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PLEASE HELP! Bizarre Transmission Problem! 240 Stuck in

Hello all, I'm hoping ya'll can help me as I need this car to get me to start a new job tomorrow.

my '90 240 with 220k (auto transmission) will not come out of Drive. I was driving it home tonight and pulled over to get gas. When I went to put the car into "Park" the gear shifter just slid through the gears. I can hear a few clicks but it does not actually change gears.The button on the top of the shifter will pop in and out on a few of the "clicks" but again this makes no difference as the car just stays in "Drive", idling. So the only way to keep the car from driving is to shut it off and put on the E-brake. Transmission fluid level seems to be fine. It literally will not engage "Park" or any other gear at all. As soon as I start the car it tries to drive. Please tell me there is an easy way to fix this! I've got to start this new job tomorrow!

Pertinent Info: the transmission is not the original transmission, it was a used transmission put in approximately 50-60k miles ago. Also, the car has been overheating when sitting in traffic lately. Not 100% sure yet if its the fan clutch or the thermostat or something worse, but I mention the overheating problem in case it might have to do with the tranny problem.








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    PLEASE HELP! Bizarre Transmission Problem! 240 Stuck in

    Dear roadie,

    Good p.m. and may this find you well. I suspect the linkage - between the shifter handle and the transmission - has separated. I operate 940 series cars. However, I'd guess the linkage is roughly similar. The shifter handle has at the bottom a place where a connector rod - held onto the shifter handle by a pin, which is secured by an E-clip (if I recall correctly), which goes through a bushing. The E-clip is a flat, spring steel retainer, that fits into a groove at the end of the pin, and keeps the pin in place.

    If the E-clip broke, and the pin fell out, the shifter handle no longer is connected to the shift linkage.

    Your comment that the tranny was replaced, suggests that someone may have re-used a worn e-clip, or not seated the E-clip fully into the groove, at the end of the pin. When the E-clip said "Bye-bye" to the pin, it was only a matter of time, before the pin said "bye bye" to the linkage.

    Bottom line: You'll have to jack up the car to inspect the linkage. If my guess is correct, you can reconnect the linkage using a common stove bolt. Apply two nuts, and lock them against each other.

    As soon as you can, get to a Volvo dealer, and get a new pin, bushing, and E-clip.

    Hope this helps.

    Yours faithfully,

    spook








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      PLEASE HELP! Bizarre Transmission Problem! 240 Stuck in

      thanks, spook. makes sense.








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        PLEASE HELP! Bizarre Transmission Problem! 240 Stuck in

        Dear roadie,

        Good p.m. and hope you're well. Please post back, to report on your findings. If it is something strange, many can benefit from your research.

        Yours faithfully,

        spook








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          PLEASE HELP! Bizarre Transmission Problem! 240 Stuck in

          Spook,

          She's back and running!! It was pretty much exactly how you described, however amazingly the pin was still in the connecting rod bracket(no idea how that happened??) but it was completely disconnected from the gear selector lever. The E clip was gone. Got a new E-Clip from Autozone and voila. I will say that there is no way the connecting rod from the transmission is original because it seems like too loose of a fit around the gear selector lever, and it looks nothing like the diagram in the haynes manual. I noticed the gear selector felt looser when the transmission was replaced years back, but didn't think much of it. Seeing it with my own eyes now I realize it is a bit of a jerry-rig but if it lasts another 50k with no problems i'm happy.

          On another note, I was going to post about my overheating problem before this came up, perhaps you or others can offer some advice. Last summer she would overheat when sitting in traffic from time to time. This summer if i'm sitting in traffic for more than 3-5 minutes BAM i'm in the red. Turning the heat on full blast usually takes care of the problem. as long as i'm driving 20 or more mph with few stops i'm ok, temp at 9:00. She runs fine on the highway.
          Here's where the discrepancies come in...
          Haynes manual says check the fan, according to them it should have good resistance when cold, and if the fan clutch is bad the fan will spin freely when hot. My fan spins about the same hot and cold, quarter turn at most, maybe slightly looser when hot but still with plenty of resistance. So I figure, well its not the fan clutch, but then I see threads on here that state the opposite of what the manual says...so I don't know what to think. As far as the thermostat, the Haynes manual says that if the thermostat is working, the hose between it and the radiator will be hot, as its open and letting the hot air through. Not only is my hose hot, it is SCALDING to the touch. But is this simple test just some B.S.? I wonder because the other day when i started it up for the morning, the temp seemed to be rising up to normal, i took my eyes off the gauge for a minute, looked back down and it was dead cold, and i proceeded to watch the temp come back up to its normal 9:00 position. So that may lend some credence to the possibility that the thermostat has grown a mind of its own. But again I wonder, with my symptoms, (overheating when sitting/idling, turning heat on cools it, no problems on highway), could there be a more sinister cause? Man i'm tired of sitting in traffic in 95 degrees of tennessee summer bliss with my heat on full blast. Spook, I'm hoping you can once again work your magic and offer a quick/easy/inexpensive fix. The last one cost me $0.32 so I challenge you to beat that!! :-)
          In all seriousness, though, THANK YOU VERY MUCH for the help.







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