volvo 1800 clutch will not disengage when vehicle is running?

Question

Advice on how to troubleshoot and/or repair.
Vehicle was parked for over three months while I was out of the country, when I returned in July, the clutch would not disengage when depressed, so I could not put it into gear.
1967 Volvo 1800s

Thanks for the responses. I do not think it is the hydraulic system, as the clutch worked just fine three months ago, and it hasn't been moved from the garage. The fluid level in the master is right where it always is. I am going to try the rocking method, to see if it could be a frozen clutch plate.

Answer 1

There could be multiple problems. First, this vehicle is equipped with a hydraulic clutch. There is a master cylinder on the firewall that supplies fluid to the slave cylinder on the clutch bell housing underneath. Check the master cylinder fluid level. Refill if required. Still no action? Then the system may have air in it which must be bled out. You can't bleed a hydraulic clutch system like you would a set of brakes. You need a hand vacuum pump to do it properly. Once all the air is bled and there is still no clutch action, the clutch disc might be frozen to the flywheel from the vehicle sitting for so long. The quick fix is to try to rock the car in gear to free up the disc. If that doesn't work, disassembly is necessary. My money is on air in the system.

Answer 2

I have a better way to free up a frozen clutch....just put the car in gear with the engine OFF, then start the car and it will jump forward (yes of course you need a clear runway to do this, let's not be silly about it).

Definitely it could be a clutch disc stuck to the flywheel.

Does your clutch pedal feel softer or weaker than usual? Do you have fluid in the clutch master cylinder?

If the answers are NO and YES, you might have a frozen clutch.

The method I suggested is a bit barbaric but it works. I've done it a couple of times.

And once it's loose, that's all you have to do.

But by all means bleed out your hydraulic system before you go tearing the car apart.

Answer 3

there is nothing mechanically wrong with your car [move the car into an open area] put the car in gear and while holding the clutch pedal down put it into 1st gear and start the engineTHE CAR WILL MOVE next floor and release the gas pedal in rapid bursts. the clutch disc that has rusted to the flywheel will break free of the rust and all things will be back to normal
good luck and do not attempt in close quarters or around people or livestock

Answer 4

Being a 67 it is likely a "rod and lever" setup, so crawl underneatha nd just make sure that they rod an lever are actually connected, check for free play. If it is nothing simple like this, then you may not be able to tackle this yourself. Good luck.