Volvo V70 2.4 D5 - 5 to 6 Speed Gearbox Conversion, Crank Seal, Clutch & Flywheel

I was absolutely determined to swap the 5 speed gearbox for a 6 speed box prior to a scheduled trip to Germany and the Nurburgring. Naturally the weeks flew by and I didn't start the job until a week before. I also had a new set of Bilstein B4 shock absorbers and Eibach lowering springs ready to fit once the gearbox was done. I found out the hard way the Euro 4 flywheel is not compatible with the Euro 3 engine or at least the crank position sensing part of the system. I also forgot to tighten the starter motor bolts (ridiculous mistake) so I was doomed to do the job twice regardless.

Bear this in mind if purchasing a new clutch and flywheel; The parts by LUK from GSF would've cost £187 for the clutch and £450 for the flywheel yet from Volvo they were £322.80 for the clutch and just £293.40 for the flywheel. Only requiring the flywheel I of course bought the genuine part from Volvo but what's more is LUK are the original equipment manufacturer so whether you buy aftermarket or from Volvo the parts you receive are LUK (be it with Volvo also etched on the Volvo parts) so why would there be any price difference?

I finished the gearbox job (the second time) at 11:30 pm, just 28 hours before setting off to Germany and I still had the suspension to do by 4pm the following day when I had booked 4 wheel alignment, just 12 hours before setting off.

Very fortunately the only problems I had were the gear selection was a bit shoddy due to the air pipe and coolant pipe rubbing against the gear selector on top of the gearbox. I didn't fully tighten a brand new drop link which started to knock after 800 miles which also wasn't a big issue. A little more of an issue I had removed an ABS sensor and not bolted it back in so that kept popping out of the hole and causing the speedo not to work and "BRAKE FAILURE - STOP SAFELY" to be displayed on the dash.

If you decide to tackle this job yourself, be aware, the gearbox is very heavy and may require 2 or more people to shimmy back into position when refitting, not just because of the weight but because it can be very difficult to get the shaft through the clutch plate while lifting the gearbox and keeping it straight.