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B1_D130

Member Since: 15 May 2022
Location: Scotland
Posts: 8

2005 Defender 130 Td5 HCPU Chawton White

LOF Clutch

A bit of a random post. (Apologies for the length!!) I thought I would post up my observations on getting a LOF clutch fitted.
Part of my thoughts on this post are because when I was looking around for information, the internet seemed to be very divided on the subject.
Here are my thoughts on getting a LOF PowerSpec clutch fitted and things I have noticed.

I have a 05 TD5 defender 130. Currently sat on 107400 miles. Apart from slightly larger tires and an EGR delete, the car is standard. ( I do have plans to get it remapped). The car is my daily driver and I cover a minimum of 30 miles each day for work, but usually more. Roads are a mix of B roads and duel carriageway.

Symptoms - At around 106,000 miles I noticed a lack of power climbing hills, nothing serious at first, but enough that it "felt" different to drive. It would also give out the odd, random, squeal. My suspicions were that the clutch was on its way out.
At about 107,000 miles, I was going along the duel carriageway at 55 mph, came to a long incline and the car gave out a horrible screeching sound, accompanied with a lovely burning smell. I could feel the engine revs increasing, yet my road speed was decreasing. Managed to nurse the car to work, and back home again that evening. Changing gears was still fine, but trying to drive up hills was interesting.

I started looking around for a new clutch, due to time constraints at work, I was going to have to pay the local garage to do the clutch for me, as I simply did not have the time. As it is a TD5, with over 100k on the clock, I decided to do both clutch and flywheel at the same time.

I started looking around and researching It seemed the community was very divided on the SMF or DMF. Landrover did fit a DMF for a reason, but it seems the SMF design has come a long way.
In the end, I decided to go with the powerspec kit from LOF. I opted for the full kit.
The local garage installed the kit for me, and replaced the rear crank seal, which was found to be leaking, we also found the fuel regulator was leaking, so replaced that at the same time. The garage did a great job. We did not install the clutch power spring at this point. We did not change the slave cylinder, which may have been a mistake, but it looked good when inspected.

I have had the car back for a couple of weeks now, and covered around 400 miles.

Results - Overall I am very happy with it, but I have noticed a few things.
PowerSpring. You absolutely need this. The clutch was unbelievably heave after changing out. Even with the spring, it is still heavy, but back to what it was prior to the clutch change. Having the spring in place, the clutch pedal still feels weird, it springs back quite forcibly. Not a concern or anything, but it just feels weird.
Pedal, The clutch is now biting about an inch off the floor. the rest of the pedals travel is a waste. I am not sure if this is right, as before the biting point was about mid stroke of the pedal.

The car was very "snatchy" when driving, there was no way to let the clutch out nicely, without getting a bang from the transmission and jerking the car. Now that I have covered around 400 miles from the install, this is much smoother, so obviously just a settling in time. It is still a bit snatchier than it used to be, but this could also be down to slop in the drive train. You really do need the 500 miles advised bedding in time.

Vibration and noise - This was something I read about when doing my research and was probably my biggest concern when looking for a replacement clutch.

When sitting idling, there is a distinct rattle coming from the clutch area. You do not notice it outside the car, but it is noticeable inside. This was not there prior to changing the clutch out. When driving, there is no rattles or undue noise. All in all, I can live with it. It is not as bad as some have made out. It might even be due to something else being slack, that is getting shaken more now.

Vibration - There is a definite increase in vibrations through the gear stick. I tend to drive with one hand on the gear stick, especially when in town. At low speeds, 30/40mph, the vibration is minimal. It feels very much like it did before, however, once you get up to 50/60mph, the vibrations increase. It gets to the point where it is very uncomfortable to keep your hand on the gear stick for any length of time. The stick is not visibly shaking or moving around or anything daft like that, it is simply the frequency of the vibrations.

Cost was a factor in this, I honestly had not realised that the DMF units were so expensive. The garage quoted me around £900 for parts. Shopping around, I could get a DMF for slightly less, but not much in it to be honest. The complete SMF kit from LOF was around £600. As I plan on getting the engine remapped, I decided to take the gamble and go for the SMF package.

Overall I am very happy with the new clutch. I hope that it will last may years to come. The service from Luke at LOF was outstanding. The clutch was delivered very, very quickly. I have no complaints about the quality of the supplied parts.
My local garage did a great job of getting it all fitted and I am back to being a happy camper again.

25th Nov 2024 9:27am

irishhawk11

Member Since: 07 Mar 2022
Location: Feldkirch
Posts: 9

2011 Defender 90 Puma 2.4 HT Santorini Black

Vibrations

Hey there,

i just fitted a new clutch and have a lot more vibrations, especially when letting the clutch go and accelerating at around 1500-2000 rpm.

I only have 60 Miles on it yet, but I am a little concerned. Did your vibration issues improve over time?

Regards
Benjamin

25th Nov 2024 4:10pm

B1_D130

Member Since: 15 May 2022
Location: Scotland
Posts: 8

Hi,
Yes, the more I drive the landy, the better the vibrations got. I did not notice any real change in vibrations at low speed, but every so often when pulling away at junctions I get some low frequency vibrations, sometimes I get them when slowing down as well.
Some of it I have attributed to slop in the drive train, as I have not looked at the shafts in a long time.

To be honest, I was not truly happy with the noises and vibrations until I got to around 300 miles driven.
As the clutch beds in, things do, definitely get smoother and less vibrations.
Luke at LOF said the clutch would need about 500 miles to fully bed in.

Up till recently, I was not even able to change gear smoothly, but it is getting smoother with time.

25th Nov 2024 4:30pm

BrickBox

Member Since: 05 Oct 2021
Location: Wales
Posts: 838

2008 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 USW Zermatt Silver

Once the clutch has bed in, the vibrations will settle down. 2008 2.4 110 Utility Station Wagon XS.

