Clutch Problems

[Pika1971]

I had a new clutch fitted a few weeks ago and it keeps slipping, it cost nearly 700 beans including the clutch which was about 100 beans itself.
I don't have a lot of faith in the garage that fitted it, when I called them to say it was basically doing the same as when I took it in they said were not interested, they said they did what was asked, took the old clutch out got a replacement from Milners and thats that.
I need the thing fixing properly as I have to travel throughout Europe during the winter.
Any advice please guys...

[stormforce]

I had a new clutch fitted a few weeks ago and it keeps slipping, it cost nearly 700 beans including the clutch which was about 100 beans itself.
I don't have a lot of faith in the garage that fitted it, when I called them to say it was basically doing the same as when I took it in they said were not interested, they said they did what was asked, took the old clutch out got a replacement from Milners and thats that.
I need the thing fixing properly as I have to travel throughout Europe during the winter.
Any advice please guys...

if i were you i would ask them again to get it sorted proper and if they say no then i would then threaten them with trading standards.Sorry i cant help with your prob tho and hope tyou get it sorted soon

[Antshiel]

I had a new clutch fitted a few weeks ago and it keeps slipping, it cost nearly 700 beans including the clutch which was about 100 beans itself.
I don't have a lot of faith in the garage that fitted it, when I called them to say it was basically doing the same as when I took it in they said were not interested, they said they did what was asked, took the old clutch out got a replacement from Milners and thats that.
I need the thing fixing properly as I have to travel throughout Europe during the winter.
Any advice please guys...

Sorry to hear this but i cant help but wonder if they say "they did what was asked", that means they are saying that you asked them to replace your slipping clutch with a slipping clutch. If this were true why would anyone of sound mind spend £800 on repairs that aren't actually repaired? If you have told them the problem and they haven't fixed it, You have a good case against them. Go back and get your money back or tell them you want it fixed. This happened to me only last week. I took my surf into a totota dealership for a diagnostics on overheating and loosing coolant. The diagnostics came back to me as "its overheating and loosing coolant". The charge was £40. They actually charged me £137.70. Broken down this was
£40-diagnostics
£26-thermostat
£4.19-hose clip
£17-coolant
£17-coolant (again)
and labour on top
I paid the bill thinking it was fixed, it wasn't.
i went back and told the service manager it was not fixed, he told me "yes i know you brought it in for diagnostics(£40). So why charge for coolant x2, his reply "well it lost the first coolant as it was leeking. It didn't need a hose clip cos i put a new on e on the night before, Anyway you get the jist (i think thats how its spelt)

I demanded my money back and to my surprise I GOT IT.

Dont let these $$$$$$s rip you off

Good luck, let us know what happens

[Phaeton]

Sorry to hear this but i cant help but wonder if they say "they did what was asked", that means they are saying that you asked them to replace your slipping clutch with a slipping clutch.

Not defending them as it appears their customer service skills are sadly lacking but that's about par for the motor industry in this country. But it could all boil down to what was actually asked of them by Pika1971.

If he took the car into them & said my clutch appears to be slipping can you have a look, they then come back & say it needs a new clutch. Give us £700 & we'll sort it then he has a good case.

If however he drives it to them & says the clucth is slipping the new plate is in the back please fit it. Then when he gets it back it still slips then in this instance "they have done what was asked"

However in either instance £600 to take off a gearbox & refit it seems an amazing amount of money.

Alan...

[Antshiel]

Not defending them as it appears their customer service skills are sadly lacking but that's about par for the motor industry in this country. But it could all boil down to what was actually asked of them by Pika1971.

If he took the car into them & said my clutch appears to be slipping can you have a look, they then come back & say it needs a new clutch. Give us £700 & we'll sort it then he has a good case.

If however he drives it to them & says the clucth is slipping the new plate is in the back please fit it. Then when he gets it back it still slips then in this instance "they have done what was asked"

However in either instance £600 to take off a gearbox & refit it seems an amazing amount of money.

Alan...

I totally agree, but any garage worth its salt would not remove a gearbox and simply refit a new plate without making sure there were no other problems, and at least let the owner know before refitting the box, but then some will. You will also notice that when they called the garage to say its still doing the same, This implies he/she told the garage what was wrong ie slipping, if it is still slipping they haven't done what was asked. If on the other hand it was self diagnosed then he has a problem. If it were self diagnosed he would obviously have some knowledge of how to repair it and not have had to send it to the garage in the first place. Not all garages are the same there are, believe it or not some very helpful ones, but every trade has a few bad eggs and we all tend to hear the bad stories not the good ones.

[Chillitt]

you need to pop back to the garage and explain 'duty of care' to them. if they wont fix it, they are liable for the bill if another garage fixes it.

[Pika1971]

Cheers guys, all good advice.
What really annoyed me is that when I first called the garage I said my clutch is slipping and the guy said well that could be a number of things, maybe oil seals, maybe its not the clutch, so I asked If I could bring it in for them to look at and he said fine, I asked for a quote if it was the clutch and he said he couldn't tell me.
So I took it in and waiting for a call, 2 days went by and no call so I called them and asked what was wrong the car, they said well its the clutch and I said are you sure and the guy said o yes I could tell just driving it into the workshop. Now I know that it won't slip at that slow speed and you would need to give it a run to see the problem,as it only slips over 2500rpm on the road, not going slowly, so I was annoyed because it seemed as if no one had actually tried to diagnose the problem just went ahead taking the clutch out. I again asked for a quote and he wouldn't tell me. He just said they have taken out the old one and ordered a new one from Milners, the new clutch turned up the next day, they then took another week to put it in. It was a big job they claim.
When they called me to say it was ready I again asked how much? still don't know he replied but come and pick it up.
I was shocked at nearly £700 when I got there as the part only cost under 100 beans. But hey at least it was fixed, or so I thought.

