I've had a couple of requests for pictures of the M47 swap. Today I can finally say the project is completely finished. I won't bore you with all the details. Total cost was about $400. This included lots of parts from the JY like 2 M47s (the first one I bought was broken) an a 3.31 axle (covered the cost by reselling the 3.73 that came out) and a bunch of brand new parts like throwout bearing, clutch, trans oil, trans mount etc etc etc. The idea first popped into my head because the AW70 was making a horrible rattling noise. As it turns out the AW70 was perfectly healthy. The flex plate on the other hand had failed, allowing the big stater ring gear to rattle around. In the end the whole project took 1 month of working evenings through several set backs. This is not a step by step how to. Just an overview. The car in question is an 89 240GL with LH 2.4

Start by buying lots of used parts at the JY such as a broken M47 (little did I know), X member, flywheel, pressure plate, clutch cable, pedals etc. 50% off sale is a good thing.


Bought new wear items like the clutch from FCP.


Part one is chaging out the pedals. You can drive an automatic car with an extra clutch pedal but not the other way around. Pedals must come first.


Side by side.


Some of the mounting bolts can only be reached with lots of extensions and wiggle joints.


Half way there, or so I thought.


After the pedals were done, I started on the trans itself. Thats when I discovered the source of the horrible rattle. The ring gear studs were rattling in the flex plate. Here you can see how the hole has become elongated. The rattle became so bad that It would trigger the knock sensor and cause the engine to stall. I would love to meet the volvo mechanic that can diagnose this problem correctly.


Found a $12 impact wrench clearance item at sears with 1 year warranty. This thing made the job so much easier.


AW70 was out in all its greasy glory. My rear cam seal is leaking.


While I was at it I revamped the whole intake and ignition system with fresh gaskets, injector seals, cleaned out the intake and EGR (California car) etc...


Flywheel, clutch and pressure plate in place.


Fast forward a couple of weeks. I discovered the M47 I bought had all the teeth on the input shaft sheered off. It functioned when turned by hand but as soon as you applied any meaningful torque to it the gears would just click past each other. The only way to be sure if ur getting a good M47 is to pull the top cover and look inside. Don't be scared, you can't hurt it. Just be careful not to drop the shifter spring inside. So on to M47 number 2 out of an 89 240 DL. By the way did they produce an 89 240 GL 5 speed? I don't think so. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. You can save yourself a lot of trouble by filling the M47 with MTL while on its side in your trunk. I put in 2.5 quarts.


Finally had the car on the road with the M47. What a great day that was. I quickly realized that running around with M47 and 3.73 gears would was annoying. I thought I would be able to live with it, but I can't. 3000rpm at 72mph is just too much. First gear is useless and fourth is too close to 5th. I went back to the junk yard for a 3.31 axle out of a manual trans car.


Finally tonight the car was completely back together. All the little things like connecting the reverse lights, neutral starter lock out and hand brake cables were done. What a relief. Took the car for a spirited 75 mile drive through the hills as well as a Seafoam session (this stuff works) and wow what a difference a 5 speed makes.


So knowing what I know now, would I do it again? Absolutely! It would probably take half the time and effort from start to finish. Would I recommend a project like this to somebody else? NO! There are so many more details besides the transmission itself that will eat up more time than you can possibly imagine. Reinstalling the e brake shoes, taking off and reinstalling the whole exhaust, bolting up the pedals, splicing together lots of wires, bleed the brakes, etc. Whatever amount of time you think this project will take, multiply it by 3.

Justin

Justin,

When you put the pedals in, did you drill two additional holes for clutch pedal to hold it to the firewall?

Thanks,

Matt

You do realize this is a 6-year old thread...I think Aye roll is the only one I recognize as still being around.

Driveshaft - AW70 uses round flange at transmission's output shaft, where M47 uses Giubo setup. M47 is shorter than AW70. So, did driveshaft from donnor with M47 work??? And length mod?

thx

Being a California car, this 89 240 was equipped with EGR. According to the EPA, ERG equipped 240s gave up 1 mpg on the highway to non EGR cars of the same vintage. I decided to see what would happen if I blocked off the EGR pipe at the intake. With the EGR blocked, the car seems to run perfectly fine on 87 octane. The CEL has not turned on like I feared. It seems to idle a bit smoother which tells me the EGR valve was leaking. The only apreciable difference is the mileage. 28 mpg on the latest tank. About half local driving, half highway. Best of all it only cost 5 cents.

