New 940... but a tale of clutch or gearbox woe possibly

[nosuchuser]

I purchased a 940 Celebration at the weekend - got it from the for sale section here.

It's very nice and I will post some pics and details of it later this week.

However..... The clutch and gearbox ain't so good.

The clutch has an extremely low bite point, pedal right in the carpet. The gearbox is very notchy and if the clutch pedal isn't right down its a veritable bugger to change gear.

What could be the issue?

I think a new clutch is in order and the price was negotiated to reflect this. There is no way my wife will be able to drive it like this.
Clutch was changed at 20k, car now has 90k on it, drives well apart from this clutch/gearbox prob.

Will be speaking to my local garage for a price to replace clutch and also the main dealer in Orpington. I don't think I have the skills or time to replace the clutch myself.

[Citizen.Agfa]

Originally Posted by nosuchuser

I purchased a 940 Celebration at the weekend - got it from the for sale section here.

It's very nice and I will post some pics and details of it later this week.

However..... The clutch and gearbox ain't so good.

The clutch has an extremely low bite point, pedal right in the carpet. The gearbox is very notchy and if the clutch pedal isn't right down its a veritable bugger to change gear.

What could be the issue?

I think a new clutch is in order and the price was negotiated to reflect this. There is no way my wife will be able to drive it like this.
Clutch was changed at 20k, car now has 90k on it, drives well apart from this clutch/gearbox prob.

Will be speaking to my local garage for a price to replace clutch and also the main dealer in Orpington. I don't think I have the skills or time to replace the clutch myself.

G'day.

With the symptoms you refer to I would be more inclined to suspect slave cylinder probs, as it sounds to me like the clutch is not dis-engaging. In most cases of failure the clutch more normally fails to engage, resulting in no drive; what you report is a dragging clutch, which makes it harder to change gears.

Of course, if your car has a cable operated clutch then I am at a loss.

Good luck anyway, C.A.

[nickm]

worn clutch fork or pivot?

[surrey_man]

slave cylinder would be my frst place to check

Whats the fuild like ect when was it changed ?

Normaly when a clucth plate is going the biting point is very high (or it was on my BX )

[fowlerman]

Try pumping the pedal a few times, if this makes an improvement it may just need bleeding. If not it does sound like cylinder or fork/pivot as previously stated.
Regards Pete.

[Steve940estate]

Hello
I have had what sounds like the same problem on my car. I'm pretty sure the cause of it was the little plastic bush being broken on the clutch arm pivot.
I'm not sure what year your car is but if it's after 1995 it will probably have the same M90 gearbox in it as mine.
If you can rule out the hydraulic bits of the clutch you will have to get the gearbox taken out. If the clutch is ok it might be the plastic bush. You can also put spacers behind the pivot ball, this will make the clutch bite furthur up from the floor.

Let us know what year it is and it will be possible to help more.

[monkeh]

Celebrations 98's are Hydraulic clutches Nick,
I suspect the same, Slave cylinder.

[nosuchuser]

Thanks guys for your advice

Yes, its a 98, should have an M90.

I've looked at Haynes and Vadis and I can see how it could be the slave cylinder, at least I'm hoping its the slave cylinder, will check it out at the weekend, bleed the system and also look at the clutch fork and the pushrod from the slave cylinder.

Any ideas on how far the clutch fork should travel?

Seller did mention that sometimes there is a squeak from the release bearing but I haven't heard that. Yet. Happy days.....

[Steve940estate]

Hi
I suspected the hydraulics on my car but everything worked ok. I did re-bleed it as well. You mention it's had a clutch done already, was that 20,000 miles from new ? That would suggest a problem somewhere as it shouldn't have worn out that quick.

I would check the slave cylinder first. I didn't check the fully extended length but made a note of it in its normal position. I measured between the circlip that holds the cylinder in and the nearest bit of the clutch arm. It was 65mm approx but the clutch bite point was too low on my car anyway.

The later cars have dual mass flywheels and I have changed this for an early solid one, fitted a new clutch and release bearing. Because it's a mixture of parts from a few cars you have to adjust things to get the bite point right. When I trial fitted my gearbox the slave cylinder piston was just starting to come out of it's bore. The trick is to put some washers under the ball (it screws on) so the clutch arm is nearer the slave cylinder.

If the slave cylinder piston is starting to come out on your car there is a good chance that there is a mechanical problem, probably pivot bush, the clutch should be ok as it hasn't done many miles.

I can never explanin things very well so if you want a chat give me a call or something.

[fowlerman]

Yeah my 98 940 does occasionally squeal when letting the clutch out. I mentioned it to my local volvo man recently,and asked if the clutch was on the way out, he said it is fairly common and start worrying when it starts to slip. I should add that the squeal has come and gone for the last 18 months.