WTB Manual (M56) Shift Cables for 2000 S70 (Bastard).

[tjmartin317]

I think I worded my title correctly, but I’m hitting a wall with my once shiftable S70.

Won’t go into 2nd 4th or reverse without a hell of a fight. First warn bushings we’re thought to be the cause, then worn engine mounts. And while both may have been true, neither fixed the issue, and the cables bind up significantly in the engine bay every time you try and shift them. Cable won’t push out enough to get the lever to engage those gears.

I know they’re going to be used because new ones simply don’t exist. I also know my generation cables are different than 850s and even earlier S70s as my shifter to cable connection points looks like this:

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It’s almost skeletal by comparison to the shifter assembly that I’ve seen in other videos. So if I can only get 850 cables I’ll have to get an 850 shifter (that ought to screw into the same places… I hope…).

This part is kind of the tipping point between keeping and parting out the car, and I’d really like not to do that. So I appreciate any help you can give in this search.

Or, if you think a different combination of shifters and shift cables might be able to be forced… I mean… fabricated into place, I’d love some ideas. At this point, my solution is a bunch of pulleys, some skinny PCV, and a metal cable that runs from the shifter head to the actual lever so that it gets a little extra pull with every shift… but that’s about as janky as it sounds…

Thank you!

[MoVolvos]

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Will double clutch, pressing the clutch down twice before changing gears help with the shift? If not change the transmission fluid. Had a difficult gear shift on an old Honda Accord Coupe. Changing the gear lube helped a great deal.
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[tjmartin317]

Gear oil was the first thing changed, I almost forgot I had done that. And double clutching doesn’t do the trick. But I appreciate you double checking for me

[MoVolvos]

Gear oil was the first thing changed, I almost forgot I had done that. And double clutching doesn’t do the trick. But I appreciate you double checking for me

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Good that you got that squared away. How about checking to see you can find an appropriate sized Coupling Nut and making the cable adjustable. There seems to be enough rod to cut and thread for use with the Coupling Nut. This beats retrofitting with an 850 set up in terms of T & M besides the potential need for customization and fine tuning thereafter.
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[tjmartin317]

“How about checking to see you can find an appropriate sized Coupling Nut and making the cable adjustable.”

That’s a solution for if I can’t get the right parts… which seems likely. But I’d be rather afraid to screw up the cables even more than they already are.

What would your strategy be? Adjust close to the transmission end of the cable between the little holder? I haven’t worked with coupling nuts (in fact, the only nut I know about it myself) so this is a foreign solution, but I keep reading these cables aren’t adjustable.

[MoVolvos]

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The Volvo diagram shows two cables. I haven't worked on a Manual or looked closely at one so can't make out the direction and function of the assembly. If it's 2nd & 4th I'm assuming it's just one cable that's a bit short or long. If you move the shifter left or right it's either 2nd, 4th or reverse when shifting downward so should perhaps be the same cable.

Assuming the copper color section is solid, one of the cables and the correct one. Cut a small piece and thread the length in the red rectangle. This will allow you quite of bit of lengthening or shortening of the cable.
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https://www.volvopartswebstore.com/show ... ct=1111393
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2000 S70 M56 Cable.png (4.29 MiB) Viewed 905 times

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[volvolugnut]

I think MoVolves is on the right track here, or at least this plan looks like it could work if original parts are not available.
Looking at the parts diagram, it seems the original cable was an assembly of both cables. If only one has failed, then the coupler nut would only be needed on one side.
If the internal cable has failed, or is failing, the length will continue to change until full failure. I would want to investigate this before adding the coupler nut. When a clutch cable on one of my manual 240's failed, it was internal cable failure.
If a good solution can be found for this it may save many other manual cars in the future.
volvolugnut

[tjmartin317]

I see… and will this coupling nut self thread on both sides? Since there’s no threads on the actual copper line, it’d have to make them.

The cable that shifts 2nd 4th and reverse is actually under the shifter housing, and pushes the cable towards the front of the car to try and grab those gears, but isn’t long enough (1st 3rd and 5th are always fine).

Is that parts diagram for a 2000 S70? The housing looks like mine, but the cables themselves don’t cross over eachother and mine do. I’ll try to find a picture later.

Oh, and nice photoshop skills. Clarified it enough for me to see what to do!

[volvolugnut]

There are standard push-pull cables that may be able to replace your cable. Here is a link
https://www.mcmaster.com/products/push%2Fpull-cables/
These appear to be all SAE dimensions, but other sources may be metric. In either case, custom end connectors may need to be fabricated.
If a solution is developed, there may be opportunity for a cottage industry making cables for others.
volvolugnut

[tjmartin317]

I’d happily corner the market for S70/850 shift cables if I trusted myself to make that kind of quality product. But I’m certainly not opposed to trying.

Wanted to share this with the folks following the thread. It’s a video of the cables in action, and the issue at hand:



Very dramatically binds up at a certain point. Especially when going into reverse. So something is super stuck in there… either that, or I’m missing a bracket to hold it in place.