It works for me Tom..!!

The Vario lives again!! New clutch and belts fitted and everything working properly. I must confess even with the car on a ramp I struggled with the belts - I couldn't get the secondary pulleys to open-up so as to get the new belts on. In the end I resorted to completely unbolting the secondary transmission with it supported on a stand and moving it up to the primary transmission. It was then fairly simple to fit the belts and bolt it all back together. Not a job I'd want to do lying on my back though. The clutch was straightforward enough although adjustment was a bit hit and miss due to a shortage of shims. Anyhow, it all works perfectly and the car now drives extremely well. At last...

Good news! Congratulations on getting the work done yourself.

What are the Roflex-Vari belts like, any noisier?

awesome. Well done indeed ian!
Glad you got a happy ending to this thread. Youve certainly put the work in!

The belts I bought off Ebay were made by Reulands. They did seem slightly noisy when driving-off this morning from a cold start but they settled down very quickly. I'm not complaining for £45....!!

That's it, Roulunds Roflex-Vari.
http://www.roulundsrubber.contitech.de/ ... ry_en.html

If you do a search for "Roulunds" on this site, you'll see they have a reputation for being "noisy but durable". It'd be interesting to hear your experiences (particularly as I've got exactly the same belts waiting for me in England )

Tom

Yes, for some reason they're very noisy when starting on a cold, humid morning (condensation on the pulleys?)... however that ends quite fast. For the same reason, starting in the winter has been relatively quiet because the air is so dry... except when there's ice on the windows, then the noise is pretty much the same as on humid mornings.

Are you using the same belts, nomead?

I had a chance to peek under the car while it was getting inspected (MOT) and yes it has Roulunds belts. I'll try to get a better view soon... but that's what I've been saying to myself for months now. But note that I don't have anything else to compare the noises (or lack of) to - I haven't recently been inside a 340 with Goodyear/Volvo belts.

That's good news, as you know they've been changed in the past. I guess it's a job that only needs to be done once in the cars' lifetime, unless you're planning on covering some serious mileage ...

When I was buying the car last autumn, the item description stated that the previous owner (previous before that seller) had changed the belts, so I already knew they were new... just didn't know what type of belt they used.

yay another variomatic saved. Please be so kind to check on the rear pulley clearances after you've covered 500-600 miles or so. New belts need to 'stretch in' a little and having no or too little clearance would result in the usual 'makes too much revs at speed' queries.

The saga continues unfortunately. There is a loud rhythmic rattle from the clutch housing when the engine is idling in drive (it almost sounds like a big-end rattle). The noise stops if you increase the revs to 1000+ or if you depress the button on top of the gear selector knob. It doesn't happen in neutral and there are no associated symptoms - drive engages normally and there is no noise above 1000 rpm. I'm familiar with the usual 340 chatter if the idle speed is too low but this is different. I suspect there may be a fault with either the new clutch cover or the release bearing but unless it gets worse or something goes bang I'm inclined to see if anything develops. Any thoughts?

I've started a new thread ref the rattle.