Volvo 480 Club Europe

Hi everybody !

I need to change the clutch kit for my '93 turbo, and it's not a mystery that it's quite hard to find a 215 mm clutch kit nowadays...

So, I wonder if any other 215 mm kit can match perfectly ? A Renault one, maybe ? Any serious experience to share about that ?

I also wonder if a 210 mm kit for a 2 liter could perfectly match, as the flywheel is the same ?

Thanks for your answers !

Regards.

Julien.

As far as I know the original Volvo clutch is still available in many countries. It has the advantage of strong springs, next to racing.
The disadvantage is the plate, which is very hard (to make it live longer), but as consequence has a poor grip. A Clio 182 or Megane 2.0 16 V fase 1 plate will do better. Or Laguna, but of this car I do not know the version. The shorter life should not bother you much, as the Volvo plate is claimed to have a lifespan of over 200.000 Km, a little less is not a headache.
Also the sport clutch kit for the Renault Megane 2.0 16 v fase 1 should fit the 480 turbo 215millimeter if the plate has 26 splines.
As some plates differ a little in diameter (20x21,4x26N for Volvo, 20x21,9x26N for Renault) the flywheel needs to be surfaced, a good thing to do anyway.

In general it is practically impossible to order stuff from Renault dealers without a part number and this is hard to come by. Valeo make kits for the JC5 gearbox, which is very similar to the M59, you may have a look from this point. As a Frenchman you should not have problems in finding things out I suppose.

Thanks a lot for your answer, Roland !

I've finally found a 215 mm kit in Germany, probably a Volvo original.

I keep your precious informations left for the next time, in a couple of years, after my 480 ran its next 200 000 km !

I'm digging up the topic, as I'm running into the same trouble as tetrao.

Roland, may I ask you what you mean by "the flywheel needs to be surfaced" ?
Also, if it's not done, could the Megane clutch be damaged or get its life shortened ?

Thanks.

A flywheel gets worn by the clutch plate, like a brake disc by the pads. If you use a clutch plate with different diameter the surface of the flywheel should be flattened to eliminate the traces of the former clutch plate in order to have overall contact. Maybe someone can translate this into the right English technical terms.

This video shows perfectly what you mean, am I right ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGUDPpJX7SY
We can see that the flywheel is more worn where the old clutch used be in contact with.

You obviously got the message. Just have it machined, do not do it by hand.

Thank you Roland.
I ordered a 215mm Renault clutch.
I will post the result in a few weeks.