I have a 1990 volvo 240 with a manual 5 speed with around 260k miles. I had the clutch replaced about 2 years ago. I noticed a while back that when the clutch was not engaged, there was a lot of loud noise, sort of like ungreased bearings rotating. Later, the transmission had a lot of winding noise in every gear except fourth. Now, I get the winding and scraping noises in the same gears, with occasional squeaks. I had the fluid replaced about 4 months ago with high mileage fluid. Any ideas as to why there is so much increasing noise?

 

I am not an expert but I would say the throwout bearing in the clutch is going bad. does the noise stop when you push the clutch in? If so its the throwout bearing.

 

Yeah, it does stop when the clutch is in. I'll check into that. Thanks!

 

when they replaced the clutch, they really should have replaced the throwout bearing on principle, as that's the bearing that pushes the clutch away from the flywheel... anyways, throwout bearing noises that *I've* heard generally INCREASE when I pressed the clutch in.

a noise that stops when you step on the clutch is more likely an input (or other) shaft bearing inside the transmission, especially if it only does it in certain gears.

 

Well Im basing that on experience I had with a previous car but that dosent mean that its always the same case, I would check throwout bearing first as it is cheap to replace but if that isnt it then looking into the input shaft would be next on the list, but that will be expensive sould be cheaper replacing the tranny but Im not sure what the cost difference would be.

 

Regardless if it is the TO bearing or the main shaft bearings the transmission has to come out. You can check the TO bearing after it is removed and while the transmission is on the floor you can check the front shaft for play. If the gearbox is whining then there is a shift in the contact of the gears . This can be caused buy either bad bearings or bad gears. This would be the worse case so check the TO bearing. If it is bad then I would believe all you would need to do is replace it. I would also replace the pilot bearing too. Good luck

 

i just bought a 1990 240dl volvo and it will only go to third gear, i don't know how many speeds does it have but it won't get past third gear. does any one know what migh be wrong with it, or what should i do?

 

i just bought a 1990 240 dl volvo and it will only go to third gear, i don't know how many speeds does it have but it won't get past third gear. does any one know what might be wrong with it, or what should i do?

 

you really should start a new thread with a new car and problem.

I assume this is an automatic transmission? it should have an automatic overdrive that acts as a 4th gear, and is disabled with a pushbutton on side of the shifter ****. push the button, a yellow up arrow on the dash lights, indicating that 4th/OD is disabled. push it again, the light goes out, and 4th/OD is enabled (but not forced).

so... is the light toggling with the button? or is the light stuck on all the time? or not lighting at all? there's 2 things that commonly go wrong with this system. 1) electrical problems with the pushbutton or the relay module that controls it, or the wiring to the OD control solenoid on the side of the transmission. 2) mechanical problems inside the OD control solenoid on the side of the transmission.

if its 2), you can get a kit from IPDusa to replace the solenoid with a plate, and always have automatic OD (doing this means you can't shut it off, which you would want to do going up or down long grades, or towing). or you can cut a notch into the end of the solenoid, which also disables the OD lockout, and behaves the same as the kit.

if its 1, you can diagnose why and fix it, OR just do the same as 1), disable it via the kit or the notch.

 

well this is very helpful stuff, it is an automatic transmission and the up arrow is always there too. honestly dude, i thought i had to replace the entire transmission. i suppose i can do this whole thing myself? ill try anyway

 

ok, if the light is always on, then either the pushbutton switch or its wiring is bad (really hard to fix because its inside the transmission shifter), or the OD relay module is bad.

the OD relay on a late 240 is behind the center console, somewhere buried deep (diagrams are non-specific)

it has 5 pins.

• pin '15' has two wires, blue-black is power from fuse 11, green goes to the OD button on the shifter.
• pin 85 is a green wire to the other side of that pushbutton.
• pin 87a goes to a yellow-red wire to the dashboard OD light, the other side fo that light goes to power from the ignition switch.
• pin 87 is a white wire to the OD solenoid on the transmission.
• pin '31' is a black wire to ground.

hmm, pins 15, 85 and 87 are all wired through a 3 pin connector 'E' thats on the right side of the transmission hump somewhere forward of the shifter and near the end of the center console. if you can find that connector (3-in a row, with green, green, white wires), use a thin jumper wire to temporarily connect the two greens, and see if the light toggles each time you touch them. if it does, your problem is the pushbutton switch (or the wires to it)

 

something I probably should have noted in the above description.... when the dashboard light is ON,. the OD solenoid is unpowered. when the dashboard light is OFF, the OD solenoid is powered. weird, i know.

a dirty trick that would bypass the relay AND the pushbutton would be to unplug that 3 pin connector, and run a wire from the white wire that goes to the solenoid to fused/switched power (like from fuse 11) via a on/off switch. switch on == OD enabled, switch off == no OD. when the OD is enabled, it will automatically shift through all 4 gears, when the OD is disabled, you'll just get 1-2-3, for mountains, and/or towing.

 

so i checked the fuse box and there was no overdrive fuse, so i got the fuse in, the up arrow turned off but still no overdrive working

 

so, does the light toggle with the pushbutton? press it once, light on, again and light off?

if so, then we need to look at the OD solenoid on the transmission, if not, then the problem is electrical with the control wiring and relay.