look at the piece of firewall where the cl cable passes through. i've seen a few crack from the stress.

Is this the spring to which you refer?



This is the return spring for the clutch fork.

You could temporarily unhook it and see if the squeak goes away. I'm guessing it won't but it's the easiest thing to check. Some people will say it's not needed but it is there for a reason. Don't leave it disconnected.

There is a rubber damper and steel washer at the end of the clutch cable. You can see them in the diagram below. What condition are they in?



I doubt if it's the cable itself but I have used Tri Flow spray lube in the sheath to free up a stiff cable, not that it was squeaking, though.


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'79 242, '84 DL 2 door, '80 DL 2 door, '89 DL Wagon, '15 XC70 T6 AWD

Bear with me, I haven’t thought about clutches in depth for a long time…:)
Is the spring part of the clutch linkage? Meaning the parts that connect the clutch pedal to the transmission? My best guess is the spring is indeed part of linkage. Stepping on the clutch pedal engages or disengages the clutch. The spring is compressed when you step on the pedal and moves the throw out bearing so you can shift gears.

You could try lubricating the pedal linkage and spring carefully to see if that stops the noise. Do NOT get any lubricant on the throw out bearing or clutch disc and pressure plate inside the transmission. Just lubricate the linkage/assembly parts between the clutch pedal and the transmission. The linkage or the spring might be noisy and need lubrication.
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Will I buy another Volvo??? We'll see....