my first car, problems with gearbox

[Andrew Wolfenden]

Hi all,

I've just bought my first car since passing my driving test, and of course it had to be a 480. I picked up a '91 H reg with 55K on the clock for £500 - bargain, and it runs well so far, but I have a few questions I hope you can help with.

- First of all, the gears.. when I learned to drive (in a brand new car) it was possible to select first when approaching a red traffic light for example, before stopping, to be ready to leave immediately on green. In the Volvo I cant seem to go from any gear to 1st while the car is going any faster than a VERRRY slow crawl, say 1-2mph even with the clutch right on the floor. Is this just a sign of an older car? I can get it to go into first at slightly higher speeds but it needs a good firm push, I have done this on a few occasions and now it's getting easier to do but i'm not sure if this is a good thing or i'm wearing something down.

It may help to say that when I got the car it was almost impossible to get the car into 5th gear, even when i pushed the stick firmly to the right it still would go into 3rd - not good at 60mph.. I really thought i'd wasted my money. After a few days of driving in 4th on the motorway I pushed the stick hard over to the right and with a bit of a shove it went into 5th, great! Now it works fine. I'm trying to be sympathetic in my driving but I need a clue as to whether I am damaging anything in the first gear dept!

Secondly - when i bought the car I kept checking the coolant every week or so, then with the winter I went about a month or so without checking (I know, idiot). the next time I checked it was nearly dry thankfully the engine hadn't overheated (what is a reasonable motorway running temp?), so no warning lights, but I'm worried that i've damaged something. As you can tell I'm learning as I go, but i'd rather not do it at the expense of my 480! Does anyone have any ideas where this may have caused damage if at all?

Cheers all!

Edited by volvo-bigbrother: Title edited to explain the problem a little better

[catgroom]

Hi Andrew!

So what model of 480 did you get then?

My water goes down every week mate,mainly if the temp is getting up into to early nineties and fan is cutting in and out a lot in traffic.Obviously,as you haven't topped it up I would say that its just an accumulation of a few days of not doing so.It is well worth getting a Haynes Manual for your car,there are a few errors in there (!) and it does have a habit of not giving you the full picture on occasions,but does give good insight into how to DIY your 480.Combined with the knowledge available from owners here,you should minimise your garage bills!!!!!!!!
Look for leaks from all hoses for starters.The temp gauge should read 79 degrees and fan cuts in at 91 on my 3 Ive had..
If you have an Info Centre on yours,be sure not to confuse water with oil temperature readings!!!!Just for information,oil temp when warmed up is about 97-105 degrees on mine.Mine is a Turbo if that helps any!

Regards to my home county,from Camberley and know Ashtead really well!!!

Steve.

[martinholmesuk]

sounds like the linkage on the gear stick is not set right.

[pol]

If you're lucky it could be the gear linkage. But what you describe is sounding like a couple of syncro rings being worn. Does it crunch when you attempt to force it into 5th / 1st? Or ever jump out of gears?

[chris1roll]

When i first got my 440, i had the same gearbox "problems". I don't think they are problems at all in fact.
You won't be able to get into first unless you are stopped or crawling. This is designed to prevent piston through the bonnet syndrome!
As for fifth, if you try pushing it over to the right, and ever so slightly down at the same time, then up, it will go in fine. I had the same thing, 3rd gear at 60+ till i learnt this, and have driven many 400 series since and they are all the same. It might be (are you LHD?) that it is exacerbated by you having to push across rather than pull.
If this does not work, then the bushes may well be worn, they are only about £20-30 all in.

Coolant, coolant, coolant....nearly dry, don't worry it will be fine. I managed 5 laps and came in second with the lights screaming at me cos i burst the bottom rad pipe, no water _at all_ (i wouldn't recommend this with your road car though!!) The engines are very good.
Look for some leaks (will look like crusty white deposits) and tighten all the hose clips.

[Murf]

5 laps with no water!!!
jeez, i feel sorry for your poor cars!! did it to any longterm damage?

[chris1roll]

A while after the point at which there was no water on the sensor to heat it up it shut up!!
as for long term damage, i did two more days then decided to go aeronautic: http://hometown.aol.co.uk/Chris%20Drive ... C01979.JPG and the landing killed the oil pump. That did long term damage, top end rattled like hell!
So in went another engine.

[Murf]

where did the random rolling tyre in the pic come from??