Nice job on the trans swap. I wanted to do that for my 945T. I aked some questions of the DMV here in the peoples republic of Calif. and they prohibit this change as my car was never "certified" for sale in that configuration. They told me I would have to submit the car for testing and maybe it would be approved.......the 240 was availalbe with the stick those years so I hope you sneak it past them.

Ed Snyder

Tank #1 24mpg. 70% city, 30% back roads flogging.
Tank #2 25mpg. 1/3 city traffic, 1/3 highway 1/3 mountain road flogging.
Tank #3 26mpg. 70% highway, 30% city traffic. This included lots of 80-85mph cruise.
I like to run it down toward the bottom of the red so all of these fill ups were 12-13 gallons each. With a 15 gallon tank that leaves another 2 gallon reserve when you get to the very bottom of the gauge. For the first time ever I saw 340 miles on 1 fill up. That was exciting.
I'm very happy with the results so far. All the parts from the swap have thus far have been completely reliable. I get an annoying buzz from the shifter knob and thats about it. I plan to replace it with something a little more custom in the near future.
For highway driving theres a few modifications that seem obvious to me. The car was already converted to electric cooling fan a couple of years ago. But the 4 mud flaps for example seem completely superfluous to me and the source of a lot of drag. I have to remove those. I plan to add few aluminum panels to the bottom of the car such as between the trans X member and the center drive shaft mount and ahead of the front axle to fill in some of the gaps. Other than that my last project is the AC before summer hits.

On the road again.

Most impressive and thanks for positing the pictures, updates, and gas mileage. You may be able to get a few more MPG out of the car yet. Have you changed your Oxygen Sensor yet? If you're planning to do any cleaning of the engine cylinders (with Sea-Foam or the Water Sipping method), I'd do that first before changing the O2 sensor as you don't want to belch carbon deposits down the exhaust system and onto a new O2 sensor.

As the Bosch O2 sensors get old (60,000 to 100,000 miles), they start to fall out of calibration and will cause the car to run a slightly richer mixture. I've noticed improvements of 2 to 5 mpg just from changing the O2 sensor, and I don't doubt you will as well. On my own 240s, I use the Bosch #13913 oxygen sensor (about $45 at Napa) and re-use the pig-tail from the original sensor. It saves me about $50 to $100, but I have to crimp and shrink-tube the 3 wires. Do not solder these connections, the wiring must have air space between the strands so that the reference air can slowly circulate down the wiring. If you solder the wires, the sensor will fall out of calibration within a few thousand miles.

Also, did you clean the Oil Trap under the intake manifold while you had everything dismantled? I've found it, and a clogged flame trap and associated PCV tubing to be the leading causes of elevated crankcase pressure in the red-block engines. After cleaning out my Oil Trap (along with the rest of the PCV system), I was able to perform the "jiggle test" with a plastic oil cap and have it resting quietly without movement. (healthy engine, compression test at 185 to 195 psi in all 4 cylinders, service schedule up to date) A clean Oil Trap won't help your fuel mileage, but it will reduce or eliminate the oil leak you're dealing with. On my own vehicle, I was able to get my oil consumption down to less than 1 quart per 15,000 miles. More information at the bottom of this post: http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/index.htm?id=1107930

Nice job on the conversion. I can see why you ended up changing the rear axle along with the M47 conversion. A friend of mine is currently driving a '90 240 wagon with a 3.73 rear end mated to her M47, simply due to the fact that I only had access to an automatic car when the original differential was toasted (oil leaked out). I have to say, that car accelerates like a rocket, but you're not in first gear for very long and the RPMs are higher than what I'd like during highway travel. Also, I'll confirm that the M46 was not available for your car in 1989. I belive the 1987 and newer 200/700 manual cars came equipped with the M47, with the exception of manual 740 Turbo cars and those received the M46. (the 740 non-turbo might not have received the M47 till 1988, but I'd have to check the books to be sure)

God bless,
Fitz Fitzgerald.

The O2 sensor was replaced last summer with a new generic 3 wire Bosch.

I wasn't able to remove the oil separator because this car has EGR. The EGR valve is mounted on top of the oil separator with some very large nuts. Something like 24mm which I didn't want to hassel with. I was able to clean out the EGR valve and pipes. Eventually I want to experiment with an EGR block off plate at the intake. According to the EPA, the EGR equipped cars lost 1 mpg on the highway.

