Clutch problem Berlingo 1.9d van

[CitroJim]

I enjoy a good old clutch job... Got Gabriel's to do as soon as I can release some time to get it done...

[van ordinaire]

Used to do them routinely as & when - did 3 MkIII Cortinas in a week once (in evenings) & started on a Farina Cambridge (but needed help to get that (much heavier) box back, but can't remember the last clutch I did (mind you I have had a lot autos in more recent years) apart from a 2CV, which doesn't count as the 'box doesn't have to come out. I did decline an invitation to do an E-type (based on previous experience of an S-type & a Series 1 XJ6) so it might've been the mix'n'match job when I put a Ventora o/d box in a Bedford CF. "I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now" AND there was the time factor, when it came to the C15!

As I've mentioned before, I'm really not sure about Valeo now, since I found they supply radiators for Austrian built Cherokees AND Cibie lights are just above junk staus, since they were re-branded. I'd rather buy a clutch from a reputable clutch manufacturer than one packaged by a company that I suspect only prints labels & boxes. It's just one of my things, some might remember my comments about buying glow plugs made (or, at least, packaged) by a plug manufacturer. Lucas mechanical fuel pumps worried me a bit - 'til I just found out they're not!

[Paul-R]

...so it might've been the mix'n'match job when I put a Ventora o/d box in a Bedford CF. "I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now"

Hey, so did I. I used the 2300 engine and O/D box out of a VX 4/90. The gearlever was a Frankenstein monstrosity combining the CF and VX4/90 together. There wasn't enough room for the twin carbs so I had to make do with a single carb. The big engine gave the van a great presence at the traffic lights (I was young - remember) and the overdrive gave reasonable cruising with the low ratio back axle.

I don't know how long you had the CF after the conversion but I found that the long propshaft and huge torque knocked the tail bearing and casing to pieces in the J Type overdrive. I had the OD rebuilt by a chap in Sheffield (ex-Laycock man) with double bearings and a flange drive (which necessitated yet another special propshaft).

[CitroJim]

Lucas mechanical fuel pumps worried me a bit - 'til I just found out they're not!

Nothing at all wrong with Lucas fuel pumps Van Especially their diesel pumps... As long as they get proper diesel through them they will soldier on for ever... Remember they started life in a very hostile environment - Fordson Tractors... If something can survive that it's good

[flying clutchman]

Used to do them routinely as & when - did 3 MkIII Cortinas in a week once (in evenings) & started on a Farina Oxford (but needed help to get that (much heavier) box back, but can't remember the last clutch I did (mind you I have had a lot autos in more recent years) apart from a 2CV, which doesn't count as the 'box doesn't have to come out. I did decline an invitation to do an E-type (based on previous experience of an S-type & a Series 1 XJ6) so it might've been the mix'n'match job when I put a Ventora o/d box in a Bedford CF. "I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now" AND there was the time factor, when it came to the C15!

As I've mentioned before, I'm really not sure about Valeo now, since I found they supply radiators for Austrian built Cherokees AND Cibie lights are just above junk staus, since they were re-branded. I'd rather buy a clutch from a reputable clutch manufacturer than one packaged by a company that I suspect only prints labels & boxes. It's just one of my things, some might remember my comments about buying glow plugs made (or, at least, packaged) by a plug manufacturer. Lucas mechanical fuel pumps worried me a bit - 'til I just found out they're not!

Not wishing to brag (but I will) I once did 3 mk111 Cortina clutches in one afternoon at three different addresses (all in Walthamstow) I started the first one at about 12.30 and finished before 6.00. I used to lift the boxes in and out without using a jack and with the propshaft still in the back of the box hanging down! My young(then) daughter once said "Dad you've got popeye arms! Now I've probably only got the popeye hair. On the subject of Valeo, they're very good at their core products like clutches. As you say everything else is just re-boxed stuff

[van ordinaire]

...so it might've been the mix'n'match job when I put a Ventora o/d box in a Bedford CF. "I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now"

Hey, so did I. I used the 2300 engine and O/D box out of a VX 4/90. The gearlever was a Frankenstein monstrosity combining the CF and VX4/90 together. There wasn't enough room for the twin carbs so I had to make do with a single carb. The big engine gave the van a great presence at the traffic lights (I was young - remember) and the overdrive gave reasonable cruising with the low ratio back axle.

I don't know how long you had the CF after the conversion but I found that the long propshaft and huge torque knocked the tail bearing and casing to pieces in the J Type overdrive. I had the OD rebuilt by a chap in Sheffield (ex-Laycock man) with double bearings and a flange drive (which necessitated yet another special propshaft).

Mine already had a Stage 1 head of a mate's FD Victor that he'd written off soon after fitting it. Taking it back up to Northampton (where I was living at the time) I was clocking 100mph passing the "Welcome to Northampton" sign on the MI.

The o/d box came about because the prop. let go & took out the tailhousing of the original box. I cut a square hole in the floor for the reversed gear lever, & cranked forwards (a la Standard Atlas) it fell quite conveniently to hand. A Victor prop. was just long enough, but ideally could've done with a spacer on the diff. flange. Even with 235/70x15's on 8 1/2J wheels, it was still under geared!