Another thing is that when I called them to say it was still slipping they acted as if I had diagnosed the problem and they were doing what I asked, also I said I know a lot of people have needed solid clutch conversions, and the guy said o yes milners mentioned that but they said it was expensive so we didn't feel it worth while mentioning it to you...
But it seems chucking 700 beans down the drain to not fix the problem was a good idea.
What worries me about taking it back is that I am sure they will start charging me again to take it apart and I could be going back through this again.
They have done this before, they welded a exhaust bracket and when I drove it back it made a dreadfull noise as the exhaust was touching metal, so I took it back and they fixed it, but clearly they don't test drive cars before or after, and if they don't how on earth do they diagnose problems...

[Antshiel]

Judging by your first experience, i am surprised you even contemplated returning to the same garage. If they cant cope with an exhaust bracket, a clutch must have been a job for NASA. If they have diagnosed the clutch being the problem and replaced it themselves, then they are liable for the repair as the clutch is still slipping. Personally i would be very wary of returning to such an outfit, but if you want your money back or surf surfing you don't have much of an option. i would seriously consider going to a reputable garage in future and not this ranch you have been visiting. Best of luck

[G60-R]

very apt this thread. i've just spent 3 days under my lux doing changing the cluch, cluch master and slave cylinders and rear crank oil seal and sump gasket. much cursing and swearing, it's a mission!

have a look under your surf and look for signs they actually took the box off. they might be pulling a fast one if the problem is still the same. then ask to see your old cluch. if it is an oil leak that is making your cluch slip it would prob have to be the head going and leaking down or a very bad leak fron the crank oil seal. but to get enought oil on your cluch to make it silp you would most deffinatly see signs of fresh oil on/around the bell housing and prob the ground after you've parked it.

sorry to hear about the los of beans though, it peas me off that garages take people for a ride. a good one is gold dust.

is yours a manual or auto? did the garage just do the cluch plate? or did they replace the cover plate and thrust bearing as well?

[Pika1971]

Thanks again guys.

I have had the head done by Stevo in January this year, but it does leave a bit of oil on the ground when parked. I will check out the bell housing when later for oil too.
The garage in question is a land rover garage, they have done some good work in the past, but every now and then they seem to lose their minds and do something odd, what annoys me is that if it is an oil seal then they told me on the phone in the first place that it could be that, and I may not have needed a clutch.

[G60-R]

if it is your rear crank seal oil will be runnung down the dust cover that sits bolts on the between the engine and bell housing. just had a thought though, could be a leak of oil from the gearbox?? don't quote that though as i've never dismantled a box and never plan to!!!!!!!!

when my seal was leaking the cluch was fine and i was loosing a litre of oil every 1000 miles. but not to say it wont have effected your cluch.

Can't beleive the garage didn't pick it up, it's only 30 mins extra work to and a £4 part.

keep me posted on this one, wouldn't mind knowing the out come.

[Pika1971]

Pics of underside

I thought I would take some pics of the underside of the truck to see what you guys think.
I do have an oil or fluid leak you can see the drip on the pics.

I first noticed the fluid leak after Stevo fitted a new head back in January, he recommended steam cleaning the bottom of the engine to see where it was coming from, but I haven't had a chance and the coolant level seems to be fine and never needs topping up.

If it isn't the clutch knackered I would much prefer takiing it to someone who has experience of surfs as aposed to the landrover garage i have been going to.
Any advice guys...

Cheers

[BUSHWHACKER]

I thought I would take some pics of the underside of the truck to see what you guys think.
I do have an oil or fluid leak you can see the drip on the pics.

I first noticed the fluid leak after Stevo fitted a new head back in January, he recommended steam cleaning the bottom of the engine to see where it was coming from, but I haven't had a chance and the coolant level seems to be fine and never needs topping up.

If it isn't the clutch knackered I would much prefer takiing it to someone who has experience of surfs as aposed to the landrover garage i have been going to.
Any advice guys...

Cheers

Looking at the drip on the sump bolt in pic. 6, I would say that was clutch fluid.
Check the slave cylinder thats bolted to the right side of the bell housing, the seals may have gone in there, or the hydraulic pipe is leaking under pressure.

[TonyN]

Its damp under there!

Could have contaminated the new clutch, only way to be sure is take it out again and check its damp (or even that a new one was fitted!!) and go from there.

Hard to tell if it clutch fluid or deisel, but doesn't look like oil.

The garage you took it to are cowboys, expensive cowboys. I charge £200 labour on a clutch job (or anything that involves taking a gearbox out) and I allow a leasurely 2 days, or one long hard day.

[G60-R]

i second the above notions. dosen't look live an oil leak. have a good check of all the levels. keep 'em toped up and you'll find the broken one. i recon i could be the fluid lines for the cluch sydtem but hard to tell from pics. not sure if it would make it's way onto the cluch plate though???

once you surf is fixed go and drive over the cowboys that had a go at it first time round.