Freelander Drive Issues

[cjard]

If youre driving your car along the road, and you accelerate, only to find that your engine revs are increasing but your speed isn't then it's usually a sure-fire sign that the clutch is slipping. The only other situation is if it is wheelspinning and the wheel that is spinning is not the one that the speedo is linked to. You'd kinda feel a wheelspin, as there tends to be an accompanying juddering (as the tyre gets grip then loses it) or a screeching noise (and black lines in your wake. Highly unlikely on a 4 wheel drive with a relatively weedy engine)

A great test for this is to pull the handbrake on hard, give it some beans and then try and set off in second gear. If the vehicle moves, the handbrake isn't very good. If it stays still and doesnt stall, the clutch is knackered. If it stalls, all is normal.

 

[tommydickfinger]

the dual mass flywheel-in laymans terms-is your clutch and assembly-dont worry about it, transits golfs and mondeos are the worst offenders, but your looking to deep- any good garage will check for any sign of contamination that may be gettin in to the box or leaking into the bellhousing from inside, all you want is the box slipping out and a new clutch in, many garages will not think twice about qouteing, 500 upwards, afterall- they can do it and you cant-thats life.it'll cost him in real terms 250- but i dont know a garage in the world that charges the exact hours the vehicle has been worked on,

kind regards

 

[AndrewSchofield]

Thanks guys, its definately not a wheel spin causing it - we've had the car nearly five years and i've never managed to get a wheel spin, regardless of road conditions, tyre condition etc.. even when i've been 'playing' in the snow!!

Guess we'll have to wait for the garage to come back to us. Is it something a competent DIY mechanic could do? I personally wouldn't attempt it but my father-in-law has replaced a clutch before (not in a freelander) and says he'll have a go if we want but is it something we should leave to a professional garage or is it feasible that he could do it?

 

[cjard]

A competent DIY mechanic could do it; I used to do all my own car maintenance and have replaced 3 clutches. Thing is, if you asked me now, I genuinely wouldn't want to. I'd far rather pay someone else to get dirty, gashing their hands open in the freezing cold and have some recourse to get it fixed if it wasnt right. If you fancy having a crack at it for the learning experience or to cross it off your "list of 100 things I must do before I die" then I'd heartily recommend going for it, but if there's any chance that you can earn sufficient to pay for it in the same time as it'd take you to do it, then it doesnt make much sense (to me) to have the stress

That said, the girlfriend's roof was supposed to be a "pay a pro to do it in half the time so we don't have to fall to our deaths" and look how that turned out..


ps; easiest way I found to get access to the bottom of the car was when I did the clutch and gearbox on a Ford Sierra; I asked the builder's merchants for use of their HIAB to roll the car onto its side, spare tyre wedged in the passenger window opening to stop it going over completely, replaced the clutch and gearbox then simply pushed the car back onto its wheels. You might not want to take such an unorthodox route )

 

[AndrewSchofield]

ps; easiest way I found to get access to the bottom of the car was when I did the clutch and gearbox on a Ford Sierra; I asked the builder's merchants for use of their HIAB to roll the car onto its side, spare tyre wedged in the passenger window opening to stop it going over completely, replaced the clutch and gearbox then simply pushed the car back onto its wheels. You might not want to take such an unorthodox route )

cjard - i mean this in the nicest possible way - are you insane? I'm pretty sure the missus would literally kill me if i said 'i'm just nipping outside to do the clutch on the car' and she looked out of the window to see me approaching the side of the freelander with a HiAB!! Do you have any pictures of this method in action - its sounds like a wonder to behold!

 

[cjard]

It was a good 10 years ago back in the days when you could say to a lorry driver "just lift that car up mate" and it wouldnt result in a quote from health and safety, company policy or uninsured risks books..

As for the insanity; not half as insane as some of the things my brother does to get his landcruiser out of the forests when he gets stuck

 

[Alastairreid]

cjard says,
I asked the builder's merchants for use of their HIAB to roll the car onto its side, spare tyre wedged in the passenger window opening to stop it going over.

LOL thats nuts cjard .

Thats the best laugh i`ve had in a long time.............what do you do once you have replaced the clutch ??. take it to the panel beaters. .

 

[AndrewSchofield]

As for the insanity; not half as insane as some of the things my brother does to get his landcruiser out of the forests when he gets stuck

Let me know when the two of you plan to get together then - i'll stay indoors!!

 

[AndrewSchofield]

My limited knowledge of the mechanics of a car wont give me the answer to this - we had new pads and discs put on the front wheels of the Freelander at the weekend and since then the 'suspected slipping clutch' hasn't occured?? Could the brakes sticking on (or anything connected to the brakes) have caused the increased revs and loss of power we were experiencing?