Concentric slave cylinder change 2004 V70 D5

[tdidave]

Hi guys.. I just want to put this question out there. A friend of mine has recently broken down in her 2004 V70 D5. Had to be towed and then transported from Bristol to Cornwall.

The fault from what I can make out is a failure of the concentric slave cylinder. Now, this is a pretty low cost part in itself, and I'm thinking, yes.. it would probably be best to change the clutch at the same time, but.. the local mechanic she uses is also talking about needing to change the dual mass flywheel too, which would make the cost of this job prohibitive. Is this absolutely necessary?

For my part, I think not. I think its overkill and not strictly necessary, but I would be most interested in your opinions on this job.

As always.. thanks in advance.. Dave..

[Dancake]

There are a few things to consider. The cost of labour for the clutch change alone is going to be more than the cost of the clutch kit. Should your friend opt to have a new clutch fitted without a new flywheel, and the flywheel develops a problem within a couple of years, she's going to be faced with another labour charge to do the job again.

There's a tool designed to measure the slack or wear in a flywheel. LUK manufactures such a tool. It's basically a GO/NO GO gauge that tells you to either leave the flywheel in place or replace it. Most garages don't have access to such a tool, and often change the flywheel as a matter of course. It makes sense to replace the flywheel if there's any wear or slack in it at all, as it will only get worse over time. Most flywheels will have wear at 100k+ miles, though mileage is not necessarily a good indicator. It depends on how the vehicle has been driven more than anything else. There are original flywheels with 300k+ miles on them because the owner has driven their vehicle with mechanical sympathy.

2004 examples may also suffer from the common core plug issue behind the flywheel. It's worth addressing this at the same time to prevent any further surprises. If it was me I would personally replace the flywheel. If your friend is a bit of a gambler, she could take the risk of replacing just the clutch. The flywheel could last 5 months or 5 years, but that's the risk you take.

I would also say make sure to use a quality clutch kit. Either LUK or original Volvo, especially when it comes to the slave cylinder. Whatever she chooses, with cars it's quite often better the devil you know.

[T5R92011]

A visual for reference:

Dual Mass Flywheel failure Volvo V70 D5

+ YouTube Video

[BogfordGarage]

Dancake is on the money. I once made this mistake, I replaced the clutch in a 2.0 HDi (all it needed was a thrust bearing but thats besides the point) and 2 months after the DMF started rattling and there I was again with the car in bits replacing it. Thing is with a Dual mass is it's now common practice to replace them as they have springs within them for torque damping instead of the clutch plate containing the equivalent springs like on the old SMF setups. This is supposed to be better for drivability but personally this is one of the many reasons I stopped driving modern cars, just more expensive waring parts. It's also unfortunate that manufactures went to using these new style slave cylinders as what used to be a £30 and 20 minutes to replace job has turned into thousands of pounds worth of labour and parts. Just my opinion but I hope your friend gets it sorted either way.

[tdidave]

Thanks for the input guys, its very much appreciated.

At this present moment in time its looking like the car will be repaired. The initial shock, to me anyway, was the quote to repair it. The labour costs weren't too bad, it was the parts. However, I've located several parts, including the flywheel and hopefully that will aid bringing the price down somewhat.

The car itself is immaculate. 215,000 miles, but in extremely good condition. Its the top of the range SE version with all the goodies, and far too good to go for scrap. I think the offer was around £300.

Dave..

[VroomVroomClonk]

I've just had my clutch replaced on a 2005 T5 with 145,000 miles. The old clutch was working fine, but the slave cylinder had been leaking for about two years, and the leak was getting worse.
I had no idea I even had a DMF until after the garage removed the gearbox. I certainly had no rattles or play obvious when driving the car, but they showed me the old DMF and it rocked badly from side to side and definitely needed replacing.
So, to replace a clutch slave cylinder which would have cost me about £30 on a 1970's Triumph, when using genuine Volvo and LUK parts and done by the local village garage, came in at £1,343 on a Volvo!

[john493]

eBay seller: volvopartstrade do very good prices on complete genuine Volvo clutch kits, with or without DMF - including all the single-use bolts.

It's also important to note that the V70 has a self-adjusting clutch cover (aka pressure plate) and there is a special tool needed to compress the adjuster mechanism when fitting the plate.

[tdidave]

I've been away for a while.. so I want to say thank you to all those who posted on this thread.

The car has been fixed now, but at considerable cost. I didn't get involved with the repair, but the mechanic who did it was adding one thing after another to the job. Hence the bill was high. He's not someone I would have recommended, but there you go.. such is life.

Dave..

[Lancee]

Originally Posted by tdidave

I've been away for a while.. so I want to say thank you to all those who posted on this thread.

The car has been fixed now, but at considerable cost. I didn't get involved with the repair, but the mechanic who did it was adding one thing after another to the job. Hence the bill was high. He's not someone I would have recommended, but there you go.. such is life.

Dave..

Thanks for getting back with an update. Shame about the added extras, naughty !

At least the clutch/flywheel/slave should be good for the next 100K miles ! With scheduled oil changes and the correct oil the engine should be good for that and more too.

Just keep replacing all the other bolt on/ wear and tear bits as you go !