Hymer/Talbot Express clutch judder

[Guest Tim O'Connell]

Hi, Hope someone may have come across this before. I've a 1990 Hymer camper with a Talbot Express 2.0L petrol engine.gearbox.. I have noticed a slight judder for the past few months when driving off in 1st gear when the engine is hot but a few weeks ago it became quite violent. It has developed a serious judder when releasing the clutch in 1st gear. Seems OK when the engine is cold but when it is hot, it seems like the camper is going to shake itself to bits. If I take off in 2nd gear there is no vibration but its probably too high. Its OK once moving in all other gears & the clutch doesn't appear to be slipping - sails up serious hills with no high revving. The “experts” reckon its probably a drop of oil on the clutch but I’m not entirely convinced. I have ordered the crankshaft & gearbox oil seal from Delfin but before I spend lots of money I’m hoping someone may have come across this before. I have checked the engine mounts & they seem fine. I replaced the one at the back of the gearbox about 2 years ago. If there was oil on the clutch, would it not happen when cold & would I notice it slipping on hills?. The problem is very intermittent. Only happens in first gear & always when the engine is hot - never happens when cold leaving home. I did 100 miles last weekend including some 1st gear traffic & the problem did not occur. Also climbed a fairly steep hill with no clutch slippage. It has always been difficult to select 1’st/2nd gear but I think that’s a Talbot thing. Once moving the gearchange is fine. Derek – On a previous Talbot posting there was a mention of possible clutch drag when everything warms up. Could this be the cause of my problem & if so, is it easy to adjust the clutch. In 26 years of driving, I have never had to replace a clutch so I don’t know much about the mechanical side of it. Hope someone can give me a simple solution. Thanks, Tim

[Guest barrie]

hi tim, try deliberately slipping the clutch whilst driving in 4th on a flattish road.(an old ford main dealer dodge)this tends to burn off any rubbish built up on the disc,don't get too carried away though.

[Guest Mel B]

Tim If you don't have any luck with the suggestion from Barrie, try emailing interchange at MMM, George is very helpful as I found out when I had clutch trouble a few years ago.

[Guest Tim O'Connell]

Thanks, Barrie Will give it a try. I'm not yet convinced that there is an oil leak. Thanks, Mel. Tim

[Guest Derek Uzzell]

I echo Mel B's advice. George and Val Collings, editors of "Interchange", maintain a reference index relating to the queries sent to them by MMM readers, so they may be able to put a finger on the commonest causes of clutch judder on Tabot Express motorhomes. In your case the initial question must be whether the judder is the result of something external (faulty clutch cable, engine mounts, drive shafts, etc.) or internal (oil contamination, excessive wear or breakage of clutch components). I don't know why the problem is so intermittent, nor why it happens when the motor is hot (but apparently not always) nor why it only happens in 1st gear but not 2nd. Clutch drag can make gear-selection difficult/impossible but shouldn't cause juddering. I'm not familiar with the Talbot clutch-adjustment mechanism, but (as a very rough guide), if there's some free play at the top of the clutch-pedal's travel and the clutch 'bites' about mid-way through its travel, then adjustment is likely to be near enough. Unless the blame for the juddering can be assigned to something externally accessible, then I fear you are looking at needing a new clutch assembly, plus, if oil's been leaking into the clutch housing, replacement of the defective oil seals.