Just wanted thank Brickboard and contributing members for ideas and suggestions which I found useful to help with undertaking this task.

My 1990 245 (169K miles)with an M47 type II 5 speed developed the dreaded 5th gear syndrome exactly as described in the FAQ section of this site.

I called local shops, but no one was overly enthusiatic about working on a manual transmission and a rebuilt transmission from Volvo was quoted as $2023USD part only, no labor. After a few Internet inquiries, I finially located a replacement tranny from a 1991 240 and had it delivered.

I belive it was Don Foster who indicated that removing the shifter dowel pin set screw can be somewhat of an adventure. Well Don, you were correct! Soaking with PB Rustbustet didn't help and after rounding out the set screw allen head, I resorted to drilling it out, being careful to creep up in size and drill just large enough to be able to remove the interlocking dowel pin. Luckily, I have a set of metric taps and was able to retap the shifter eye. My Volvo dealer did not have a replacement set screw, but I was able to find a metric replacement from the local harware store. I did have to grind a point on the new set screw to engage the dowel pin groove as the purchased set screw had a flat cup end and did not fit into the dowel machined cross groove.

As for removing the transmission, I supported the car on 4 jack stands and fashoned a transmission cradle out of a scrap 2x12 with supports, as suggested by someone on this site (sorry I don't remember who it was to give credit to). This cradle proved useful for sliding the tranny around on my garage floor and providing a flat surface from which to jack. I used manual tools, 1/2 inch breaker bar and swivel, and a floor jack to support the tranny. Weight of the tranny is around 90 lbs. The breaker bar, swivel and extension worked like a charm to remove the dreaded top starter bolt. I also dropped the front exhaust pipe, to gain better side access and have room to move around between tranny and floor pan. The entire job took me several hours on Friday (wanted to start early be able to run to Volvo parts store if I ran into something unplanned)and most of Saturday. Other than having to tap the shifter set screw, nothing unplanned came up.

The replacement tranny has been in for a couple of weeks now and so far so good. I didn't use any synthetic oil as some have suggested, just type F ATF. I did put in the full 2 quarts, since it was easy to fill the tranny while it was out of the car and just might help prolong the life of this transmission.

I spent $550 for the tranny plus $125 for shipping from CA to NY. I also replaced the rear mount while I was at it. Clutch was done 30K miles ago so I didn't touch it. All totaled I spent about $725 USD.

Not a job I'd want to tackle again anytime soon. I did liberally coat the new shifter set screw with white lithium grease for the next guy who has to get into it...hopefully not me.

Thanks again to a great Volvo owners resource...

Phil 245