Clutch Confusion

[ajcommercial]

Hello everyone...
 I have a suspicion that there is an issue with the clutch on my 2005 1.9d 'Lingo, 165k miles. The gear change is intermittent, sometimes perfect, sometimes rough so I want to buy a clutch but there seem to be different part numbers.. Confusing.. The clutches on Fleabay list 1998 - 2002 for one part number and 2002 - 2008 for another but if you take the part numbers and look on part cat then the same part numbers are listed as 1998 - 2008, the clutch plate on them all is listed as 200 and the splines are listed as 18.. so what is the difference ? I can only assume there is a difference in the thrust bearing ? If this is the case it makes no difference which clutch I buy I just buy the correct thrust bearing separately..
 The gearbox on my van is a 14gkr which I assume is a BE4R.. ? I can't find any other markings on it.

 Something else.. I replaced the drive shaft oil seals about 20k miles ago, should I change them again just because the shafts are coming out again ?

 I have already got a shaft guide and BE4R arm ready to go on.. The clutch cable is self adjusting with the adjuster half way along the cable.. I would rather replace this able for a non self adjustable if someone knows of one.. ?
 I have bought some gearbox oil which is Total gear 8, supposed to be direct replacement for BV..

 Anything else for me to be worried about ? Any other advice ? What are your thoughts ?

[ajcommercial]

Well I popped the gearbox off today and found the thrust bearing had come apart, this is bloody annoying because it was only 15k miles ago I fitted a new fork and bearing because the bearing had broken free of the fork and the fork had broken free of the pivot ball in the bell housing, back then I fitted a thrust bearing from a Sachs clutch kit so only 15k miles is very disappointing. I have now fitted a genuine one which is actually a SKF bearing so should last for ever...
  While the box was off I changed the guide bush and the fork again ( both genuine ) but I found the quality of the genuine fork pretty iffy, I had the file down rough edged at the bearing end ggrrrrr, buy genuine you expect decent quality don't you... I noticed the guide bush that came off had a thin spacer shim behind it so I prised it off and fitted it to the new one ( I hope I was supposed to do that ? )...

  So far I have gone to a lot of trouble just to replace a part that has failed prematurely but it was only as I was putting the box back in ( laying on my drive, in the rain, Darling Wife keeping the Tea coming ) that I noticed the long gear selector rod was slightly bent at one end so I gave it a bend back and have ordered a new set.  I can't see any reason why the rod was bent as that was also replaced with a genuine part about 30k miles ago, surely they should last longer ?? Is this a case of 'Genuine' quality ??

  Anyway I'm hoping that when the new gear rod set arrives that will be that..

[polar]

Before i got to the end of your post where you say "is this a case of genuine quality" i thought crap parts.

there is a well known internet site where a load of crap is coming from - all looks genuine but isnt.

Just be happy you didnt buy some genuine (honest mate) NGK spark plugs and have the bottom of one of them drop out and destroy his engine like a mate of mine! Be careful what you buy off the internet!

[Kokain]

Yeah it's suppose to be like that. It's designed in France so this type of design and quality is to be expected. Whether you buy the 100gbp part or the 50gbp part it's all made in China and it wouldn't make a difference to the longevity of what you are replacing. The difference is the one that claims to be OEM rides on the genuine part glory because it's SKF, its slightly overpriced and really worth 70gbp making it not far off other brands like....say Sach (50gbp). Yet interesting how they are all reputable brands and they are not called GuanQi, XuShaoFa, LingLong etc... so they are not bashed on the internet. Go look for brake pads and you will see Bosch, Pagid, Eicher, Ferodo, Textar, all do the same thing while Bosch is twice the price and at the same time Eicher is the most recommended which also happened to be the cheapest.
Anyway, the trick is to learn how to replace it yourself like you did already so now when that SKF packs up after 20k miles you know how many tea brakes it will take + save you a bunch of [̲̅$̲̅(̲̅ιοο̲̅)̲̅$̲̅] bills that somebody else will f**k up at the garage.

[ajcommercial]

Thanks for the responses...

  Well after all my hard work I have now completed 400 miles and the only issue now is the clutch bite is right on the floor... I hate these auto adjust cables !!! Over £100 and they last 5 mins !!! Has anyone found a manual adjust alternative ???  I have had a look and the cable seems to be stuck, no matter how I try and push / pull the adjuster just doesn't move so yet another cable has to go on, I can safely say I have never fitted so many clutch cables to a vehicle and up until now I have been fitting genuine so I will be fitting cheap mebay from now on...

[geoff]

When I had a 1.9d and auto adjust cable I opened up the adjuster and filled it with Moly Grease - the black stuff - and never had a problem with it, just a thought for you.

[Kokain]

AJ I haven't ghetto fab'ed anything like that yet but you are inspiring me. What about measuring the length of the cable and buying universal one (example: https://www.venhill.co.uk/Cables_-_Compo....35M).html ) then simply make your own end using this method https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4fL-5zen5w
put a glob of solder and it's done. Maybe if you have to use some of the rubber grommets from the old one and bingo you have a manual adjustable cable for fraction of the cost. And yeah those auto adjustable clutch cables for Berlingo a stupid expensive and the fact that it can't be set to where you like the biting point kinda sucks.

By the way here is the cheapest cable i found for sale https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1200MM-C...06212.html
You can be our guinea pig as I'm seriously considering next time I'm doing clutch to do it like that.

[geoff]

The motorcycle clutch cable will have a much smaller diameter cable than the Berlingo and I do wonder if it would be up to the job.

[ajcommercial]

Well so much for making sure the clutch cable is routed correctly !! I thought I would try removing the cable and refitting it today because I LOST all gears.... Well I fitted both ends and without fitting the adjuster in the clip the clutch works great but with the cable routed 'correctly' from the adjuster to the pedal the adjuster locks and clutch bites at the floor.. So I rerouted the cable between the adjuster and pedal but instead of using the cable support bracket thing I just loosely put a cable tie to secure the cable and stop it rubbing on the drive shaft.. Job done, clutch feels great again... Some new genuine short gear selector rods arrived today so I chucked them on too, guess what I found ?? One of the links ball joints has gone oval at the small end so along with a bent long selector rod the gear box feels like new. Not bad for 165k miles ...

[geoff]

Well done !

Success always smells sweet ...........................