The leaking rear cam seal was caused by the previous owner who never cleaned out the flame trap. The leak isn't as bad anymore since I completely eliminated the flame trap and replaced it with a catch can. The engine has been running on synthetic 5w40 for the last couple of years and the crankcase ventilation system stays pretty clean. The catch can still haven't collected any meaningful blow by.


I'm really happy with the gearing on the 3.31 + M47. The 3.73 is way too busy in my opinion in this application. Some people tried to warn me that he car would bee a slug with 3.31 but honesly I don't know what they are talking about. Maybe its because the more common experience is with a the B21f engine which produces 114lb/ft at 3000rpm as opposed to the late B230f with 136 lb/ft at 2750 rpm.

"The O2 sensor was replaced last summer with a new generic 3 wire Bosch.

Nice, I'm glad to hear it. -a lot of people neglect them and your engine should be giving you the best mileage it can. I'm with you on reducing the wind resistance as much as possible.

"The leaking rear cam seal was caused by the previous owner who never cleaned out the flame trap."

Same here, the previous owner of my 240 took it for quicky-lube oil changes and the guys making minimum wage have never been briefed about checking or cleaning the flame trap. At some point just before 200,000 miles, the car was bleeding oil so bad out the engine seals that it ran dry and seized up while driving down the road. A local non-Volvo shop was able to break it free and get the engine turning again, but never cleaned the flame trap. When I was able to get my hands on the car at 210,000 miles, she was covered in oil and refused to start. After a lot of work in catching up with all the neglected service schedule items, she was back on the road. -but still bleeding some oil even with the flame trap clean and clear.

After another 20,000 to 30,000 miles of high crankcase pressure, I removed the oil trap and found it to be almost completely clogged due to the dried oil that had accumulated inside it. Most importantly, the upper vent port that goes to the flame trap was just about completely clogged. After cleaning out the Oil Trap, my oil consumption rate dropped from 1 quart every 3,000 miles to about 1 quart every 15,000 miles. Not only that, I could perform the jiggle test with a plastic oil cap without any movement. ...That's not bad for a car that almost bled to death on the highway a few years prior.

"The leak isn't as bad anymore since I completely eliminated the flame trap and replaced it with a catch can."

Kudos to you. I've seen a few similar solutions, and I'm impressed with the lack of restriction they offer. I might get around to doing something like that with my car someday, but for now the original system does the job.

"The engine has been running on synthetic 5w40 for the last couple of years and the crankcase ventilation system stays pretty clean."

I was hoping and praying that by switching to Synthetic Oil it would clean out the Oil Trap. -but unfortunately it didn't happen. I later discovered that not enough oil passes through it to have any significant effect on removing the dried oil/sludge/varnish. When I removed my Oil Trap after a few years of Synthetic oil usage, the top vapor port was 75% or more constricted, and the oil return port at the bottom was about 30% blocked as well. If you aren't able to remove the Oil Trap, I'd still advise doing what you can to clean/ream out the top vapor port while it's still on the car. You may be able to get your oil leak to subside a considerable amount. -or wait until you're doing EGR work on the car and have better access to remove it.

"The catch can still haven't collected any meaningful blow by."

That's a good sign of healthy rings, and/or a well built PCV system. Consider hooking up a pressure gauge to a spare oil cap if you have one. See if there's any noticeable crankcase pressure during idle, at 2,000 RPMs (no load), and at Wide Open Throttle. Don't hook the gauge up downstream of the Oil Trap as it will read mostly manifold vacuum.

Just curious, did you get the GT braces from an Aussie car (imported), or from a US-spec GT?

God bless,
Fitz Fitzgerald.

I might try the pressure gauge to the oil cap some time. Good idea.

The braces came off a late 80s 245 of all things ($10). I guess other people are in the know. I found a lot of good stuff on JY cars. IPD bars from an early 80s turbo($40), metal under tray from 70s 242 ($10) 960 cooling fan + relay ($60) black leather center arm rest ($10) and the list goes on. Theres so many 240s in the local JYs its almost depressing. No rust on any of them but some are a treasure trove of rare parts.

The knobs have a metal counterweight inside the top of the shift lever to give them better feel and, oddly enough, to prevent buzz. Well, to help damp movement under presumably normal conditions.

