I just acquired a 1998 S70 with manual transmission. The car is really clean and appears to be in good mechanical shape. It has 205k km (120k miles). I find shifting gears to be rough. It shifts easily into 1st and 5th gears, but 2nd, 3rd and 4th gears do not shift smoothly at all. Double clutching does not help much at all. It's difficult to get the lever into gear. My wife's Mazda5 (a car I consider cheap) shifts real smooth, and has more "guts", which is strange considering that the two engines are similar in size and output. And I think the mazda weighs more too. I previously had a 2000 VW Jetta, and it's gear box was silky smooth too. So what's the deal? Is there a simple fix to this?

 

Are the bushings on the cables at the tranny worn out?

 

How do I verify these bushings? I'm not very sure what I'm looking for. I'm pretty green in DIY mechanics, although I'm keen to learn. Is it something like this? http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=80433

 

That is for a S40. Yours are like under the air filter box assembly.

 

Thanks for the input Tech. Where can I find a Volvo repair manual online for the S70? That would help me a lot.

 

I do not have an exact link.
When I did my manual tranny swap I removed the bushings and installed bearings from skateboard wheels. Here is a pic of after the install.
A little hard to see unless you look close. The cables are still out of the car though.

 

Thanks for the pic. Do you mean then that I only need two bushings (or bearings), and that these cables are somewhere under the air box? I imagine that in order to giving the shifting back its smoothness, there need be very little play inside the bushing. I suppose if I could get the inner and outer diameters of these bushings (spec) that I could go to any place that sells bearings and get replacements. Is this a job a could do just by raising the car on jack stands?

 

Most of the time you will not even need to raise the car.
If you remove the air box you can get to the cables.
The ones inside the car will not need to be messed with at all. Only the 2 under the hood.

 

I had a quick look today, removed the air box and saw the two cables. Each bushing is held in with some type of square tab that looks like it clips onto the pin that goes through the bushing. Will I be able to get the tab back on once I take it off, or will I have to replace it?

 

It should just be a metal clip that you can use over again.

 

I replaced the two bushings with bearings (skateboard type); one bushing was torn, the other looked ok. However, the improvement in shifting is almost negligible. Shifts to 2nd seem a little better, but 3rd and 4th seem the same - still notchy. Any other linkage bushings to consider? Any other ideas?

 

The 2 inside I would not mess with at all.
I think the next thing I would try is changing the tranny fluid.

 

Shifting into 3rd and 4th on my T5 is pretty rough too. Post back if the tranny fluid change helps


Thanks
- D

 

I just had the transmission oil changed; no difference. Synchros? Also, I need a new oxygen sensor. Is there a good source for that?

 

It might be the synchros. Try FCPgroton.com for the O2 sensor. Buy a direct fit one.