Clutch probs very steep hills due to lack of compression?

[Laney760]

I have having to spend a lot of time in High Wycombe, some of the hills seem to be nigh on a one in one they are so steep! Last week, for the first time in decades of driving, when parking in a very difficult place on a very steep hill I could smell my clutch burning out, the smell remained for about 10 minutes. I was quite worried but thought this was a one of. Today, pulling away from stationary on a very very steep hill in I again smelt the clutch burning out. I am wondering, is this because my compression is low and I am having to give the car a hell of a lot of revs to pull it away up the hill? If it is this maybe it is better to get my engine attended to asap, wondering if it is piston rings, if so, would be a lot cheaper than having a full engine rebuild (which I was thinking about) to have the rings done? Or are there lots of things that could be worn in my engine causing this low compression. No problems with lack of power on the flat and with the turbo, the car has been diagnosed by diesel specialists as having low compression and having nothing wrong with the injectors or pump. Unfortunately I can't avoid being in High Wycombe at the moment, would avoid it if I could. One other thing I have noticed, I don't know if it is related, in first and second gears on these steep hills, but on no other terrrain, the car is just a little bit kangerooy, what would cause this, I wondered if fuel supply?

[Clan]

i wouldnt worry about low compression as long as the engine starts ok . Diesels depend on compression heat to get going , when they dont start , compression is often a cause on a well worn D24T .
Clutches can easily overheat these days with modern dual mass flywheels , but yours isnt one . maybe you use too many rpm when trying to pull away up the hill ? The diesel should almost be able to do it on idle :-) try 1200 rpm or so ...

[Laney760]

i wouldnt worry about low compression as long as the engine starts ok . Diesels depend on compression heat to get going , when they dont start , compression is often a cause on a well worn D24T .
Clutches can easily overheat these days with modern dual mass flywheels , but yours isnt one . maybe you use too many rpm when trying to pull away up the hill ? The diesel should almost be able to do it on idle :-) try 1200 rpm or so ...

My first reaction to your posting was from my ego, lol, and it was 'it can't be me' (I've been driving for 33 years, am a small female and have driven big commericals and all sorts, I also have a big Merc diesel camper) but you may be right, I'll take what you said on board and find a steep hill and have some practice gos at hill starts in this eccentric Volvo I find myself the owner of (A Volvo with a VW truck engine in it, a Mitsubishi turbo, and whatever else I've yet to learn about it!). Will let you know how it goes. Mine idles at about 600rpm but I have read it should be 750, have yet to confirm this, will buy the green service manual soon. Have to say I am worried about it starting in the winter, pretty sure the previous owner didn't have any probs last year but don't know how much worn it has gotten since then, it's my main concern with the low compression.

[Clan]

I didnt know you were a female , but males get it wrong with their clutches a lot more often :-)
The idle speed can be raised thanks to the mechanical system you have unlike the new diesels which are fixed . How many rpm DO you use on that hill then??
If cold starting in winter is a problem get the glow plugs checked especialy the REAR one which is difficult to get at , people are happy to change them all except the rear and even if one glow plug fails it makes the engine difficult to start . Was the compression done properly with a hot engine? wouldnt worry about it as long as it runs and starts ok ..engines ddont wear noticably in just a year :-)

[craig8661]

if it is a m90 gear box ie 5th abouve reverse i have a brand new clutch with recite cost me £300 direct from volvo will consider a offer around £60 including postage
it has a little rust on it where its been out the car it only did 20 miles at most before 3rd blew up in the box

[craig8661]

to add as well my 940 used to be able to pull of in a gentle tick over but what mine used to do was stall and bounce back to life all in one go

[Laney760]

I didnt know you were a female , but males get it wrong with their clutches a lot more often :-)
The idle speed can be raised thanks to the mechanical system you have unlike the new diesels which are fixed . How many rpm DO you use on that hill then??
If cold starting in winter is a problem get the glow plugs checked especialy the REAR one which is difficult to get at , people are happy to change them all except the rear and even if one glow plug fails it makes the engine difficult to start . Was the compression done properly with a hot engine? wouldnt worry about it as long as it runs and starts ok ..engines ddont wear noticably in just a year :-)

