Hi all,
New to the forum, and new to Volvo ownership. Specifically, a 2007 S40 2.4i with 122k mi on the clock, 5 speed manual. Belt was changed in 2016 at around 100k.
Also new to driving a stick shift! Ridden motorcycles for years so the principles weren't hard to grasp, and I'm getting around town just fine.

I'm just "getting to know" the vehicle now, and I'd like some recommendations what to service, keep an eye on, etc. So far she's running strong, suspension feels good, a.c and all the electricals seem to be fine.

I'm noticing a slight resistance or 'notch' with the clutch fully depressed, going from first into second. If I take a moment to stop my shift in neutral with the clutch still fully depressed, it seems to get into second a bit more smoothly. If I try to go right from first into second at a normal or quick pace, the resistance is there, but not for any other gear shifts. It feels like it hits a point of friction, and then with a little more pressure gets into gear. It may just be a very minor thing to a more experienced driver, but I am a total noob to manual shifting. I should add that the carfax shows a transmission service with fluid changed less than 10,000 miles ago.

I am also seeking to have the hydraulic fluid changed for the clutch pedal. The fluid is dark and looks like it's never been changed. Can this be done with the old turkey baster method (to avoid having to fully bleed the system) or should I take it in? Would hate to ruin the clutch master cyl.

Other than that she seems to be tip-top-magoo. I'll be bringing it in to a trusted mechanic in the coming weeks but figured I'd get my research done first.

Thanks in advance for any help, and glad to be part of the forum!

 

You might research an aftermarket trans oil solution - what you are feeling is the 2nd gear syncro not slowing the gears down and allowing it to engage in 2nd. Common if a trans has been used by perhaps a driver not concerned with the damage he can cause with a poor shifting technique. Motorcycles generally don't have syncros - so you may not have experienced this before. A friend swears a Redline trans oil product helped his (notoriously bad) 2nd gear syncro shifting problem is his Alfa.

Brake fluid should be flushed every 2 years/37.5k or more often in certain cases. Flush as in bleed all the old fluid out until the clean fluid fills the system. Certainly a turkey baster to remove as much from the reservoir is a good start - then new fluid is pushed or pulled through the system until it's clean. There are many cheap fluid test tools out there - to see how much moisture is in the fluid. From a Volvo service schedule -

 

Sounds like you found a winner! New TB AND a manual transmission (which eliminates the most common failure, the automatic tranny).

Bleeding and replacing the clutch fluid shouldn't be TOO bad (though of course, I have never had the pleasure of doing myownself because my Volvos were both autos). It's a 2-person DIY if you are up to it (sounds like you have to remove the airbox to get access, but that's simple enough). Then it's just a matter of adding clean fluid while pumping it out the bleed nipple, just like you'd do with a brake.

The "notch" is probably in the transmission itself - I'd suggest doing a transmission fluid drain and fill as well - might help (might not). But it's never a bad thing to do, unless your documentation shows it's been done recently (in which case it would be overkill). It could be the second gear synchronizer, which is the most common one to fail. Kind of a big job to fix IIRC, but if the shifting is OK other than a very slight "notch" it's much easier to ignore it. ;-)

 

Not sure if the "notch" is the shifter or the transmission. Never looked the S40s but most shifter have rods and pins that can bind up if not lubricated. Do you feel the notch with the clutch in and the engine not running? If so, that would rule out any issues the the gears/synchro rings. If you want to do a drain fill on the transmission fluid, just research the required oil spec (ie GL4 and GL5 are most common but not interchangeable - 5 isn't better than 4 when it comes to cars with brass synchros). Synthetic gear oils are available from Redline, Liquid Moly etc and carried on Volvo friendly sites like FCP and IPD. I've never done a slave cylinder on an S40 so I can't comment on how easy it is to access but my sense is a power bleeder tool will help if you are going to give it a go. Many cars share a fluid reservoir between brake and clutch masters so you may want to freshen the fluid for both at the same time.