A few of mine have buzzed and I've been able to fix them. A glob of silicone RTV down inside, and squish the weight down into it... seems the simplest fix.

Let it dry for a few hours before snapping the number cap back in.

I had one with a buzzy number cap. I very neatly wrapped it in 2 turns of Teflon plumber's tape. I was actually barely able to see a thin white line all the way around and it looked kind of neat. This shut up the cap.

Sometimes the knobs get loose; there's no good fix, as it usually means the plastic inside of the knob is broken. If you like the leathery feel of an original knob, see your Volvo dealer for something close (And pricey, at about $22). The MTC knob sold by FCP and I'm sure, other suppliers, is smaller, harder, and sportier (I would say) than the original. It's also $9. Takes the original cap and pounds onto the lever the same as original.

I've got an MTC knob on my 90 745 and it feels great, very non-Volvo-ish actually, which for the shift lever might be a good thing. I put superglue on the lever before installing the knob too- if you've ever had one come off in your hand when going for 2nd gear, you'll want to do this too!

Enjoy it!
--
::: Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: 92 244 ::: 90 745GL ::: 90 745T ::: 84 242DL ::: 90 745T Parts ::: Used to have : 86 244DL, 87 244DL, 91 244, 88 244GL, 88 744GLE, 82 245T, 86 244DL, 87 244DL, 88 245DL, 89 244DL!

"I've got an MTC knob on my 90 745 and it feels great, very non-Volvo-ish actually, which for the shift lever might be a good thing. I put superglue on the lever before installing the knob too- if you've ever had one come off in your hand when going for 2nd gear, you'll want to do this too!"

Oh my goodness! BTDT!! I just remember looking at the knob, looking at the shifter, dumbfounded, for what seemed like eternity... probably just a split second. Then it hit me I was in the middle of an intersection.

For me adjusting the reverse detent made things smooth as silk!

-Ryan
--
--------------------------
Athens, Ohio
1990 245 DL 130k M47, E-codes
1991 745 GL 280k (Girlfriend-mobile)
Buckeye Volvo Club

I did this last summer on my '93 245. Took 1 weekday evening (pedal) and one weekend day (greasy stuff underneath). I got a very complete 'swap kit' from a guy on Turbobricks for $400 + $170 shipping (OR to MO). A few of my ruminations:

1) My car is a air-bagged, cruise controlled, knee bolstered '93, and it was my impression that removing the whole pedal bracketry and replacing it wholesale would be a MAJOR PITA task. Then I observed that the auto brake pedal bracket already had all the correct holes for the clutch pedal to mount to it, it was just lacking the left side of the bracket. So I just trimmed off that side of the bracket from my donor pedal box and bolted it in. Swapped the brake pedal, drilled a hole for the cable, installed the clutch pedal and called it a day. Probably took about an hour, didn't pull the cluster. Hardest part was drilling the hole from the engine bay side as there was no room behind the dash with every thing still together.

2) On my car, I was able to use the same crossmember for both trans. This was an AW71 out of a '93 940T however, perhaps it was already not like a stock 93 245 would have been (car had a complete B230FT drivetrain swap before I got it).

3) Those LH 2.4 stepped flywheels are ridiculously heavy. About like the flywheel you'd see on an 1890's steam engine.

4) 3.73 axle works fine for me. So I left it alone. First gear is a little short but it gets the car going quickly. With a little bit of turbo lag in the mix my car actually pulls harder in second than first, which feels a bit odd. I'd say the axle isn't really a critical part of the swap.

5) I had to pull my trans back out a couple of weekends later because I found that a stock B230F clutch didn't come very close to handling the power my modified B230FT was putting out. On the first test drive I got a sinking feeling when it slipped at only around 9 - 10 psi. Made sure everything was adjsuted properly and that the cable wasn't holding the clutch open slightly, but no, it was just too weak. So a couple of weeks later had to put in a Clutchnet red PP and a Kevlar disc. Which works *perfectly*. Nice feel, modulation, holds under 20+ psi.

6) Wiring was easy, I just made a little wire with two connectors on to dummy loop the starter circuit, and ran a couple of wires to the reverse light switch.

7) I sold my AW71 to a guy in canada who put it into a 122. IIRC I got $75 + shipping for it, which got it and the big wood crate out from underfoot.