The compression wasn't actually tested but the diesel specialists who have a great reputation ruled out every other reason for it's smoking on starting and hard acceleration. Compression is clearly down, on the flat it's pretty nippy with the turbo, on the hills it's bloody hard work. Trouble is I bought it up in the fens where I test drove it on very flat ground; it was like a rocket. (Another lesson learned, buy a used car in a hilly area). Reakon the rings are gone, I think the last owner thrashed it a bit but I don't know enough about engines to know if anything else would need doing. They reakon the glow plugs are fine and so do I, the glow plug light goes off very quickly and there's absolutely no probs starting at the moment, have only had it about six weeks, mild weather so far. It prefers to start with absolutely no gas whatsover, if you absent mindedly use the throttle on starting the smoke is worse. I love this car for so many reasons but the engine is a big worry, I spend sleepless nights worrying whether to sell it on wondering what the winter will bring. I recently scrapped a beautiful Nissan Primera which had a head gasket starting to go, it still went like a bat out of hell, a full years mot, it would happily do unmentionable speeds, lol, but I was too honest to sell it on knowing the fault; don't actually think I could sell this Volvo on without revealing that I know the compression is down and sleep nights..... I so love having such a big vehicle that returns so much to the gallon - that is why I am thinking of having a full engine rebuild next year, the rest of the car is immaculate and solid. I've got no idea what rpm I had on the bite on those hills but guaranteed it was above 1200 but I wouldn't have thought I would have got the bite 'wrong' but who knows when you have another car or brick wall inches from your bumper and you are in a hurry? Also, have had the handbrake checked and adjusted but on those sort of hills it will only hold on the very very top notch, hard without big muscles, which puts you under more pressure on a very steep hill start?

[Laney760]

if it is a m90 gear box ie 5th abouve reverse i have a brand new clutch with recite cost me £300 direct from volvo will consider a offer around £60 including postage
it has a little rust on it where its been out the car it only did 20 miles at most before 3rd blew up in the box


Thanks but my is a four speed with a button on the top for overdrive, different to yours, don't know it's techhy number. At the moment my clutch is average, neither a very high or low bite but too much of this burning it out won't do it any good. Thank you anyway

[tfb]

I'd agree with too much revs, the D24T should be able to chug up a steep hill on idle.

If you do want to raise the idle, it's simple enough to adjust the linkage. The D24 manual states 750 rpm for a D24 and 830 rpm for a D24T/TIC.

If you are going for a rebuild then you might as well do the whole hog, but personaly I'd keep it running until it dies. Just keep up the oil and filter changes and keep an eye on the water level.

And yes, changing number 6 glowplug is an absolute sod to do. Removing no 6 injector makes it a lot easier, but then you also need new washers and the pipes don't like being bent.

Regards
TFB

[Laney760]

I'd agree with too much revs, the D24T should be able to chug up a steep hill on idle.

If you do want to raise the idle, it's simple enough to adjust the linkage. The D24 manual states 750 rpm for a D24 and 830 rpm for a D24T/TIC.

If you are going for a rebuild then you might as well do the whole hog, but personaly I'd keep it running until it dies. Just keep up the oil and filter changes and keep an eye on the water level.

And yes, changing number 6 glowplug is an absolute sod to do. Removing no 6 injector makes it a lot easier, but then you also need new washers and the pipes don't like being bent.

Regards
TFB

Thanks for that, I did think the idle was too low and know this is all important on these engines. I'm having to take work slowly due to finances. Next week she's having an oil/filter change with flush and gearbox and back axle oil levels checked. Decided on semi-synth, confilicting reports on full synth on this engine? Cam belt change asap after that. As soon as poss after that I had planned on the pump timing, that will be early Oct latest, possibly next month. I don't mind getting my hands dirty, have the brains and patience to do stuff myself but often simply don't have the physical strength to do mechanical stuff, had to call the RAC to get my wheelnuts off for a puncture the other day despite trying my hardest. Whats your opinion on semi-synth versus full synth?

