Assuming the AA man is correct , the clutch slave cylinder has failed. My FL2 is a 2007 and done 42000 miles.
I had the clutch slipping problem 12 months ago and the dealer replaced the clutch and flywheel under warranty. The car has done approx 14000 miles since.

The fault occured gradually over a couple of days (20 miles) when I noticed the pedal would not return properly. Total failure occured and the pedal was on the floor and would not return at all plus there was no pressure on the pedal even when "pumped" manually.

The question in my mind is whether or not the dealer replaced the clutch slave cylinder when the clutch was replaced. This would have been sensible but , according to the AA, sometimes this isn't done if the clutch replacement is done under warranty (to save cost). This is false economy in my view since the slave cylinder is cheap to replace. Unfortunately, the slave cylinder is on the inside of the bell housing which means a gearbox drop (Days job?) which sounds like a big labour cost.

Will see what response I get from the dealer tomorrow. Will update accordingly

Last edited by Mudflap on 8th Jan 2011 2:32 pm. Edited 1 time in total

As a matter of interest, what symptoms did you have when you first started noticing clutch slip? Was it under normal driving conditions, or where the motor comes into its main torque band?

I've started noticing, under overtaking in a higher gear, the rev counter shooting up, but the power/and speed not increasing accordingly, however its not as obvious as clutch slips I've had on previous cars. I also notice it if you're excelerating hard through third into fourth, the revs shooting up faster than the corresponding road speed...Does this sound like the dreaded clutch slip you experienced??

Hi Chambers, I had what you have just discribed exactly. Had the clutch replaced under warranty. I very much dought they replaced anything else so who knows if something else will fail guess i will just have to wait and see.
On reading up on how this type of clutch works.
It would appear that as the clutch plate wears there is an automatic adjuster witch takes up the slack but it can then become stuck with clutch dust and not work properly. This may also cause the clutch to slip. Hope this helps

Chambers wrote:

As a matter of interest, what symptoms did you have when you first started noticing clutch slip? Was it under normal driving conditions, or where the motor comes into its main torque band?

I've started noticing, under overtaking in a higher gear, the rev counter shooting up, but the power/and speed not increasing accordingly, however its not as obvious as clutch slips I've had on previous cars. I also notice it if you're excelerating hard through third into fourth, the revs shooting up faster than the corresponding road speed...Does this sound like the dreaded clutch slip you experienced??

Dealer confirmed today that they replaced the clutch, slave cylinder assy (which includes thrust bearing) and flywheel 12 months ago, as part of the warranty repair. This is interesting since the AA engineer thinks my failed clutch is likely to be a faulty slave cylinder. This is looking less likely now (since it was new 12 months ago).

Beginning to think the AA may not have found the true root cause.

Learned another interesting fact today. When considering warranty failures or claims outside warranty which are in the "grey area", I suppose clutch failure is a good example due to the possibility of owner abuse, LR use a scoring methodology based on customer loyalty. You score points if you bought the car from the dealer , have bought landrovers previously, have regular dealer service, use the car sensibly etc etc. Even out of warranty failures will be considered for a "goodwill" payment if a) you scroe well on the above and b) if the failure is a repeat of something repaired under warranty. Each claim is considered by LR Customer Care Manager on a case by case basis.

Back to my problem, the clutch problem is a repeat failure but the car is 6 months outside warranty so I have a call with LR in the morning. In order to consider any claim they need the dealer to diagnose the problem first (AA report not acceptable, it has to be the dealer who will do the work). The dealer wants £50 for half hour labour to diagnose the problem. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
Final point, top marks to Lakeland Landrover. Very friendly and helpful call from them today. Open and honest and gave good advice. If you live in the North West, these guys are trustworthy and helpful.

As the brake fluid should be renewed every 3 years, i'm going to do the same with the clutch fluid.
I've been caught out before with a leaking slave cylinder which was mounted on the inside of the bell housing with my previous car. Expensive.
I'm hoping prevention is better than cure. And cheaper! Another member of the failed FL2 clutch/DMF club, twice.

