G/box: 2WD: S80 Clutch Replacement - £850????

[mattpcarroll]

Hi

I've got a 2001 S80 2.4 (96K) which I suspect needs a clutch replacement soon. On occasions gear selection can be a little difficult and the clutch doesn't seem to release properly when cold - other times there's no issue.

Today the problem seems to have spread to slight slipping of the clutch. It became evident when I had the car on cruise control in 5th and was going up a steep hill. I then attempted to slip the clutch by using wide open throttle at low speed in 5th - it just slips if I really try.

I needed two tyres changing today so I had a quote for the clutch replacement. I was told £850 should cover it! Looking around, clutches seem to vary from £130 - 190. Does anyone know of a good source and do these clutches come with the slave cylinder? With nearly 100K on the clock I presume that I'd be advised to change the slave cylinder at the same time. I was also told that it required 7hrs labour which seems reasonable. So even if I source the clutch cheaply I expect that I've got a £300+ labour bill.

Any info / advise would be greatly appreciated!

[kevin derby uk]

sorry but it's not a cheep job= after i heard the price i did it myself= that was fun but i knew the job would be done right and cheepish too.

[mattpcarroll]

Thanks for the reply.

I take it took you more than 7 hours?

I changed clutches years ago on Mk1 Golfs using brute force, ignorance and a weight lifting bar but I'm less willing to spend the time wrecking the drive nowadays....

I drove the S80 yesterday and tried to make it slip but it wouldn't!!! It looks like it might be a sticking spline issue (??????).

I'll see how I get on with it this week and then I might have to bite the bullet. I think I can get a clutch and new slave cylinder for £200 off the internet so if I can get the labour rate down to £40pph it should be done for £500 which is lot cheaper than £850..... still about £500 more than what I wanted to spend though!

[ningaboy]

Hello Matt,
I've just changed the clutch and slave cylinder on my 2.4s. had the same problems as you, ie slipping, and also i had a fluid leak in the slave cylinder that dripped out of the bell housing, so it needed doing fairly urgently.
It's not a small job to do as you have to remove all maner of bits to get at the bell housing and then drop the engine one side 20cm or so to just remove the gearbox.
Me and my son-in-law took a couple of days to finish this and we are both good DIY mechanics. Sorry if this puts you off! But i was quoted £960 for this job and did it myself for £350 including paying my son-in-law.
Now i fitted a SACHS clutch kit and slave cylinder to my car (Volvo OE suppliers) for less than 60% of volvo main dealer prices.
SACHS CLUTCH KIT - 3000 951 247
SACHS SLAVE CYLINDER - 3182 998 702
Best replace the 2 hydraulic O Rings that conect clutch line to slave and just behind the engine.
I found that a great help was a "VARDIS" Dealer manual that i got off E-bay £5, that enabled me to look first at the parts i needed and the method that the "Volvo mechanics use"
Mind you i fitted the clutch using a couple of spots of superglue on the pressure plate to line up the clutch!
When you activate the pedel all pops apart and is lined up dead center.
Another thing you will have to pressure blead the clutch lines using 25/30 PSI, i tried using an easyblead but whatever i did i couldn't get the clutch pedal to pressurise, so i made my own with a garden sprayer from B & Q,and some clear hose and a master cylinder cap from a scrapyard with fittings from B & Q to join them all for £15!
A usefull site for parts and to cross reference your engine/clutch numbers with genuine volvo part numbers.
www.sachs-boge.co.uk

Hope this helps,
Adi

[Bernard333]

Have been living with the clutch slipping in higher gears on my 2003 V70 D5 for about 10k miles , if I drive carefully it dosnt do it and strangely has not got much worse , best price I got was about £400 from Volvomax Glasgow that included the clutch plate and slave cylinder and labour but not the dmf which I know is £200 + if its faulty . I am hoping it will last at least until May when I will have a go at it myself . Obviously if you suspect any leakage from the slave cylinder then the job wont wait .

[mattpcarroll]

Hi
Well at 96K I was clearly on borrowed time as today (104K) the clutch failed altogether. I had a funny squeeling noise this morning followed by a bit more this evening and then pedal went flat to the floor. No more clutch.

I preseume the noise was the release bearing but as the pedal pressure has completely gone I'm not sure if the culprit is the slave cylinder. Either way the clutch plates will need changing.

Whist waiting for the AA I got a quote of £750 to change the clutch but teh mechanic seemed to think that my 2001 S80 with a B5244S engine had a dual mass flywheel - I'm not so sure. Does any one else know if DMFs were fitted to the 2.4 I5??

Having poked around a bit more I've seen a clutch kit for £110 and a slave for £73. So this £200 compares quite favourably against the £480 fir parts I've been quoted.

Any ideas?

[Bernard333]

£110 sounds ok if its an original Volvo kit , got one off ebay ( Volvo pt no 30783255 clutch plate + pressure plate ) for my D5 at £100 inc P&P , missed out on bargain of the year , original clutch kit plus dmf plus slave cylinder went for £102 a couple of weeks ago , I bid £100 at the last minute and was not on the ball as I would happily have paid £200 for that lot . Yours I think does have a dmf , all manuals from P2 V70s 2000 onwards diesel or petrol and maybe even some earlier models , mine has been slipping in higher gears for about a year when you put the power on but still not got worse , I want to get a dmf and slave cylinder before starting the job .