[craig8661]

ah you have the m42 overdrive gear box thats what i converted mine to before the spigot bearing siezed
you will find that engine slightly slugish on that box is it intercooled or stright turbo
i found the one with no intercooler what i took the m42 to be very very fast and sharp but when i put the box on mine it made it slightly slugish but when in overdrive it picked up like mad
also if it is still good pushed to the limit you should be looking at least 110mph out of it mine would sit at 115mph no problems

[Laney760]

ah you have the m42 overdrive gear box thats what i converted mine to before the spigot bearing siezed
you will find that engine slightly slugish on that box is it intercooled or stright turbo
i found the one with no intercooler what i took the m42 to be very very fast and sharp but when i put the box on mine it made it slightly slugish but when in overdrive it picked up like mad
also if it is still good pushed to the limit you should be looking at least 110mph out of it mine would sit at 115mph no problems

Hi, it's intercooled (d24tic), not a straight D24T. I haven't pushed this at top end for two reasons, firstly because I know the engine is worn and trying to make it last at the moment. Also, I know I will be dissapointed top end, havng read the specs on this vehicle, bhp, etc.. before I went back to Volvos I had a vehicle that would do nearly 140, had acceleration second to none, and I view the Volvo as a functional rather than performance vehicle and I've gone from racing around all over the place in a speed machine to nursing around a heavyweight slug, lol... After a short motorway run which had some quite steep inclines yesterday where I did max 80 when overtaking I did notice that she was chucking out white smoke for a while afterwards when idling but this could have been steam as opposed to smoke. Have to say I spend a lot of time looking in my slightly lowered wing mirror at when it is smoking, find it quite embarassing to be honest. I've learned not to start up when pedestrians are behind and not to park near the bench at Tescos where people eat their lunch, lol.. I think the fact that it smokes after high revs in low gears indicates its wornness? The gearbox is lovely but I have thought I would prefer one with a traditional fifth. The guy I bought it off of told me you don't have to use the clutch, just the button, when changing up into overdrive but when I did this there was quite a thud as it went in so I always use the clutch to engage the overdrive now. I may be doing a long motorway drive today but I do think I'd be silly to thrash this engine in it's condition but maybe I'll be tempted to see how it performs when fully warmed up

[tfb]

The smoke is part of the charm!, great when you are being tail-gated, drop it out of overdive and floor it!, watch them disappear in a cloud of black smoke :)

Mine's not too bad on startup or idle, just when you boot it.

There are several forums that detail tuning the VW 4-cyl diesels and one site that gives info for tuning the Bosch VE pump on a pug. Most of the points would also be valid for a D24T/TIC

http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/584104603/m/1931086722

Regards
TFB

[Laney760]

The smoke is part of the charm!, great when you are being tail-gated, drop it out of overdive and floor it!, watch them disappear in a cloud of black smoke :)

Mine's not too bad on startup or idle, just when you boot it.

There are several forums that detail tuning the VW 4-cyl diesels and one site that gives info for tuning the Bosch VE pump on a pug. Most of the points would also be valid for a D24T/TIC

http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/584104603/m/1931086722

Regards
TFB


Thats funny, hate tail-gaiters, will have to give that a go. However it will have to be on the flat, if on an incline I'd floor it, make a smoke cloud, go nowhere and they'd probably run into the back of me, lol.. When I first bought it, less than 2 months ago, and floored it the smoke was white but now it's black and it only started happening after the diesel specialists were revving the backside off of it when testing it. It sounded so painful I had to leave the waiting room and take a walk. I wonder how many of these mechanics, etc.. would do the same with their own vehicles? I did read on a site somewhere that the noise and smoke from these engines is all part of the fun, perhaps that was your posting, lol?

[craig8661]

thing is mine used to only smoke on startup but never when booted or running warm so i would say something not right lol