S60 Brakes: Brake fluid

[VolvoForLife]

Hello

My clutch became extremely low and soft and no spring action, it was almost impossible to change gears. I have noticed there is no brake fluid in tank. Is it enough if I just top up brake fluid, or something else is needed? (bleeding air etc)

[Marmitespreader]

Check under the gearbox bellhousing for any fluid loss, & in the footwell by the clutch pedal.
If the brake pedal feels as it should & work as they should, I would assume the leak is the clutch side.
Get the fluid topped up, before your brakes fail & check for the leak

[GrahamBrown1]

what car is it, what engine? the clutch slave cylinder is common for failing on some models and this would explain your loss of fluid. is there any leaks from the car? sometimes it can leak from the bell housing which means a contaminated clutch as well.

[Simon Jones]

If the reservoir is empty, there will be air in the system so will need bleeding once cause of leak has been traced and fixed. On the plus side, you should change the fluid every two years so half the job has been done for you

[Hasse53]

Sorry to say but in most cases the clutch slave cylinder is leaking. Often the clutch is contanimated also. Pretty expensive to fix. Here in Sweden the cost is about 1400 EUR. But check in the joint between engine and transmission, if it is dry you are lucky. Then the fault is in the clutch master cylinder or tubing.

[VolvoForLife]

Thank you everybody for responses and have Happy New Year.

Originally Posted by GrahamBrown1

what car is it, what engine? the clutch slave cylinder is common for failing on some models and this would explain your loss of fluid. is there any leaks from the car? sometimes it can leak from the bell housing which means a contaminated clutch as well.

S60 D5 2002 (52 reg) 5 speed manual 196 000 miles. I ll check for leaks. Contaminated with what? Dirt from road?

Originally Posted by Marmitespreader

Check under the gearbox bellhousing for any fluid loss, & in the footwell by the clutch pedal.
If the brake pedal feels as it should & work as they should, I would assume the leak is the clutch side.
Get the fluid topped up, before your brakes fail & check for the leak

OK, i will check those and top up fluid, that is "clutch side"? Is it bell housing side?

Originally Posted by Simon Jones

If the reservoir is empty, there will be air in the system so will need bleeding once cause of leak has been traced and fixed. On the plus side, you should change the fluid every two years so half the job has been done for you

Will air bubles get removed if i press clutch pedal 10-100 times?
I read somewhere that modern cars don't use brake fluid, so I didn't top it up even after MOT told me 2 m ago that it is low. I didnt change fluid from when I have bought car 4 years ago, because I was told that this fluid works in low temp and there is no friction in this system to no metal particles so no need to change it because nothing wrong is happening to fluid. I want to top up fluid now and just to go to garage, to make this happen I will add fluid and keep engine on so brake/clutch hydraulic system is pressurized. Problem is that I am not able to disengage 3rd gear and clutch. What do you propose? Lift car on 2 jacks and make wheels spin in air? Rock car to make gear disengage?

Originally Posted by Hasse53

Sorry to say but in most cases the clutch slave cylinder is leaking. Often the clutch is contanimated also. Pretty expensive to fix. Here in Sweden the cost is about 1400 EUR. But check in the joint between engine and transmission, if it is dry you are lucky. Then the fault is in the clutch master cylinder or tubing.

You are talking about master cylinder, slave cylinder, do you have some schematic of clutch system?

Is master cylinder one which is connected to my clutch pedal which is on firewall?
Is slave cylinder one which is in bellhousing which actually does the job?
Where is pump in this system? Is pump driven my crankshaft?

[RM955I]

Will air bubles get removed is i press clutch pedal 10-100 times?
I read somewhere that modern cars don't use brake fluid, so I didn't top it up even after MOT told me 2 m ago that it is low. I didnt change fluid from when I have bought car 4 years ago, because I was told that this fluid works in low temp and there is no friction in this system to no metal particles so no need to change it because nothing wrong is happening to fluid. I want to top up fluid now and just to go to garage, to make this happen I will add fluid and keep engine on so brake/clutch hydraulic system is pressurized. Problem is that I am not able to disengage 3rd gear and clutch. What do you propose? Lift car on 2 jacks and make wheels spin in air? Rock car to make gear disengage?

I don't know the set-up on the manual but it would appear to share the brake fluid to operate the clutch slave. The slaves are seemingly known to leak.

If the above is correct then the brake fluid (DOT4) should be changed - I tend to do mine every year but I think every 2 years is OK. Brake fluid is hygroscopic meaning it attracts water so even in a sealed system, water will slowly find its way in and contaminate it - this reduces braking performance and makes the fluid boil at a lower temperature and leads to 'spongy' brakes.

In really simple terms, if the fluid is very light yellow it is OK; if it is dark yellow/amber say, the colour of pee the morning after the night before ( 'hangover p*ss' )then it is bad.

If your slave is leaking then I would assume it's a big job - if you do it then you may as well check and replace the clutch friction plates.

On a motorcycle, strapping the brake lever to the bars overnight tends to force air out of the system but the Volvo is different as it has a vacuum servo to increase pressure so I doubt that will work.

[mikealder]

Top up the brake resi then pump the clutch pedal a few times, check the level and add fluid to the resi if required. Next get someone else to press and release the clutch pedal while you look for leaks, if you are lucky it could be a pipe or pipe joint that has failed, if brake fluid is coming out of the gearbox housing then the clutch slave cylinder is shot and will need replacing.

Whichever garage told you that brake fluid doesn't need replacing every so often is a garage that you no longer take your car to as they are issuing crap advice - Mike

[RM955I]

Agreed Shocking advice from a so-called 'garage'

[Simon Jones]

I take it you don't have the car serviced in line with Volvo service schedule? Every car manufacturer will recommend 2 year replacement of brake/clutch fluid replacement. To be honest, if the MOT tester advises that something needs attention and that advice is subsequently ignored, then you probably should leave servicing to the professionals who will ensure vehicle is correctly and safely maintained for you.