Intermittent sticky clutch = bottom end rebuild

[andybjackson]

Dear All,

After 3 years of active use, I am still delighted with my '19 XC40 T4 Inscription.

Wanted to share an unusual issue in case this helps others. Since new, the clutch pedal would randomly not return completely, requiring a nudge with my foot to get it completely back up. I wondered if the cable or fluid mechanism needed attention, or if the clutch itself needed replacing.

What the dealer (Cambridge Garage Petersfield & Havant - who are excellent) diagnosed, thanks also to metal filings in the oil filter, was excessive plan due to worn crank/thrust bearing(s). They duly and efficiently did a bottom end rebuild under warranty.

Whilst I am now nervous about an engine that has had to have such surgery so early in its life, I still like the car enough to be happy to have bought it. I'm surprised that they no longer sell this model.

Having used the replacement B3 as my courtesy car for a week, I would not swap, even for free. The Google dashboard tech is inferior, especially in terms of the instrument cluster display, the available power is less and the fuel consumption not materially better.

Hope this might be useful information.

[Haldex]

Any word on what may have caused premature wear on the crank & bearings? Can't say that I've heard of this being an issue on these engines..

[rhd443]

Originally Posted by andybjackson

Dear All,

After 3 years of active use, I am still delighted with my '19 XC40 T4 Inscription.

Wanted to share an unusual issue in case this helps others. Since new, the clutch pedal would randomly not return completely, requiring a nudge with my foot to get it completely back up. I wondered if the cable or fluid mechanism needed attention, or if the clutch itself needed replacing.

What the dealer (Cambridge Garage Petersfield & Havant - who are excellent) diagnosed, thanks also to metal filings in the oil filter, was excessive plan due to worn crank/thrust bearing(s). They duly and efficiently did a bottom end rebuild under warranty.

Whilst I am now nervous about an engine that has had to have such surgery so early in its life, I still like the car enough to be happy to have bought it. I'm surprised that they no longer sell this model.

Having used the replacement B3 as my courtesy car for a week, I would not swap, even for free. The Google dashboard tech is inferior, especially in terms of the instrument cluster display, the available power is less and the fuel consumption not materially better.

Hope this might be useful information.

Did you get your oil sent away for analysis? Might be worth doing it in the next 6 months to see what the engine health is now like.

The labs will tell you if there is anything wrong or causes etc and will give you a good idea of whether to keep it or not.

[andybjackson]

Originally Posted by rhd443

Did you get your oil sent away for analysis? Might be worth doing it in the next 6 months to see what the engine health is now like.

The labs will tell you if there is anything wrong or causes etc and will give you a good idea of whether to keep it or not.

Any suggestion on who might offer oil anlysis?

[rhd443]

Originally Posted by andybjackson

Any suggestion on who might offer oil anlysis?

Apologies for missing this,

https://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-217044-...enger-car.aspx

There are other companies that do it directly but Opie won't let you down .

I dropped some oil from my T8 for test before I recently decided to purchase it off the finance deal (new cars are all missing things or have speed limiters which I do not want)

Main dealers on their service plans never fill oil, they cheat and save themselves half a litre here and there per job, so cars wear prematurely nowadays in my experience.

[andybjackson]

Further to the bottom end rebuild documented above, I have had a subsequent engine warning light appear. This has been tracked down to the lambda sensor between the engine & the catalytic convertor producing readings that are out of tolerance.

Volvo (Cambridge Garage Petersfield) said they followed a Volvo service bulletin's guidance by "recalibrating" the engine management system to the results that the lambda sensor is producing. The car was MOTed since the rebuild and the emissions were well within tolerance.

Any thoughts or advice about this. Was a bit of a surprise to me.

I have also followed guidance by going to Opie Oils in Truro to get the oil tested. Turns out they use Millers and just sell a kit with a bottle and postage to get this done.

Sadly, they do not offer a service to extract the oil. Turns out this is harder than you might expect. The lack of a dipstick had me trying to suck oil from the filler cap. Not possible.

And the effort even just to get to the drain plug means you may just as well do an oil & filter change at the same time. 5 T30 bolts at the front & 7 T20s per this video link. But then the oil is £70 - 90 not to mention the filter and drain-plug crush-washer.

And then it got too cold to work outside. Watch this space.

Still love the car.

[andybjackson]

Check engine warning light back on. Lambda sensor replaced today. Fingers crossed.

[andybjackson]

Had the old oil analysed when it came due for replacement. Results well within spec (Silicon a little high but that is normal due to sealant used in rebuild, density, viscosity & especially other mineral levels good).

Lambda sensor replacement seems to have fixed that problem, no check engine light since.

The crankshaft & thrust bearing issue is now more widely apparent. Googling produces numerous examples.

Still love the car. Hope it continues to go for quite some time.