I have also had the same problem as chambers, Stratstone said they could not find any problem when I took it in? The problem is very intermittant, It has been months since I first reported the problem to Stratstone and its only occured a few times since then. The last time I had a passenger in the car and he asked me " what happened there" I thought I was starting to imagine the problem!!

Turns out not to be the slave cylinder. Local dealer had a car in with the same problem (clutch pedal dropped to floor and no clutch) at the same time as mine .
On the other car, the Dealer was puzzled initially since they had replaced the clutch hydraulics a few weeks previously. Closer examination revealed a defective "o" ring seal in a pipe join somewhere under the bulkhead panels. Required a bit of stripping away to get at it I am told. This defect allowed air to get into the system which caused the clutch to fail.
Having found the root cause on the other car, they did the same check on my car and found it had the same fault. New O ring solved the problem. (TBH, still curious how it came to fail).
So, if you suffer a failed clutch (with the same symptons) suggest you ask the dealer to do the above checks. Repair will cost you 1.5 hours labour and less than a tenner in materials. Dealer rates means it will still cost £160 or so but sooooo much cheaper than gearbox removal etc etc.

Happy ending this time around.

Mudflap,
well done, Glad to see it didn't cost the earth to put it right.
Thanks for the advice.
All the best

Nice that it worked out a fair bit cheaper for you
Can someone explain with the slave cylinder inside the bell housing, how do you bleed the system to expel the air if you can't get at it

extended bleed screw to the top of bell housing? some tractors where like that anyway, before clutches became old fashioned and we got push button gearboxes At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

I've also got the clutch slipping issue, 4th, 5th and 6th gears, at about 2000rpm, Took it to my local dealer on thursday, who confirmed it was clutch at fault and i'm now currently waiting approval from landrover to replace the clutch under warranty, although the car went out of warranty on the 14th december 2010!.. only done 29K, no towing or off-roading, so i hope that Landrover will accept it's a fault and not driver error etc... otherwise the dealer want £847.56 to replace the clutch.. ouch!  2008 SE, HSE wheels, Black Premium Leather, Privacy Glass, Sports Kit, Side Steps, various LED upgrades and Clear side indicators.

Landrover got back to me today and said they would be prepared to pay 66% of the total bill, leaving me with approximately £300 to pay. Not sure if i should accept this, considering the car is officially out of warranty (by only a matter of a few weeks), and be satisfied that i've had 29k miles and getting a new clutch, or try (somehow) to get landrover to review their offer... Problem is Landrover do not recognize this as a known fault / issue and have not issued any service bulletin to dealers etc... Best i can do i suppose is point them in the direction of this forum as some sort of proof that i am not alone with premature clutch slip?

 2008 SE, HSE wheels, Black Premium Leather, Privacy Glass, Sports Kit, Side Steps, various LED upgrades and Clear side indicators.

Course they wont admit that there is a problem. It woud open the floodgates!!
As with any offer, never accept the first one; it's what they'd like to pay and not what they should.

As our FL2's get older, i'm expecting this forum to get more clutch problems due to the self adjust mech and the daft slave cylinder inside the bell housing.

I can hear it now 'while it's apart Sir we might as well fit a new friction plate and release bearing.' Another member of the failed FL2 clutch/DMF club, twice.

your problem is that the car is out of warranty when you reported it. Hence, LR will use the "points system" to determine their offer.
This will be a "first offer" made by the customer care team. you must challenge this but you need some ammo.
2 things: first, you are in a good positiion if you bought the car from your LR dealer. Points also scored if you have FSH with LR (points lost if not). Dealer needs to validate that teh car has not been mi-used, so your careful driving will help. Points also if had previous LR's. Bascially, you will get better treatment if you can demonstrate loyalty to the brand. Taking out extended warranty also counts (except that doesn't apply in your case).
Next tactic is to provide an argument. You are right to point them to the forum. There is plenty of evidence of premature clutch failures by other owners and LR has paid for replacements. LR know full well that clutches have been an issue but perhaps not at epidemic levels. It is obviously a grey area due to the potential for mis-use by owners. Their concern is that may have to stump up for a new flywheel also when the clutch is dismantled.

I think you should be able to get 75%-80% but not optimistic you will achieve 100% due to the car being out of warranty. Another point, you will get just one "good will" offer from LR so make it count.