Love the stick shift. I just hate automatics. I can't powerbrake and get the boost up before launching, but I rarely ever did that anyhow.
--
'63 PV544 rat rod, '93 Classic 245 + turbo

After 300 miles of 5 speed driving I refueled the car. 24 MPG. This included about 70% city driving, 30% 2 lane back road driving in the local hills. Almost no highway. We spent a lot of the time behind the wheel practicing 5000rpm shifts, full throttle acceleration, engine braking and other shenanigans. Not exactly conducive to fuel economy. Similar driving in the automatic would probably return sub 20 MPG. Come to think of it, the automatic wouldn't even let me rev to 5000 rpm. A few things I've noticed since the swap. The M47 puts a lot more power to the road. The difference is night and day. It can climb hills in 5th gear at 60-70 mph that would have required the OD button (3rd) in the automatic. 1st gear is too short, 2nd, 3rd and 4th are just right and 5th is again too short even with the 3.31 axle. I can't do anything about this. Just have to live with it. The old worn out stock shifter ball buzzes between 2500-3000 rpm which is really annoying. Plan to replace it with a custom wood shifter.
Otherwise I haven't encountered any other problems. Everything seems to be working flawlessly so far. Next project is to repair the AC. I think the compressor is leaking.

Nice shoes. I wish you had told me about the extra rear end, I wanted a 373 for a while. I like the low end when attached to the M47 I am using..Replace the carrier bearing and the rubber mount?? Luck always makes them go out just after installing something in the drivetrain.. Max:>)
--
Max..1989 244 DL 5 Spd., V15 Phase II Cam Bilstein HD, Turbo Swaybars, Poly Bushings all round, Turbo Wheels, Black leather interior, Electric mirrors, LED dash and gauge lights and now NEW ECODES with the turn signals, 1992 black 244 next project

Can you mention anything about gas mileage. I would think it would go up.

Great write up and pics.

ah to live in a place where you can get "yard" parts that have not a spec of rust:)

Thanks for the *great* write up!!

Congrats on finishing a tough project. I'm impressed that you caught that rattling pin in the ring gear.

Pictures are great! Wish I was allowed to bring our digital camera around the greasy bits.

Posts like this should be part of a bona fide 240 FAQ. No more leaching off the 740/940 one, plus with nice pics!

Thanks again!
-Ryan
--
--------------------------
Athens, Ohio
1990 245 DL 130k M47, E-codes
1991 745 GL 280k (Girlfriend-mobile)
Buckeye Volvo Club

Congratulations on a finished (BIG!) project, and thanks for the writeup and excellent pictures.

This should help a lot of people contemplating a similar swap.

I don't know if that exact car was offered in this country. Certainly you could order one through European delivery. The rest of the world got this car in this combination.

Older models, like 2 1984's in my town that I know of, were built and sold here with the 4spd+OD (M46) trans. I don't know how, when, or even IF Volvo stopped selling that combination. With newer models on the showroom floors, it seems Volvo got away from selling manual transmission cars as well as GL model 240s as you go later into the production dates.

Sounds like a nice combination. Presently it's a tossup for me to drive my 92 5-speed 240 or the 90 745GL 5-speed I share with my wife (officially, the extra car now). Either car is sweet to drive.

But I will agree with one thing, regardless of axle ratio, the gearing of 4th and 5th are too close. If I need to pass someone on the highway, 4th is, if anything, a brief stop before I downshift to 3rd and actually start accelerating.

Great job and enjoy your old ride made new.

(PS Isn't that armrest a PITA with the stick? I finally got rid of mine in the 87 I had.)
--
::: Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: 92 244 ::: 90 745GL ::: 90 745T ::: 84 242DL ::: 90 745T Parts ::: Used to have : 86 244DL, 87 244DL, 91 244, 88 244GL, 88 744GLE, 82 245T, 86 244DL, 87 244DL, 88 245DL, 89 244DL!

Thanks!
The arm rest swings up between the seats when you don't need it. Its nice to have on long highway drives.

Been a long time since I've been near an automatic car, but are the crossmembers really different?

I was of the belief that they just moved around for different trannies, but they were all the same for:

BW55
AW70
AW71
M45
M46
M47

I guess there's a difference?

Yes, I was skeptical myself but they M47 X member is different. The trans mount attaches at a 45 degree angle which the AW70 is completely level. I was skeptical myself until I had them side by side.