Thanks John. I'll hopefully get it up on ramps at the weekend and let you know. Can you PM me with a contact number? Ian

Yes no problem, PM on the way.

Thanks John, I'll contact you once I've pulled it apart, should I need to.

However, (and I'm not sure why I didn't try this first) I've just called my local Volvo dealer who confirm that the following genuine parts are still available;

Centrifugal clutch - £120.17 plus vat
CVT belts - £198.95 plus vat (a pair)
Four-way vacuum valve - £71.87 plus vat

The belts are still available from UK stock and can be supplied within a couple of days, the clutch and vacuum valve are special order from Sweden with delivery within five days. The shim kit for the clutch is unfortunately no longer available.

Hope this may be of help or interest.

Ian

Good news about the available parts, but what to do about the shims? A CVT clutch needs regular adjusting, or so I'm told!

Tom

I suppose you could make them from old feeler gauges perhaps?

You don't own a Trabi by any chance I suppose?

Ian Mac wrote:You don't own a Trabi by any chance I suppose?

Tom

hi see if the clutch needs adjusting first
there should be a gap of no more than 20 thou between the clutch disc and pressure plate
you can check this with your feeler gauges
if the gap is to big you can take some shims out to close the gap up
i have plenty of shims if you get stuck

Thanks Martin, I may take you up on that

Just need to check the gap first ...

Tom

Erm, me too...

99% certain the clutch will be toast. I've personally seen it on two varios that were 'engaging very high.' one the clutch was down to the metal skeleton and on the other was virtually down to the rivets. I've only worked on two varios so that makes 100% needed new clutches. Luckily we had managed to find proper Volvo clutch kits for them, which included new pressure plates and release bearings, because certainly the pressure plate was knackered too. At that time luckily the CVT shims for adjusting the gap were still available from Volvo. Sadly I don't think they are nowadays.

With a brand new clutch the shim thickness is supposed to be 3mm (made up of 2x1.5mm shims) We found on taking both of these two cars apart that the total thickness was indeed 3mm, but was made up of a set of 2.5 and a set of 0.5. Because of the wear in the flywheel, a 3mm gap was too much so I think we used only the thinnest 0.5mm set and got the gap down to within specs.

It is absolutely crucial that the clutch is adjusted periodically to maintain a proper clutch gap, otherwise you'll induce too much wear, specifically in the flywheel, which will then have to be refaced. I suspect that these flywheels in these cars were worn to such an extent because the clutch gap was allowed to get too wide, with a heavier right foot being used to compensate for the lack of proper engagement, wearing the clutches out to the point of destruction and wearing the flywheel too.

Once we got the new clutches in and everything adjusted up, they drove fantastically again.

I really appreciate the response from everyone - its much more than I expected as a new member and far more than I've received in the past from clubs which charge an extortionate annual membership fee. I'm planning on getting the car up on ramps during the next few days (weather permitting as I'm working outside) and we should be able to see what's going on. Economies dictate that I can't throw a small fortune at it but hopefully we can get it up and running for a reasonable sum. Thanks everyone. Ian

This really is a good forum, i've noticed other places are often reluctant to help people, as if they can't be bothered to type a bit of advice down. CVTs are often misunderstood, and dismissed as black magic by unfamiliar mechanics. I dread to think how many have been scrapped due to clutch wear.

Yes, agree. Very helpful and friendly.
I'd also recommend the DAF Owners Club forum - again very welcoming and friendly and a lot of useful info.
http://www.dafownersclub.co.uk

I'll bear that in in mind as I'm almost certain to end up with a Daf one day. Cute little beggars.

filthyjohn wrote:I'll bear that in in mind as I'm almost certain to end up with a Daf one day. Cute little beggars.

I'll second that

Bjorn Belter wrote:Yes, agree. Very helpful and friendly.
I'd also recommend the DAF Owners Club forum - again very welcoming and friendly and a lot of useful info.
http://www.dafownersclub.co.uk

Just did a quick search on the DOC forum on clutch adjustment and found links to two very interesting articles on the VOC site:

http://www.volvoclub.org.uk/cvt_clutch.shtml
http://www.volvoclub.org.uk/66reg.shtml

Tom