My 2.2 diesel 2005 clutch pedal will not release back up after i depress it to change gears wlilst driving and and i am not able to go into 1st or 2nd gear as well whilst it is stuck down. Please advise.

 

I once had a similar problem in a Volvo S70 that I owned. In my case, it was just after flushing the brake and clutch fluid. I had used a common vacuum bleeder (MityVac), and learned the hard way that there was something about the Volvo's master cylinder that allowed air into the clutch hydraulics when a vacuum bleeder was used. Following up with a pressure bleeder solved the problem. I have a full account of that story at the bottom of the link below, along with a review of various bleeder techniques and products. It's more information than you probably want to get into, but it's background that may help you solve your problem. See:

http://www.jimrothe.com/volvo/clutch_bleeding.html


More directly addressing your problem, please answer the following questions and we can take it from there:

1) If you reach into the footwell with your hand, can you pull the clutch pedal back up?

2) If you can pull the pedal up, does it feel like it's binding in any way?

3) Is pedal pressure restored when you pull the pedal up in this way?

4) Is the brake/clutch fluid reservoir full? (If it's very low, you might do well to top off the fluid level and then try working the pedal by hand - up and down - several times to see if that restores pedal pressure.)

5) Has the fluid ever been bled or flushed? (If it's dark brown like molasses, then it probably has not been flushed.)

Get back to us on these questions, and maybe we can help you more.

 

1. Yes, the pedal can be pulled up by hand and pressured is restored and i continue driving normally, then the clutch pedal sticks again.
2.It does not feel binding when i pull the pedal up by hand.
3. The fluid is full but looks dark molasis brown as you mentioned.

 

Not being able to select 1st or 2nd while the clutch pedal is held to the floor suggests that the clutch is not being fully disengaged.

I would crawl under the dash and check the mechanical operation of the clutch pedal. Check for cracks in the plastic pedal. Also, verify the return spring is in place. Does the pedal operate smoothly with little effort? Do you have about 15mm of free play in the pedal before you feel significant resistance?

 

I think you have on e of 2 possible problems, a worn out clutch master cylinder or a blown slave cylinder.

My advise first would be to bleed the system, 2 person job, you under the car bleeding it out at the slave, and refilling the reservoir as needed, someone else doing the pedal, or if you have one of those vaccuum pumps for a brake system thats even better, just suck the new fluid through by attaching the linew to the bleeder valve on the slave. suck out all the air and the new fluid. Hopefully the fluid has just lost is viscosity.

Failing that you can rebuild the cylinders.

 

Hi folks over last week clutch flywheel has been running when in neutral put clutch down and it stops but today driving home clutch pedal stuck on floor lifted it buy hand but can no longer engage any gears any help would be appreciated