Pre 1995 940 - cars without M90 Gearbox- any good?

[Dirty Rooster]

Originally Posted by Jebus

The m46 ...
... they take longer to shift than modern stuff, ...

Can you explain that a bit more Jebus?
I feel my 1993 4-speed with overdrive shifts as quick as I like,
which is much quicker than anyone else I've been a passenger with.
(I haven't been a passenger with any racing drivers yet)

[Jebus]

Originally Posted by Dirty Rooster

Can you explain that a bit more Jebus?
I feel my 1993 4-speed with overdrive shifts as quick as I like,
which is much quicker than anyone else I've been a passenger with.
(I haven't been a passenger with any racing drivers yet)

They shift smoothly, but mine at least always felt like you were forcing stuff if you were to quick on the shifts certainly 1st to 2nd and into reverse, but it always much nicer when warm, maybe that was just mine, the original clutch was on its last legs and the temp donor engine had a suspicious looking clutch on it, could well have needed the bushes replaced on the shifter/ clutch dragging or something was worn.

Could also be just felt very different to the typical FWD cable linkage gearbox been used to, a much more mechanical direct feel. The only other RWD driven before that was a Navara 7 or so years before i got the 940, guess it depends a lot on what you are used to driving, certainly feel more refined, smoother and faster shifting that some of Ford and British Leylands offerings from years gone by.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Jebus

They shift smoothly, but mine at least always felt like you were forcing stuff if you were to quick on the shifts certainly 1st to 2nd and into reverse, but it always much nicer when warm, maybe that was just mine, the original clutch was on its last legs and the temp donor engine had a suspicious looking clutch on it, could well have needed the bushes replaced on the shifter/ clutch dragging or something was worn.

Could also be just felt very different to the typical FWD cable linkage gearbox been used to, a much more mechanical direct feel. The only other RWD driven before that was a Navara 7 or so years before i got the 940, guess it depends a lot on what you are used to driving, certainly feel more refined, smoother and faster shifting that some of Ford and British Leylands offerings from years gone by.

As i mentioned above, it's a long time since i drove a manual Volvo but certainly my experience of manual Volvos (some more or less new) reflects this exactly.
When cold, the change could feel slightly "agricultural" as if you were trying to change gears on an ancient tractor (this included the near new cars) but once the gearbox had warmed up, the change was precise and gave good feedback but not the lightest change on the planet.
Never as "slick" as contemporary Fords or Vauxhalls of the time (i'm talking purely RWD here) but never as "notchy" as those same Fords and Vauxhalls could be once the linkage had some wear in it.
The Ford and Vauxhall syncromesh could easily be defeated by trying to shift too fast which made it a slow shift, the BL offerings mentioned above, not sure exactly which ones are being referred to but certainly the Marina boxes were like stirring porridge most of the time and it was often more luck than judgement that got the correct gear engaged and the LT77 box as fitted to SD1 Rovers, TR7s, Sherpas and countless others was always a heavy change, making it slower but very precise when new.

On balance, the changes in the M45/6/7 boxes have been the most consistent, not altering much between a car with 2k on the clock or 200k.

[rwdkev]

Originally Posted by Thejdizzler

They are both 1994 M reg which I believe doesn’t have the M90 gearbox as they are 1995 onwards?

That was 95 model year which for UK means September 1994 onwards. Before that cut-off point, for 940, lower torque engines had M47 whereas higher torque ones came with M46.