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Rattle 3rd Gear Stick Accelerating + 5th wont get in properly

9K views 15 replies 5 participants last post by  Tinaguilar 
#1 ·
Hello together...
im not a big forum user but i dont know where to find help...

I bought a volvo v 40 D3 manual (built 03/2017).
right from the start (i got it with 28k KM) the third gear rattled and vibrated when accelerating between 1,5k -2k rpm.
I brought it to the dealer and the garage changed some module between the stick and the gearbox.
It then rattled only sometimes but quickly went back to as it was before, rattling almost every single time when accelerating. And very heavily when going uphill. Furthermore and to my brightest delight, a new problem occured. Now, when driving longer high speed motorway drives (cruise control mostly set to 180kph) and then getting of the motorway, fifth gear wont get in properly. For example, you come off the motorway, come to a halt on a traffic light, then start to shift through the gears - on fifth - the stick wont get in properly. You have to surgically find the sweet spot for the stick to get in to fifth. That takes a few seconds and by the time its in you have lost almost all the revs and can stay in 4th gear.
So i reported it the second time - together with the fact, that the 3rd gear still vibrates and rattles - and this time they told me it has something to do with the "thing, that stops you from going into reverse while driving" and "its just a qick fix"... they didnt do anything about the 3rd gear problem this time.
Of Course, after that, all problems where still the same.
So i handed it in the third time which was two weeks ago. This time they changed the shift cables and said:" now everything is fine again".
End of story: now, 3rd gear still vibrates, but you cant hear it that loudly anymore, so no more rattling noise, just noticeable vibration AND of course, 5th gear still wont get in probably...
right from the start i suspected the gearbox (it appears to be a M76, but im not sure), but up until today they refused to replace the gearbox and i dont know what to do...
Next step is contacting a lawyer and giving it back for a new AUTOMATIC car.
Has anyone of you any ideas or same problems????

Thanks in advance!!!!
 
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#2 ·
Can't help with the rattling, but the 5th gear problem is a known issue on the M76 box that can occur when the box is hot, during or after a long drive. The solution is to replace a rubber clip on the gear lever assembly with a redesigned plastic version. The part number is 32240062.

I think the clip is located on the end of the arm that contacts the reverse lock solenoid when the lever is moved to the 5th/6th gear position. Presumably the original version swells or softens when hot and allows the lever to move slightly too far across the gate, interfering with 5th gear selection.

I believe these images show the old and new plastic versions of the clip (yellow part in the second photo). I am awaiting delivery of one for my car, but as our local delivery office are only delivering to us once a week and post is taking 10 days or more to arrive I can't yet be sure.

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#11 ·
@RS3100 and @R1916V I went to my Volvo dealership yesterday with a printout of what I've quoted. They acknowledged it was a known issue with this fix, although the person I was dealing with said he had never heard of it before me. But it would not be a recall nor warranty (for my 2017 model). He said it would be about an hour's labour to gain access and another to put it back together that's £324 plus the cost of the part! That's more than I spent on the annual service at an independent!
So, is it really that easy to gain access? and I should just order the part from them?
Thanks!
 
#5 · (Edited)
And I fitted it today, a five minute job. I was expecting to have to do more in the way of disassembly, but prise up the gear lever gaiter surround from the floating console, place the gear lever into 2nd gear to raise the restrictor arm as high as possible, and the old rubber clip can be prised off by hand and the new one slid on until it clicks into place.

The original rubber clip was so soft and floppy, I can see why it causes an issue!

16998
 
#6 · (Edited)
About the problem with the 5-th gear. I had the same problem and in another Volvo forum I found that it is a known problem. Volvo fixed this with a new "clip". This new yellow thing made from hard plastic. The old "clip" is made by very thin black rubber, that is smashed and pierced. I ordered the new one for me and I changed it. For now it works. The change is very easy, even you don't need any tools. It is 5 minute job.
I am not sure that the new yellow clip cures really the origin of the problem or is just a "quick fix".
The problem affects only M76 manual gear box, that one with reverse gear at the right side of the 6-th gear.
The problem is when you drive in a hot weather on a long trip. At some moment you feel that it is hard to change to 5-th gear.
Why this happens?... Because Volvo decided to use very complex blocker for the reverse gear. Don't ask me why. : )