[van ordinaire]

Lucas mechanical fuel pumps worried me a bit - 'til I just found out they're not!

Nothing at all wrong with Lucas fuel pumps Van Especially their diesel pumps... As long as they get proper diesel through them they will soldier on for ever... Remember they started life in a very hostile environmenon any t - Fordson Tractors... If something can survive that it's good

That's helpful - & encouraging. Not suggesting there is anything wrong with them - it's just I don't like the idea of a mechanical pump made by an electrical company, anymore than e.g. I like Parker ballpoints. Didn't know about the Fordson connection - & was brought up on Fordson Majors! But I am surprised, because, usually, you wouldn't find a single Lucas component on any FoMoCo product.

[van ordinaire]

Used to do them routinely as & when - did 3 MkIII Cortinas in a week once (in evenings) & started on a Farina Oxford (but needed help to get that (much heavier) box back, but can't remember the last clutch I did (mind you I have had a lot autos in more recent years) apart from a 2CV, which doesn't count as the 'box doesn't have to come out. I did decline an invitation to do an E-type (based on previous experience of an S-type & a Series 1 XJ6) so it might've been the mix'n'match job when I put a Ventora o/d box in a Bedford CF. "I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now" AND there was the time factor, when it came to the C15!

As I've mentioned before, I'm really not sure about Valeo now, since I found they supply radiators for Austrian built Cherokees AND Cibie lights are just above junk staus, since they were re-branded. I'd rather buy a clutch from a reputable clutch manufacturer than one packaged by a company that I suspect only prints labels & boxes. It's just one of my things, some might remember my comments about buying glow plugs made (or, at least, packaged) by a plug manufacturer. Lucas mechanical fuel pumps worried me a bit - 'til I just found out they're not!

Not wishing to brag (but I will) I once did 3 mk111 Cortina clutches in one afternoon at three different addresses (all in Walthamstow) I started the first one at about 12.30 and finished before 6.00. I used to lift the boxes in and out without using a jack and with the propshaft still in the back of the box hanging down! My young(then) daughter once said "Dad you've got popeye arms! Now I've probably only got the popeye hair. On the subject of Valeo, they're very good at their core products like clutches. As you say everything else is just re-boxed stuff

As a pro. you're entitled to upstage a rank amateur: this was just making some pocket money out of a hobby for me, so each was done after work - & included collecting them, nursing them home AND returning them after. I do remember being able to lift the box back up though - that's where I came unstuck with the Oxford! Only a few weeks after I somehow convinced my father I could do the clutch on his precious MkII GT (which I'd never been allowed to drive before) - I remember it took almost as long to remove the centre console & remote control gear change, as it did to do the whole job on the MkIII's.

Thanks for the heads up on Valeo, nice to know my instincts were right but, what are their "core products"?

[CitroJim]

Not suggesting there is anything wrong with them - it's just I don't like the idea of a mechanical pump made by an electrical company.

It was a separate division Van - CAV...

Anyway, Bosch make/made mechanical pumps too and they seem OK in a Germanic sort of a way... They're very much an electrical company too...

[myglaren]

Often wondered what CAV was.

[CitroJim]

Often wondered what CAV was.

Good old Wikipedia!

A good article that... Well found Steve

[flying clutchman]

Valeo have been the clutch manufacturers from new for most French cars for as log as I can remember. Three items I always ascociate with valeo are clutches, radiators and starter motors. As they do starters I suppose alternators would be a logical step but these don't seem so common.Just about all European vehicles are now fitted with clutches made by Valeo, LUK or Sachs. Valeo are French the other two are german, although many LUK products are made in Sheffield.

[van ordinaire]

Not suggesting there is anything wrong with them - it's just I don't like the idea of a mechanical pump made by an electrical company.

It was a separate division Van - CAV...

Anyway, Bosch make/made mechanical pumps too and they seem OK in a Germanic sort of a way... They're very much an electrical company too...

Yes I know about CAV (but not as much as I will soon) - remember my reference, somewhere, to Bedfords? BUT when everyone referred to Lucas pumps, I took it at face value.

I didn't say I was anymore enamoured with Bosch but while their name appears on a lot of electrical components & devices, I've always thought of them as an engineering concern.

[van ordinaire]

Often wondered what CAV was.

Good old Wikipedia!

A good article that... Well found Steve

Never really given it much thought but, yes, it was interesting - & convoluted: puts a few rock bands to shame!

[van ordinaire]

Valeo have been the clutch manufacturers from new for most French cars for as log as I can remember. Three items I always ascociate with valeo are clutches, radiators and starter motors. As they do starters I suppose alternators would be a logical step but these don't seem so common.Just about all European vehicles are now fitted with clutches made by Valeo, LUK or Sachs. Valeo are French the other two are german, although many LUK products are made in Sheffield.

Thanks,

Clutches & radiators seem strange bedfellows. Even more surprised about starters because, from casual observation, I rather thought, like alternators, they were bought in from here there & everywhere; most manuals seem to list 3 or 4 manufacturers, not all French, but invariably including Paris-Rhone & Ducellier - although I see that both Mitsubishi starters & alternators are listed for the C15, even more surprising was the Iskra starter, a name I only associate with 2CV alternators.