WOBBLY Gear lever, was squeaking, now loose

Various, various and more various!
Post Reply
User avatar
stuartB
Posts: 125
Joined: 22 May 2008 04:05 pm
Location: Essex

WOBBLY Gear lever, was squeaking, now loose

Post by stuartB » 22 May 2008 04:10 pm

I have a squeaky gear lever!

The car is 2" lowered

It squeaks from 2nd to 3rd, or 4th to 5th, but not 1st to 2nd or 3rd to 4th (only squeaks when you move it 'up' towards the bulkhead direction)

It also seems to move a bit whilst in 1'st 3rd or 5th - whilst in gear and going along you can move the gear lever as though further into gear, moves a good 2" further or so, but stays in gear ??

any ideas? is this is common thing where a rubber has gone or something?
Last edited by stuartB on 23 May 2008 11:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
Volvo 360 GLS, 1984, 2ltr 8v SOHC, K+N filter, 2" straight thru pipe, no middle box, lowered 2", Landrover 90 shocks, BBS rims

User avatar
stuartB
Posts: 125
Joined: 22 May 2008 04:05 pm
Location: Essex

Post by stuartB » 22 May 2008 04:30 pm

further info that might be of some help:

The middle box is gone - i have had a 2" straight thru pipe put on it, and as mentioned above the car is 2" lowered

thing is, these mods have been done for more than 3 or 4 months or so now, and the problem only developed over the last week or so

Is there a connector at the base of the gear lever that may have blown a rubber or something? having never looked at this part close up, i cant visualise the part and thus what might be rubbing together to make the squeak...

please someone tell me they've had a similar problem solved by a 2 quid rubber part or a 10 minute weld up... =) fingers crossed
Volvo 360 GLS, 1984, 2ltr 8v SOHC, K+N filter, 2" straight thru pipe, no middle box, lowered 2", Landrover 90 shocks, BBS rims

User avatar
340GLT
*** V3M DONOR ***
Posts: 3657
Joined: 31 Mar 2005 09:01 pm
Location: Shropshire & Swansea, UK
Contact:

Post by 340GLT » 22 May 2008 05:23 pm

Hi there, the excess play is a 300 standard feature. Its due to the length of rods used to change gears, the mods wont have affected it in the slightest, there really are no bushes to wear, if you wanted you can take the gear lever out and regrease the ball? It could be dry?
Adam
F559 LFE - 340R 2.0 16v
C208 CTR - 340 1.8 16v
D300 LBO - 360 GLT 3 Door Turbo project!! (and restoration)
F706 RBX - 350R in process!!!

User avatar
Fuse
Posts: 1364
Joined: 29 Jul 2004 09:03 pm
Location: Finland
Contact:

Post by Fuse » 22 May 2008 06:37 pm

Excess play is also caused when the gear lever support rusts/snaps off from the torque tube. If it goes really bad then it's like a joystick. There are rubber parts which act as a damper between the gear lever support and torque tube, changing those to aluminium ones for example makes the gear lever a bit more rigid. Some people have also bolted the whole support directly on to the body but that can give some vibrations.. In mine the support bar to the bellhousing was also loose so it was quite "interesting" to change gears.. :lol:
Volvo R-Sport - Equipment for the car enthusiast.

“Buy land, they're not making it anymore” - Mark Twain


"There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games." -Ernest Hemingway

User avatar
stuartB
Posts: 125
Joined: 22 May 2008 04:05 pm
Location: Essex

Post by stuartB » 23 May 2008 10:34 am

LOL

joystick is exactly what i got now :) haha

this morning i pulled away and went for 2nd, and got nothing but high revs =$ if i do it a certain way i can get gears but its well shagged...
i will reweld it to the torquetube then? or to the body? its all about getting under there tomorrow and seeing what we got

so theres little chance of the linkage being bent or something?

and finally... do i need a new linkage?? hopefully not, payday is a long way off at the mo :$
Volvo 360 GLS, 1984, 2ltr 8v SOHC, K+N filter, 2" straight thru pipe, no middle box, lowered 2", Landrover 90 shocks, BBS rims

User avatar
SteveP
*** V3M DONOR ***
Posts: 7933
Joined: 21 Sep 2004 12:45 pm
Location: Coventry, UK

Post by SteveP » 23 May 2008 11:37 am

This happened to my old 360... part of the weld broke on the linkage itself. There shouldn't be that much play really on one that's working correctly.
1989 - Volvo 360 GLT
1985 - Volvo 360 GLS
2008 - Volvo S60 SE Lux

User avatar
stuartB
Posts: 125
Joined: 22 May 2008 04:05 pm
Location: Essex

Post by stuartB » 23 May 2008 11:45 am

no, it was never that bad really - always was a bit of play, but well manageable...

