you both.

Yes, the clonk you can feel at the pedal. If it was the pedal then I would expect it to be doing it all the time and not just when the car is hot.

I can sit in a cold car and keep pressing the clutch pedal without any issues till I see blue in the face.

However, I will check the pedal today and see what I can find.

 

[Flying Torquewrench]

Checked the pedal and the mounting brackets and all looks and feels fine. Started the car and the clutch worked absolutely fine. Drove it around for a bit but the fault did not return.

Yesterday after a 5 mile trip is started ‘clonking’. At first it is fairly unnoticeable apart from the feeling in the clutch pedal. If I keep driving with it then the clonking noise gets worse.

Once I have time I take it for a longer drive till I get the clonking back. At least then I can properly investigate where it comes from and hopefully get to the bottom of it.

 

[Flying Torquewrench]

With all the hassle of the last few months I haven’t used the Patrol as much as I should have.

I need to get to the bottom of this problem as it seriously undermines the pleasure of driving the Patrol. To such an extent that I have lost my confidence in it and don’t take it on longer drives.

The clutch slave cylinder has been replaced but didn’t solve the problem. I have bought a master clutch cylinder which I will replace later today. Hopefully that will solve the problem. :bow

 

[Flying Torquewrench]

I am very hopeful that I have found and solved the issue. After replacing the master clutch cylinder I dismantled the old one to see if there were any obvious defects.

No immediate defects were apparent. However when depressing the piston manually against the spring it sometimes would not back when releasing the pressure. I think that the “clonk” was the piston moving forward against the stopper after the clutch pedal was released. This would in turn be passed through the clutch booster and into the clutch pedal.

It also explains why the clutch pedal sometimes had some “empty” travel before engaging. If the piston was stuck in the clutch master cylinder then there would be space between the clutch booster input rod and the piston in the clutch master cylinder.

Hope this all made sense.