2003 V70 D5 MT reverse gear does not engage

[sk49]

2003 V70 D5, manual 5 speed transmission.

Hello all,

Since the hot weather arrived, I have found that the reverse gear does not engage, and that I have to first select 3rd and then go to reverse (sometime this requires 2 or 3 attempts).

1st thing in the morning it usually works as the car is in the shade; however, after driving a couple of minutes reverse does not engage directly.

I have aso noticed that after driving continuously for a couple of hours, 2nd gear occasionally expereinces this problem too, and I have to slow down to 1st gear speed in order for it to lock.

I have drained and refilled the oil but that didnt help (it did for the 1st 5 reverse attempts, but once engine temp was nominal, the problem appeared again).

I noticed the following when changing the oil (I used the original Volvo oil - €76.60 for 4 liters):
1. Transmission requires 2.1 liters.
2. Drained oil came to arounbd 2.4 liters.
3. If the car was level, oil came out of the filler (Haynes manual says that gearbox should be filled when car is level).
4. If the front left was jacked up, oil still came out of the filler.
5. Haynes manual says that a lack of oil could cause tis problem; however, can to much oil cause it too, as I filled it when jacked up (I have around 1.5 liters left)? I don't thin this is the case as otherwise the car would have had this problem last summer too.

Haynes manual states that others causes can be gear selector cables, selector forks or sychronising units. Could anything else that is simpler to check be at fault?

[MoVolvos]

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Guessing from experience if it grinds when shifting it could be synchros or fluid. It there is no grinding it could be a throwout bearing.

Not on their old web page but Volvo Heavy Duty Equipment USA uses Swepco Products.
http://www.swepcousa.com/bpsite/comments.htm

I think you can use a 5-30W engine oil (please verify) and you may want to check with a local Porsche shop for purchase. Many shops use their products:

http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/sho ... detail.htm

http://www.andial.com/pc_trans.html

http://www.yelp.com/biz/independent-vol ... lnut-creek

Blessings,
BKM
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[sk49]

Hello BKM98,

Reverse does grind some times, but most of the time it just pops out when selected.

It selects directly upon 1st use in the morning 95% of the time.

Changing the oil didnt help, and Volvo told me that I could only use their original oil due to certain special additives Volvo adds to it, which is a shame as using a thicker viscosity may help as a workaround...

It would be great if I could obtain an exact diagnostics to determine what the tue fault is, as I could then decide if its worth the repair price or if I should just live with the annoyance, or will it get worse do you think?

SK49

[sk49]

How can I tell if the selector cables need changing or if its the synchro units themselves, as its now getting worse, and 2nd gear is also playing up?

Any idea how much a repair like this will cost?

[sk49]

It was indeed a selector cable issue. Once I figured out where to look under the bonnet I immediuately saw that the cable nearest the engine had a broken plastic ball mount, which prevented the cable from being strainght.

I couldnt find the missing end pice so couldnt glue it back on; however, I did manage to perform a very nice BDR that allows it to function correctly.

Will buy a new cable later on, as I dont think they sell seperate parts of it. Shall I just renew the broken one, or do both need replacing at the same time?