Clutch suddenly went stiff, now can’t get it into gear!
 

Hi everyone, this is my first post, been lurking in the shadows for some time and been finding the forum so useful to find problems and fixing my beloved V70 resembling Triggers broom! However I’m in a bit of a pickle with this issue, if anyone had any ideas or pointers I’m most grateful!

The V70 broke down 2 days ago on the way to work, the clutch pedal suddenly went really stiff when coming into a 20mph zone, I managed to coast it down the hill into a side street. I then couldn’t get it into any gear with the engine running. Had to get recovered back home by the RAC.

Brake/clutch fluid levels seem fine, haven’t suddenly dropped, clutch was working fine without any issue up till now, just suddenly went. Was changing gear fine as well up till now, maybe been a tiny little stiff between 1st and 2nd but nothing drastic, no noises or crunches etc. I noticed that there appears to have been a very slight leak round the left driveshaft seal for a bit, had been meaning to top it up till this happened, I doubt that would have been a playing factor would it?

I’ve been scouring the forums for some answers but everything I find has been for slipping clutches, or spongy soft clutch pedals, I can’t find anything about the pedal being so hard to press you need to stand on it (I have been avoiding that to prevent further damage!)

If it was the clutch cylinders that would be normally be making the pedal soft wouldn’t it?
RAC reckons it might be the fingers/teeth of the pressure plate could have broken round the bearing? Obviously can’t tell without taking it all apart.

Just annoying that it went so suddenly without any warning, it’s not like I’ve been thrashing it or not paying attention to any warning signs.

It’s a 2009 V70 D5 manual with M66 gearbox with 146k miles. The whole family love it and I’ve put all my effort into it, sadly this this issue is way beyond my limited skills :(

If anybody has an idea, I’d really appreciate it, as now I’m stuck with a rather nice looking but completely immobile Swedish art piece on the drive!

Thanks
Kev

To try to isolate the issue you could try to bleed the slave cylinder, if the pedal then moves nicely and pushes fluid through as you would expect you can rule out the top half of the system.

You’re then looking at box removal to inspect the clutch. Was there any unusual noises or feel before this happened. I have seen pressure plates collapse and jam an engine sold so that it can’t turn over. It could be the pressure plate has failed in such a way that it is unable to be pressed at all by the slave/release bearing and hence your resistance on the pedal.

Thanks so much for getting back so quick.

Forgive me for sounding naive as I’m learning as best as I can and this is a part I’ve not touched on yet, is bleeding the slave cylinder the same as bleeding the whole clutch system?
And if it’s still stiff after bleeding etc, would that be a likely indicator that there’s a blockage etc in the hoses, therefore a potentially much easier and cheaper fix? (I’m praying on that bit!)

As for any noises and feels before it went, there was nothing at all, it was driving normally, I had the radio off anyway as I was busy listening to which droplink was playing up! Engine still starts and turns over in neutral.

You can only bleed the hydraulics by flowing fluid along the hoses so if they are blocked you would be unable to bleed the hydraulics. Then it could mean seized slave cylinder (not likely IMO but no expert here, they are more likely to leak) or mechanical issue so slave cylinder cannot fully move the clutch.

Yes you would be bleeding the clutch. The clutch shares the same reservoir as the brakes but is split internally. You would only need to touch the bleed valve on the tube coming from the front of the gearbox. What I would do is attach some clear hose so you can see what’s going on. With someone pressing the clutch you should get strong pulses of fluid down the line. If the pedal is still hard to press and no fluid comes from the bleeder you know it’s a hydraulic fault. It could still be the slave at fault but when they fail they normally leak all the fluid into the bell housing of the gearbox leaving you with no pedal at all.

Brilliant thank you so much, it’s definitely worth a try to see if it’s just hydraulic which I believe would be much less of a headache and wallet emptying!
I had the front bearings done recently at the garage, the brakes lines are split internally like you said but would any knocking around the lines when they were taking calipers off etc cause something further up into the clutch system? Discs are probably due a change soon too. Sorry it sounds like daft questions, I’m slowly trying to get more hands on with it, have been enjoying it except for this bit!


If it’s the pressure plate would that have more likely given some warning before this happened, cause there was no indication, noises or strange feeling before the event?

When I do get the chance to have a look and some tubing I’ll give this a try as soon as I can and report back.

Thanks again
Kev

I can’t see any of the work you have had previously done causing a problem.

Generally you do get warning signs with clutch failures, normally rattling or unusual noises but components can also just fail without warning. I have come across pressure plates breaking up and the fingers getting jammed in all sorts of places or the self adjusting mechanism coming apart. Not necessarily Volvo I might add just vehicles in general, I work on all sorts of stuff.

This used to happen on old Landrover defenders, whereby the slave cylinder pushrod, actually punched a hole through the pivot arm. A reinforced pivot arm was the usual soloution. But Volvo's ? don't know, sorry.

Thanks again,

So it does sound increasingly like the worse case scenario with a pressure plate or the cylinder etc internally then :(

Hope to try bleeding it soon. I had a very quick look last night and this wee bit is the slave cylinder to bleed from aye? It looked a bit damp/oily around the cap end? I can use some oxygen tubing to let me see the fluid clearly. Sorry the photo was the right way up when I attached it but when I post it displays it upside down 🙃

Yeah that’s the one 👍