I will try to explain what happens there. On M76 gear box, blocking of the "channel" to the reverse gear is not as on the old cars, but is automatic, computer controlled.
When the speed of the car is above 20 km/h(something around) an electromagnetic solenoid pulls out a small metal cylindrical "blocker" just under that black rubber thing(in old version, yellow plastic in the new version). This thing blocks the "channel" to the reverse gear. So, the "feeling" is that you can switch from 1-st to 6-th gear and there is no reverse gear(see blue vertical line on my diagram).
When the car speed is under 20km/h, the electromagnetic "blocker" is released(metal cylinder is back inside) and the channel to the reverse gear is free.
Ok, it works, but....
When the weather is very hot and you drive the car outside city traffic or highways, it starts to have a problem with the blocker to the reverse gear. The "feeling" is that the blocker moves a bit to the right side(see red vertical line on the diagram). The result is that you "catch" with the gear lever the upper right edge of the channel to reverse gear. And need to "search" where is the 5-th gear channel by moving gear lever to left or right.
It is also very dangerous in overtaking maneuver.
Something in the mechanisms around there is affected by heat extensions in the metal and the "blocker" to the reverse gear is no anymore in its designed location.
When the speed of the car is above 20 km/h, electromagnetic solenoid is "active". In the cities, when you stop on a red traffic light or in a traffic jam it is "released". So, it cools down from time to time. But on the highways it is "ON" for hours and it becomes very hot there. You can feel the heat even though the front side of the leather cover around gear lever. If you remove the leather cover after such long hot trip and try to touch that mechanism under it... it is very, very hot.
Also, there is additional heat transmitted from the gear box to that mechanism.
All that heat follows to the final problem.
The yellow new clip is much thicker and harder. This follows to offset the blocker a bit to the left.
In reality, when you move the gear lever to right direction, this yellow clip goes down. Under the yellow clip you can see the blocker "piston". On the pictures it is in "deactivated" state, inside the solenoid.
Sorry for the long post, but it was interesting for me from the technical point.
So, you can check on your cars. If it is the black thing, change with the yellow thing.
Part number is 32240062. Price is about 4 or 5 euro.
The leather cover is easily to remove. Pull up gently the frame around it, starting from the front side. You can use some flat thin plastic to help you, but don't use flat metal screwdriver, you can scratch the plastics around.
Disassembled mechanisms on the pictures are taken from the internet, not my own picture. Just to see the whole thing how it looks. It is not necessary to remove it, just the leather cover is enough.
 

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#7 ·
The arm that the clip attaches to is on a pivot, and moves up, down, left or right with movement of the gear stick according to the gear selected. The solenoid is triggered as you say above around 20km/h, and blocks the selection of reverse gear by preventing the gear lever being moved across the gate beyond the 5th/6th gear plane. That is no different to the electronic solenoid also used on the previous M66 gearbox. The issue on the M76 box appears to be the "softness" of the original rubber buffer on the end of the blocking arm. With the heat you mention, it softens to the extent that the arm is allowed to move very slightly too far (by compression of the rubber block) preventing engagement of the 5th gear selector at the gearbox end of the linkage, possibly also damaging the rubber buffer over time, although mine had no damage present when I replaced it. The replacement plastic clip doesn't compress when hot; and the blocking arm, and thus the cable operation, remain synchronised with the gearbox selector mechanism. I only suffered from 5th gear being blocked on a couple of occasions in three years, both after long periods of motorway driving in 6th gear, but after fitting the new clip selection of 5th and 6th gears is noticeably more positive/firm/precise in all conditions.
 
#8 ·
RS3100,

On my car, the old black rubber thing is smashed and also it has a hole in it. So, actually there is no any buffer and there is a direct contact metal to metal. The same thing if you remove that thing at all.

I don't know about the other manual gearboxes. Once I had a chance to drive V40 with manual transmition from the very first years and it was with some different gearbox. The reverse gear was at the left side of the 1-st gear and to engage reverse gear, you need to pull up some kind of a ring under the gear stick handle. The same thing is in use by other car manufacturers, for example Ranault.
 
#9 ·
RS3100,

On my car, the old black rubber thing is smashed and also it has a hole in it. So, actually there is no any buffer and there is a direct contact metal to metal. The same thing if you remove that thing at all.
Quite likely the damage to the rubber clip occurs due to repeated attempts to try and select 5th gear at the times it had been blocked due to the pad deforming. The more often it happens, and the more you try, the more likely it will rub against the solenoid piston, since the arm moves up and down as well as in and out. The inability to select 5th gear only happened to me twice, and I didn't try to force the gear stick, as I already knew that the problem existed and that Volvo had modified the clip. I just avoided using 5th gear for the rest of the journey ;)

I don't know about the other manual gearboxes. Once I had a chance to drive V40 with manual transmition from the very first years and it was with some different gearbox. The reverse gear was at the left side of the 1-st gear and to engage reverse gear, you need to pull up some kind of a ring under the gear stick handle. The same thing is in use by other car manufacturers, for example Ranault.
The M66 gearbox introduced around 2004 and used in several Volvos including the V40 from 2013 until late 2016 also uses an electric solenoid reverse lock. Was the older V40 that you drove the previous model (1995 - 2004, based on a Mitsubishi platform)?
 
#15 ·
Stu675,

2 hours is a fantastic time : )
There is no need to use any tools to do that job. If you do it once and know what to do, next time can change it in 2 minutes : )

To have more easily access to this clip, just push the gear lever to the far possible left position (in the middle of between 1st and 2nd gear) and with the other hand change the clip.
 
#16 ·
Hi everyone, I'm new as a member here but I've been following some posts that write here for a long time, very good, congratulations. I am Portuguese but I will try to write correctly the best I know. I'm also with the same problem, with the car stopped off or stopped on idling I try to put the 6th gear but I can't, I just find the position of the reverse gear, in progress I can fit the 6th gear but if I accelerate the gear it jumps and you hear a scratching noise. I have already replaced the small black clip with the new yellow one as mentioned here in this post but it didn't work, everything remained the same. the Volvo is a 2013 year 2013 v40 D4 imported from Germany and the gearbox is manual with the gear lever illuminated with the 6th gear number beside the reverse gear. the mechanic has also analyzed the shift lever cables/rods and said they are good.
Can anyone help please? Is it an internal gearbox problem or a gear lever problem? I'll leave a picture here to help.
thanks
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