No 2nd,4th, Reverse Gear!! ??? Ideas?

EternalFootman · Post by **EternalFootman** » 05 May 2005, 09:52

Okay, I just bought this '97 Volvo 5 spd, and after 2 weeks of driving, I can't shift into 2nd or 4th or reverse. It started out slowly, where it would only not shift into 2nd or 4th if I was accelerating quickly, and shifting at high rpms. There wasn't any crunching or grinding like often happens when the syncros get messed up, it just felt kinda squishy and refused to go into gear.

But last night, I lost all three gears. 1st, 3rd, and 5th still work, but 2nd, 4th, and reverse don't work at all. And again, as usual, there isn't any grinding or anything like that.

So, I'm thinking that its one of the shifter cables that isn't set right, so that it won't allow the shift lever enough "throw" to get into any of the bottom gears.

Am I crazy in thinking this?

Thanks for your help,

Dave

95autoturbo · Post by **95autoturbo** » 16 May 2005, 10:28

what color is your fluid? get it pink.

or you could try going to napa and buying some "sea foam" transmission fix....dump some in it will not harm, I have only heard positive things to folks with tranny probs, its cheaper than a mechanic, or be a temp fix until you can have checked out, he will probably only fix your problem until you notice that it comes right back, unless you know someone that works on volvos!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » 16 May 2005, 18:47

if you didnt notice its a 5 speed malaca

95autoturbo · Post by **95autoturbo** » 16 May 2005, 20:39

Yes 5speeds have tranny fluid too!

AJU · Post by **AJU** » 19 May 2005, 07:31

Yeah, but it's not pink!

There's a bracket with some grommets behind and somewhat under the air box. Check that nothing is out of place here. There's no adjustment for the cables, so something must be hindering there travel.

Jot · Post by **Jot** » 19 May 2005, 20:29

With the engine off is it possible to put into the offending gears. If not it is a linkage problem if you can access those gears it is probably a sincro gear

AJU · Post by **AJU** » 20 May 2005, 06:14

Likely, but not definitely. If your engine/tranny mounts are bad, the whole assembly can move, changing the relationship between movement of the shifter stick and the corresponding movement at the transmission. Likewise, the grommets and brackets can move. These will be affected by engine vibration, likely worse at higher RPMs.

If you match your revs and double clutch, you should be able to get the car to shift cleanly even with bad synchros. Can you pull off lean shifts ever, or is it just not shifting anymore period?