Clutch woes

Since buying a 2002 Rover 25 1.4 petrol with 55,000 miles, I have had slight clutch/gearbox woes. The bottom of the gearbox has always been wet with oil, but it has never leaked badly enough for it to drip externally and onto the floor. First gear selection from a standstill has always been hit-and-miss. Most of the time it will resist going in and you have to release the clutch pedal and depress again to enable gear selection. The times it does work first time, it feels a bit notchy and a clunk can be heard in the ’box.

I am aware that the R65 gearboxes were prone to failed input shaft bearings if the oil got too low. Aware of the leak in my gearbox, I drained the oil and found it was only holding about 80% of what should be in there. I put in the correct amount of fresh gearbox oil and it did slightly improve first gear selection. However, now the car judders as you engage the clutch when pulling away in first, although this only happens when the car has been sitting overnight and the engine is cold. The juddering goes away as the engine warms slightly, but the slightest pressure on the clutch pedal while driving causes it to slip/disengage, as the bite seems to be near the very top of the pedal travel. Do you think I have an internal oil leak that’s contaminating the friction material and are all these issues linked? Tom Checkley I suspect that the problem is primarily the clutch assembly. When the input bearing fails, it generally gives a noise resembling a rumble, which goes away when the clutch is depressed. Given the slightly low gearbox oil level, as well as the fact that you have traces of oil at the base of the gearbox bellhousing, it’s possible there is an input shaft seal leak. A leaking seal will allow the oil to travel along the input shaft and contaminate the clutch. While this will often cause the clutch to slip, it can also allow clutch dust to stick to the input shaft, which causes the plate to stick, preventing full disengagement and often causing a judder. On the R65 gearbox, the seal is in the guide sleeve.

Given all the symptoms you are experiencing, I would expect that a new clutch and input shaft/sleeve (part no UTX10001), costing around £20, would cure your problems.