Now it just wobbles in ANY direction, with the vague hint of a gear 'gate' at the very extremes of its motion...

what makes it worse i think is that i got rid of the lethal gearknob that kept coming off while i was going sidewards, and scaring the hell out of me, with one that is slightly taller (longer) so perhaps now im putting too much leverage on the stick.

might replace with a smaller one soon. but first, getting under the car, MIG in hand...
Volvo 360 GLS, 1984, 2ltr 8v SOHC, K+N filter, 2" straight thru pipe, no middle box, lowered 2", Landrover 90 shocks, BBS rims

User avatar
SteveP
*** V3M DONOR ***
Posts: 7933
Joined: 21 Sep 2004 12:45 pm
Location: Coventry, UK

Post by SteveP » 23 May 2008 01:33 pm

Hmm does sound like the usual linkage weld snap... to do it 'properly' I believe you have to drop the Exhaust Torque Tube down to gain access... but if it's a car you're not too bothered about you can do it from the 'top' and make room by opening up the transmission tunnel a bit.
1989 - Volvo 360 GLT
1985 - Volvo 360 GLS
2008 - Volvo S60 SE Lux

User avatar
Fuse
Posts: 1364
Joined: 29 Jul 2004 09:03 pm
Location: Finland
Contact:

Post by Fuse » 23 May 2008 02:53 pm

Check also my older post from this topic

http://www.volvo300mania.com/forum-uk/v ... php?t=3725

There's pretty detailed info about the problem. :P
Volvo R-Sport - Equipment for the car enthusiast.

“Buy land, they're not making it anymore” - Mark Twain


"There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games." -Ernest Hemingway

User avatar
stuartB
Posts: 125
Joined: 22 May 2008 04:05 pm
Location: Essex

Post by stuartB » 23 May 2008 03:09 pm

"...my problem goes as follows; over the past 2 weeks ive felt the gearbox giving more and just generaly feeling more tired. then today, i was driving the car and getting into fourth was only possible by yanking the lever so far backwards that it started to bend the plastic behind it. Then back into 3rd, which is only possible by my hand rubbing against the dash, and the gear being in the position where neutral usualty sits. so the gears have all gone backwards.. ? its very odd. first is nearly impossible to get into, and reverse is just the same. getting into 3rd feels like the knob goes over a wee hill to get there. "

Bang on

exactly what i got... cheers for the link
Volvo 360 GLS, 1984, 2ltr 8v SOHC, K+N filter, 2" straight thru pipe, no middle box, lowered 2", Landrover 90 shocks, BBS rims

User avatar
stuartB
Posts: 125
Joined: 22 May 2008 04:05 pm
Location: Essex

Post by stuartB » 27 May 2008 09:35 am

LONG!!!!! what a mission!

managed to get all the stuff off the bottom, and stopped literally JUST shy of taking the whole torque-tube / gearbox / diff off, when in strolls Kenton the masterwelder :) "dont worry, i can weld that" - with that, he zips it back up without chopping the tunnel in any way. the plastic surrounds all still in place

Result:
====

the play in the gearstick was caused by the stabilizer bar (from the gearstick retaining plate to the bellhousing); its basically a bit of tube welded to the aforementioned plate, and rather than the weld popping, the tube had literally pulled the part of the plate it is attached to away from the rest of it.


Image

Image

we matched up the two torn parts, and Kenton welded them back together :) even though he's actually a mini nut he's still helpful to a volvo fan. YAY

Note: He tells me there is no need to cut the tunnel, even if the torque tube weren't lowered AT ALL (which it was, about an inch measured at the diff end) LoL the marvels of modern engineering eh -he didnt need to take my front springs out when he cut them, either - what a G!

(EDIT - its worth mentioning that in my case, the stabiliser had broken - if this were the main mounts, it WOULD be a complete strip to get at the break - there really is NO space in that tunnel)

POINT TO NOTE: it's all well and good adjusting the gear 'gate' to give a more responsive entry to 2nd and 1st gear, but DO NOT! i repeat DO NOT overtighten the little alan key bolts that hold this in place. I snapped the head off one of mine doing this - now it's held in place by only one (seems ok so far)

Gears now better than ever before - definite, and smooth.

THANKYOU volvo 300 forum
Last edited by stuartB on 28 May 2008 03:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Volvo 360 GLS, 1984, 2ltr 8v SOHC, K+N filter, 2" straight thru pipe, no middle box, lowered 2", Landrover 90 shocks, BBS rims

User avatar
stuartB
Posts: 125
Joined: 22 May 2008 04:05 pm
Location: Essex

Post by stuartB » 28 May 2008 03:06 pm

pics added in previous post re: gearlever
Volvo 360 GLS, 1984, 2ltr 8v SOHC, K+N filter, 2" straight thru pipe, no middle box, lowered 2", Landrover 90 shocks, BBS rims

Post Reply