So we set off to Italy for a ski holiday last Saturday, and only a few miles after leaving home on M62, heading for Hull, I pulled out to overtake and the revs rose, but not the road speed. I lifted off, and accelerated more gingerly arriving at Hull without further issue but worried about breaking down. Too late to do much about it as we needed to check in for the ferry. Once off the ferry leaving Zeebrugge, I put it in cruise at 50 mpg, and as soon as there was a hill the same thing happened. With limited options and great breakdown cover we carried on, driving very carefully, and using as little power as possible, changing down for hills etc, and no cruise control. Not only did we arrive in Italy ok, but we made it all the way home too.

Approaching home I decided it was time to test the clutch and find out how bad it was, so for the first time in 1000 miles I accelerated hard. Surprisingly no slipping at all could be induced no matter how hard I accelerated and in any gear. Cruise too.

So how can it self heal? The car is 2010 with 105k. New clutch and dmf under warranty and seal due to oil contamination at 50k. My theory is either small oil contamination again drying out during the 1300 mile trip, or self adjusters clogged and unclogged again due to the long drive. These theories just from googling.

In normal use it does a 5 mile each way daily commute, and not much more. But I did give it a good run before heading off to Italy with no apparent issues.

Thought I was going to need a new clutch, now not sure.

Quote:

self adjusters clogged and unclogged again

I suspect they use Self adjusting clutches on these cars, I used to own a Civic 2.2 civic prior to this and they used to suffer allot with self adjusting clutch failure which would cause intermittent slip which give you false hope. It was said to pump the clutch 20 times hard to get the self adjusting mechanism to operate, I don't think it is true that it works but people say it did. They're quite a poor idea of a clutch design as anything 'self adjusting' will fill up with dust and stop working.

If you get the clutch fitted make sure it goes to a garage preferably a land rover specialist or dealer as they will need to use a special tool for self adjusting clutch fitment to preload it prior to bolting it down otherwise you will be lucky to get more that 15000 miles out of the new clutch as it will prematurely wear out. I work at BMW and we use a special tool to remove and fit clutches. And I know Honda do as I sent mine to Honda for a new clutch.

Sounds like classic fly-wheel slippage to me. You can accelerate hard in low gears but there is a critical point around 2,000 rpm in fifth and sixth where it will over-rev without pulling. Shows up particularly well when using the cruise control on inclines as it kicks you out of cruise and when you press reset, it revs briefly then kicks you out again. Mine’s been doing this for about 30,000 miles and it hasn’t got worse. I’m in no rush to shell out for a new clutch, even though I know it will need doing eventually. You get used to it and after a while you never encounter it as you drop a gear or two to keep you in the working range. 2005 D3 2.7 Auto
Previously:
2010 MY FL2 TD4e GS - Now gone at 199,500 miles, about 135,000 of them mine.
‘93 Defender 110 200TDi CSW
‘87 Defender 90 4 cyl Petrol
‘83 110 CSW V8 - best ever!
Range Rover 2-door V8 (not sure of year - 4-speed box and vacuum diff switch)
Series III SWB Diesel