[Andrew Wolfenden]

Wow, I didn’t expect such a response, thanks all! To Catgroom, Mine is a 480ES Lambda Sond, black with a red stripe! Most of my driving is on the motorway, which is where the car seems happiest. I love doing long distance drives in it.

I do have some problems driving it smoothly at low speeds (under 30mph, mostly in 1st and 2nd). When crawling in heavy traffic for example, doing around 10mph in 1st, if I even dare to take my foot off the accelerator the car ‘jolts’ forwards. If I notice the revs going a touch under 1500 I have to quickly drop the clutch to avoid a buckaroo moment. I realise this is normal when the revs drop too low but it does seem hard to keep the 480 driving smoothly at low speeds.

I have also had to get a feel for putting more gas on when bringing the clutch back in after a gear change to avoid a harsh jolt that you can feel in the doors. This only really happens in the lower gears. I think this is partly technique and partly because the car is so low, you can really feel the knocks.

One last thing, do you have to get under the car to check for disk brake wear as it says in the Haynes? My front ones have started to squeal and I need to find out whether I need new pads. Thanks again all for humouring a novice!

[chris1roll]

It isn't a easy car to drive at low speeds granted, you'll soon get used to it though.

Loosen the front wheel bolts, jack up the car, onto axle stands, and remove the wheels.
look into the caliper from the front, and you can see the pads, don't confuse the lining with the backing plate.
They start off about 10mm thick, and i wouldn't want to go much below 2.5mm cos the lining can break up.

[lee]

I had a simular problem with the gearbox on a 480 that had not done much distance and had been sitting around for a while. I quickly changed the gearbox all and all was good i had all my gears again.

As for tyhe coolent don't worry just kepp for topped up

[Roo]

Hi Andrew, welcome.
I remember stepping out of my instructors car (a then new nissan micra ) and into my 17 year old Fiesta. It was a whole new driving experience to say the least. Everything was just about worn out and made driving quite a skill!
The 480 has it's quirks and hopefully you will love it more for them.

[Bramdeman]

I do have some problems driving it smoothly at low speeds (under 30mph, mostly in 1st and 2nd). When crawling in heavy traffic for example, doing around 10mph in 1st, if I even dare to take my foot off the accelerator the car ‘jolts’ forwards. If I notice the revs going a touch under 1500 I have to quickly drop the clutch to avoid a buckaroo moment. I realise this is normal when the revs drop too low but it does seem hard to keep the 480 driving smoothly at low speeds.

I have the same problem as you do and i'm sure its a worn/broken engine mount, i have replaced 2 allready but no luck. Next week i'll have a parts car that definitely doens't do that and i'll swap the other mounts. I'll let you know if I find out wich one it is.
If someone already fixed this...wich mount is it?

The gear thing, also sounds to me like the linkage from the stick to the gearbox need adjusting (under the car). Its pretty easy to do (just one bolt).

Congrats on your first 480 btw!

[beefqueen]

Any tips on a similar problem? I'm finding it quite difficult some times (very hit and miss, thought more miss than hit) to select first gear. Every other gear fine, but won't do anything when I try to select. It's a matter of more forcing it in.

Fine once it gets away, but not sure if it's a major problem or not...

Cheers, me dears!

[Andrew Wolfenden]

yes, mine had the same problem. I say had because it was written off 2 months ago by some idiot driving too fast on the M42, injured me and my passenger, definetely killed the car. It's annoying because it feels like you've damagind something in the gearbox. You had to be almost stopped to select the gear, not very practical! Im no expert on cars but I would say dont worry too much, i did it for a year and it caused no probs at all. I miss my 480 though!

[martinholmesuk]

sounds like your gear linkage is not 100% spot on!

Your need to be under the car while someone puts it through the gears or the washer thing could be stuffed.

[billy5000]

Hi all

i know that kangaroo thing:)my 340 used to do it before it would eventually cut in and then bang off i was.odd
great in 5th and flat out but ive seen novas(been in) doing faster 128mph

shame cos i had the dumb thinking that my poor old 340 could do better seing it was a 1.4 and the nova was 1.2:(

the gearbox in my 480 seems aliitle like when i go to put it into 1st it feels like its rubbing the side of the gearbox lever surround(is this normal)other than that they all appear to be fine(despite noise/feel 1st goes in hassle free:)

i also noticed 5th is more push down slightly and over rather than just straight over(tricky but il soon get used to it):)

def check that nut beats maybe a whole box removal:)

apparently my gearbox was changed at the last mot and it went off road 2months later(headgasket)now its my baby:)


sg