1999 Volvo V70 2.5 Sometimes impossible to shift gears

PerEivind · Post by **PerEivind** » 10 Nov 2015, 03:19

Hi,

Need some help to diagnose my gearbox (M56). When the car is cold it's sometimes impossible to shift it in any gear. I might have to shut off the car and restart it, and try again. When the transmission is warm, it shift every gear good, even the reverse.

Yesterday, I felt this "knocking" in the whole car when trying to shift between reverse and 1st gear. Neither of them were able to fully engage, but the car knocked noticeably.

Can someone help me with this? I can't find any documentation that the gear oil has been changed.
The milage is 190.000 km or 118.000 miles.

Post by **RussB** » 10 Nov 2015, 12:32

Sounds to me like the clutch is failing. Try bleeding the slave cylinder and check the condition of the bushings which connect the shift cables to the transmission

Sommerfeldt · Post by **Sommerfeldt** » 10 Nov 2015, 14:31

+1 to what RussB said... sounds like my dad's old Camry when the clutch failed. Mind you, that was worn out, and I wouldn't expect a '99 V70 clutch to be worn out just yet.

(If you'd been US based, I would have asked if you ride the clutch... but you should know better than that.

)

- S

Post by **abscate** » 10 Nov 2015, 16:44

Interesting note when I scanned my 1999 - the AUTEL 801 tool actually returned a clutch percentage (70%) - I think this is measure of the clutch position sensor - is this indicative of clutch life remaining in some way?

Post by **scot850** » 10 Nov 2015, 17:41

Not sure why the gear shifts better when the engine/manual trans is warm, if they clutch is failing. Are the clutches on the manual trans cable or hydraulic? If Hydraulic is could be the fluid needs changed in the clutch. If cable clutch it could be the cable is failing or needs lubed.

I would also look at having the transmission oil replaced and see if that helps. Could be the fluid is just worn out and when it is warm it thins out and allows the gears to change easier.

Lastly, also check the engine mountings, especially the top torque bush at the firewall behind the engine in middle of the engine bay. Also check the mounting under the crankshaft pulley.

Neil.

Post by **abscate** » 10 Nov 2015, 20:19

They are hydraulic and utilize the concentric throw out bearing that lives in the bell housing

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 10 Nov 2015, 22:12

Do you know what gear lube it is running? If standard, non synthetic, 90 weight Hypoid gear lube got put in the lube itself gets very thick and it can make shifting difficult until it gets some heat in it. The M56 really wants to have a synthetic GL4 gear lube and the GL4 spec is getting very difficult to find. Most gear lube now is GL5 spec which is actually too slick and the synchros don't work well with it. That too can make shifting difficult and can lead to grinding between gears, almost like a 16 year old driving with a manual transmission for the first time.

None of those sounds like your problem though as you describe it. In your case I wonder if the linkage sockets where the cables hook up to the transmission need to be lubed. If the grease there is dry and caked it will soften up somewhat with heat.

...Lee

PerEivind · Post by **PerEivind** » 11 Nov 2015, 01:51

Many good answers. Yes, I'll try to find some GL 4 oil, and change it.

The links may be worn out, so that the link arms dont "end up" in the same position each time. Some times it helps to release the clutch and try once more, other times I have to turn off the engine and restart it. Then it's fine. But this doesn't even happen every day. The gearbox feels very good and tight, so I dont feel it's worn out at all.

I'm grateful for all the good answers in here!

Post by **RussB** » 11 Nov 2015, 06:35

I used the Volvo labeled gear lube. It was expensive, but I knew it would be proper for my car. Regarding the shift cable bushings, one of them on my '00 S70 was all torn up and there was a lot of play in it which led to sloppy shifting

Post by **850 LPT** » 11 Nov 2015, 08:42

Great thread with good information.

I have a similar problem with my newly acquired 05' V70 5-speed, although not nearly as bad as the OP's.
Since my transmission shifts fine after a short warm up period I did not suspect the clutch to be worn, but of course I could be wrong. My car has 110k miles on it now (176,000 km)

As a first step in improving the shifting I was going to replace the transmission fluid with Redline MTL, which is a fully synthetic high performance GL-4 fluid. It should be compatible with the original Volvo MTF 97309 fluid, but I have no definitive confirmation on that at this moment.
I did this one of my other cars though and the improvement was pretty dramatic.

I would really like to know if someone has used Redline MTL in their Volvo and what the results were, but I think if I don't get feedback, I'll just try it out as soon as I can get to it and see what happens.

Also, I found the MTF 97309 specs online and thought I should post them here for reference:

Volvo part number 1161745
Quality: API GL-4 / Volvo transmission oil MTF 97309 / WSS-M2C200-C3
Viscosity: SAE 75W-80
Density @ 15°C / 59°F: 841kg/m³
Oil base: Fully synthetic
Pourpoint: -60°C / -76°F
Flashpoint: 230°C / 446°F
Kinematic viscosity @ 40°C/104°F: 59.8mm²/s
Kinematic viscosity @ 100°C/212°F: 10.1mm²/s

...Dirk