164e Diff Ratio

Hi All,

thanks for all your responses to my previous post.

Have had more of a chance to become acquainted with and fix niggling problems with the 164e. Am really beginning to like it for reasons that will probably be familiar to many of you but there remain a few niggling things...

Firstly the steering at full lock left. It shudders and carries on but is fine if you just back it off from lock a little. I remember the same thing on my Mum's old 245GL back in the mid eighties when I was learning to drive on it... That car (the 245) couldn't have been that old but had similar symptoms. I assume it is on the left lock because in Aus we drive on the left and hence backing out of driveways, parks etc. requires full lock but on the other side full lock is rarely used. Any ideas?

Ok, second is the fuel economy which I mentioned last time. Well, not just the economy. Also the fact that the engine "sings" at highway speeds (100-120k/h). I had another look and at 120k/h it is indicating

3700rpm. Last time I mentioned the tranny but overlooked the possibility of perhaps changing the diff ratio to raise the overall gearing. Is this possible do you think? Should certainly be an easier mod than, say, dropping a Jap 5 speed box into it. Besides, the three speed Borg Warner kinda suits the feel of the car.

For any Aussies here I just thought I'd share... This car reminds me very much of an old (70's) Holden 6 (186 or 202 - closer to 186 in capacity) with a Trimatic box. Of course the build quality of the Volvo is better, it's more solid and there are more creature comforts like leather interior, AC, power steering etc. but in terms of engine and box they are almost identical in feel.

Ok, one last thing... I think I read somewhere that the mechanical injectors can make a noise like faint tappet noise. Well I am hearing faint tappet-like noises and assume that it is the injectors making it. I don't think this is bad but wonder if others have experienced this?

Cheers,

Pete

Reply to
Pete Fuggle
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Ok,

have been doing a bit of sniffing around re diff ratios and found this at this page:

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Also discovered that I have the B30E high comp motor - sweet! Normally when I buy a car impulsively I discover that I have all the undesirable options! Oh, and discovered that mine is actually a '74, not a '75 as I was initially told.

We have:

3.54:1 Diff Ratio 1974 B30A/M400 (Malaysia), B30A/BW35 (Malaysia), B30E/M400 (Scandinavia), B30F/M400, B30E/M410, ****B30E/BW35 (Australia)****

We want:

3.73:1 Diff Ratio 1972 B30A/M400 (Scandinavia), B30A/M410, ****B30A/BW35 (Australia)****, B30E/M400, B30E/M410, B30F/M400, B30F/M410

So if I can find a diff out of a 1972 model 164e I will raise the gearing by (3.73/3.54*100)-100% = 5.4%. Perhaps this appears to be not worth doing but I think it may just do the trick both for fuel economy and noise at highway speeds. Currently the tacho shows just under

3100rpm at 100k/h. The proposed gearing change would reduce that to 2940rpm.

So... Anyone in Aus got what I need?

Cheers,

Pete

Pete Fuggle wrote:

Reply to
Pete Fuggle

If you have a 3.54, going to a 3.73 is the wrong direction.... There really isn't anything you can do to lower your highway revs, short of changing the transmission. Volvo has 3.31 gears (used in later manual transmission 240s) and even 3.15, but you'll need to put these "guts" inside your diff housing.

The injectors are usually quieter than the engine - so your tappet noise is probably the tappets. Oiling of the cam area is the one weak point of this engine (and the 4 cylinder version too).

Reply to
Mike F

Correct. I run 2.47 gears in my 264. No, that's not a typo. :-)

IIRC, the Volvo diffs from 1, 2 and 7 series are all essentially Dana

30 series. The Dana 30 is also used in some Jeeps, and can be had in ratios of 3.07 and 2.73.

Note that the Dana 30 series run one offset of hemisphere for ratios of 3.73 and shorter and a different one for 3.54 and taller. The crownwheel and pinion set from a Jeep should theoretically bolt straight into a Volvo provided that you have the correct hemisphere.

Because the salisbury style axle housing requires special tools and shims, this is a job for a specialist...

Reply to
athol

Sorry Mike, my bad!

And how's that both around town and on the highway? And fuel consumption? Sounds like a fairly radical mod from 3.54/3.73.

Perhaps I should try for 3.07? I found this on ebay:

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$57553118 Any ideas on whether it will fit? I read your comment on the Dana 30 offsets below but am still trying to get my head around shorter and taller. Correct me if I'm wrong but taller means lower ratio, right? ie.

3.07 gives taller gearing than 3.54 so the offsets should be the same for these two?

The ebay item above also mentions "high pinion" and "27 spline axles"....?

Thanks for all the pointers so far.

Pete

Reply to
Pete Fuggle

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Because the gears are referring to reductions, higher numerically is lower gearing. Volvo had 2 different final drives, (they called them

1030 and 1031) they used different gear sets. In the "old" days, the 1030 was for the 4 cylinders, 1031 for the sixes. This maybe the difference in "offset of hemisphere" as mentioned by athol. The 1031 type was in the higher ratios (lower numerically), and was in Volvo's words "somewhat stronger". However, by the end there was some crossover in the middle ratios, 3.91 and 3.73 were both available for both types, and maybe some others too.

Also, as mentioned, installing a ring and pinion is a job that requires precision measuring tools, shims etc. to get the clearances and contact areas set perfectly, or the gears will howl or even grind themselves to pieces.

Reply to
Mike F

Well, if you looked at the link in my signature, you might have found out why I run the 2.47. :-)

The 350 Chev gets similar economy with the 2.47 gears to the B27E with 3.54 gears... The 2.47 gears are in a Ford 9" diff...

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$57553118

Taller means a _smaller_ reduction (smaller number) which is considered to be a _higher_ ratio, not lower. Confusing, huh?

I think that the use of "higher" comes from the fact that the vehicle speed will be higher at the same engine revs. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, there used to be ads for "high speed diff conversions" for vans, where they fitted taller gears...

High pinion is useless. This is a front diff for a 4WD, with the pinion above the axles. The Volvo diffs are _low pinion_ or _conventional pinion_. The high pinion actually turns the opposite way, and is completely the wrong shape to fit.

IIRC, all Volvo axles are 27 spline. That's normal for all Dana 30 AFAIK.

On a related topic, does anybody know how much longer a 7 series axle (shaft, not housing) is than a 2 series?

Reply to
athol

The injector noise can be replicated by switching on the ignition and opening the throttlevalve. No way you will hear this with the engine running. Tappetlike noises are often due to the timingwheel.The fiber camshaftwheel could be on it's way out, the steel version will never be quiet. /Marten

Reply to
M-gineering

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