940 reverse light disco!

[Dan940]

Evening all!
I'm having problems with my reverse lights mainly that they only work when I wriggle the gear lever (disco lights) my haynes isn't particularly helpful and from what I can find online I need to drop the gearbox to get to the switch.
Is this the case or is there an easier fix?
It's not something iv ever had to deal with on my motorbike!
Thank you in advance.
Dan

[loki_the_glt]

First thing to do is check the connections at the lamp units: sometime the holders make only intermittent contact with the power and earth strips, certainly on the Exxon Valdez (my 940 estate).

The Haynes manual has, as you note, less than nothing on the M90 box and little on the older M47. Even the manual for the 740 doesn't show the switch.

It MIGHT be possible to reach the switch connectors if you can get the car up on a set of ramps and check they are secure; alternatively, what about wiring a switch on the dash and operating them manually?

[Dan940]

Mines a 92 940 s estate 2.0 petrol if that helps. I know nothing about what box or generation of engine iv got I bought her last weekend near enough unseen!

It must be the gearbox end because they will stay on if I hold the gear lever in the right place and iv just found that I can select reverse without pulling the toggle up.
Could it be a loose linkage?

[Laird Scooby]

From your last comment i'd say it's probably a very worn or seriously out of adjustment linkage!

Could also be worth checking the gearbox to rear crossmember mount, they do wear but aren't a bank-breaker to buy new (£20 ish or less) and will prolong the life of your exhaust system, especially the downpipes. The downpipes are bolted to the gearbox you see...............

Also check the reverse lock-out (the lift collar arrangement) as it might simply be that if that worked properly, the gear lever would be held far enough over to bring the reverse lights on and prevent the strobe effect.

On your age car, i'm pretty sure the gearbox is an M47 5 speed or possibly an M46 (4+ O/D), all pretty similar for the first 4 forward speeds and reverse, the overdrive boxes have an overdrive unit hung on the back with the solenoid, wiring etc to operate the overdrive and the 5 speed boxes have a 5th gear hung in place of the overdrive unit.
That's it in very simple terms, the last manual "big" Volvo i had was over 30 years ago and i didn't need to touch the (M45 - basic 4-speed!) box on that so i'm not much help i'm afraid.

If you go down the route of a switch on the dash for the reversing lights, remember you'll need a warning lamp with it to pass the MoT.

[Dan940]

thank you!
Mine must be a m47 box I don't have the cool ejector seat overdrive button (gutted!)
Il go get myself some ramps borrowed tomorrow then and have a nosy underneath.
Thanks again no doubt this will be the first of many questions!

[Laird Scooby]

Ejector seats are over-rated these days with airbags built into the seats, too much of a cushioned landing!

If you could find the right sort of gear lever you could have the "Ejector Seat" button and wire it up as something else just for fun. Perhaps an extra screenwash pump and a hidden jet to squirt people standing at the bus stop as you drive by?

Nearly forgot - welcome aboard! There's loads of knowledge on here and we're all fairly friendly, always good to see someone actually caring about their older chariots too!

[jonnyf90]

If you need to pull a toggle up to get reverse then it's an M46/M47.
M90s have reverse "below" 5th and they don't have a toggle

Cheers
Jonny

[Dan940]

Looks lie I need to find an overdrive gear lever knob now thats an awesome idea!
Thankyou for the welcome!
While iv got you here
How grabby is the clutch meant to be? It doesn't slip under load but seems kinda slow to engage.
And how much hassle is it to clean out the engine breather?
She's blowing a fair bit of oil out the filler cap!
Cheers!
Dan.

[Laird Scooby]

Just don't tell your squirting victims it was my idea!!!

Can't answer your question on the clutch i'm afraid, as i said the last Volvo manual i had was over 30 years ago. Granted i did own a 740GLE saloon manual for a while but only drove it a few yards as it was a "breaker". Even that one was about 11-12 years ago.
Apart from a very few cars, the only cars i've bought have been automatic, had one when i was 18 and was hooked. These days i don't have the choice but even if i did, i wouldn't go back to a manual.

As for the breather, it's not too much of a hassle, fiddly more than anything. There are a few different set-ups because of different engines (carb, injection, turbo injection) but they all basically follow the same lines. There's an oil separator on the side of the block under the inlet manifold which generally stays fairly clean.
Coming up from that is a large-ish bore hose (16mm bore i think) which leads to the flame trap. That will almost certainly be blocked! This has two more hoses coming from it, one is about 3mm bore and runs to a stub on the inlet manifold, the other is about 8mm bore and runs to the air filter side of the throttle butterfly at some point between the throttle and the air filter.

Make sure you clean the stub on the inlet manifold, often a tiny drill bit is needed to get the gunge out! Carb cleaner is great as well! Clean all the other stubs and hoses internally or renew them, especially the flame trap. It's only 91p from Parts For Volvos (PFV) :

http://www.partsforvolvosonline.com/...th=105_919_922

I think that's it, can't think of anything else!

[Dan940]

I don't think I could afford to run an auto it's cost me a fortune this last week in fuel!
Thank you for the advice il get it stripped tomorrow. Iv had an ask on the volvo 700 900 owners page on facebook about my clutch lot of those guys are on manuals. Mines come from London so imagine the clutch will have had a hard life!
Cheers.
Dan