25th Nov 2024 5:41pm

irishhawk11

Member Since: 07 Mar 2022
Location: Feldkirch
Posts: 9

Thank you for your input

Hopefully this also works with mine. I will give a short update as soon I have hit 300-500 Miles

26th Nov 2024 6:53am

Ranger 6

Member Since: 17 Jan 2019
Location: Yorkshireman trapped in a Surrey postcode
Posts: 202

1988 Defender 90 V8 Petrol CSW Rimini Red

The chaps building my 90 have said they won't touch a LOF clutch due to the issues they've had in the past. They said don't go cheap and they swear by Borg & Beck, which is what's being fitted to mine. 90 V8 CSW - 1988

27th Nov 2024 1:17pm

bankz5152

Member Since: 02 Feb 2017
Location: South London/North Kent
Posts: 2173

What issues did they have? Never had better customer service from anyone before!

They also arnt cheap, plus a borg and beck wont stand up to much more than stock power for long

Instagram @defender_ventures
Empire Tuning - Agent

Last edited by bankz5152 on 27th Nov 2024 5:50pm. Edited 1 time in total

27th Nov 2024 2:14pm

Nidge

Member Since: 27 Jan 2008
Location: Kildare Ireland
Posts: 818

2009 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 HCPU Cairns Blue

Yep me too, Top class service from Luke at LOF, Master cylinder had a slight leak, New one sent in the post by the end of the week, No issues since.

Have installed a few of his clutches too with no issues. Just make sure its lined up right and new spigot Bush installed, can be a pig to get out and some garages make take short cuts and leave the old worn one in place

27th Nov 2024 5:17pm

Ranger 6

Member Since: 17 Jan 2019
Location: Yorkshireman trapped in a Surrey postcode
Posts: 202

I can't say exactly what problems they had, but it was from experience of running a comp safari 90. I guess it was from the sort if use that one of those vehicles gets. 90 V8 CSW - 1988

10th Dec 2024 1:36pm

fogbank

Member Since: 30 May 2024
Location: Daylight Savings
Posts: 2

Ranger 6 wrote:
The chaps building my 90 have said they won't touch a LOF clutch due to the issues they've had in the past. They said don't go cheap and they swear by Borg & Beck, which is what's being fitted to mine.

Having had LOF on my Defender (clutch and brakes) and Borg and Beck parts on my Range Rover I know which one I'd class as cheap and its not LOF...

10th Dec 2024 5:14pm

B1_D130

Member Since: 15 May 2022
Location: Scotland
Posts: 8

Just thought I would post up a wee update.

I have now covered just over 950 miles on the new clutch.

Driving behaviour is much better now. There is much less "jerk" every time I change gear. It has become more like it used to be. I still get a "clonk" most time I change gear, but I suspect this is due to worn halfshafts, which is my next job.

I went through a spell of really weird noises coming from the front end. Strange "boings" and odd noises. The worst being a really weird "ZZZZZZZzzzzzzZZZ" type noise (Imagine shoving something solid into a spinning tire, that sort of buzzing noise that increases or decreases as you change speed) The noise seemed to be independent of the clutch, as whilst it went on, I could dip the clutch and it made no difference. I pulled over, could not see anything at all and when I continued driving, the noise did not come back again. Happened half a dozen times or so at different speeds. It was really loud too. Still have no idea where it came from, I am honestly not sure if it was due to the clutch bedding on, or unrelated, just strange that I have never had that noise in any of the defenders I have had over the years, and that it happened not long after changing the clutch. It has not made any noise like it in the last 2 weeks, so I am hoping it has settled down.

Every so often, when idling, it does sound like someone has chucked a bag of spanners in a washing machine. The rattle from the bellhousing is quite bad. It is not all the time, but every so often, it is not noticeable from outside the landy, but very noticeable inside. Gives a noisy rattle when you turn off the engine.

The clutch pedal has finally left the floor!! It used to be, the biting point of the clutch was about an inch off the floor, now it is closer to 2 inches. I had wondered if I should have changed out the master and slave cylinders, but I think I am ok. There is no slippage and as far as I can tell the clutch is working fine.
The clutch pedal is still heavy. It is heavier than the original, even with the powerspring installed. I do not mind it, but I do now find it harder to drive the wife's VW, as I keep trying to put my foot through the bulkhead!

All in all, I am still very happy with the new LOF clutch, but it has needed all of the covered 900 miles to bed in.

16th Dec 2024 2:58pm

Mo Murphy

Member Since: 01 Jun 2008
Location: Letchworth Garden City, Herts
Posts: 2244

1984 Defender 90 BMW M57 3.0 Diesel HT Auto Pennine Grey

Did your installing garage adjust the clutch master push rod after changing the clutch. It does usually require some adjustment to suit the new clutch and it's a normal step in the process of a clutch change.
Mo The Land Rover 90 - Many are called, few are chosen.

50 Shades of Pennine Grey

17th Dec 2024 2:19am

B1_D130

Member Since: 15 May 2022
Location: Scotland
Posts: 8

Hi Mo,

To be honest, I am not sure. I am guessing as the clutch pedal is so low, quite possibly not.

I have gotten used to it, but where before the clutch used to activate around halfway of the pedal travel, it is now a case that the first 3/4 of the pedal travel does noting and it only activates towards the last quarter of travel. At a rough guess the clutch disengages when the pedal is about 2 inch off the floor.

I might take the cover off and see if I can adjust it slightly. I still need to wind the pedal travel bolt back in, as I wound it all the way out to get the LOF Powerspring on. I left it out, as I was worried that if I wound it back in to its original location, I would not have enough travel to actuate the clutch.

19th Dec 2024 3:40pm

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