I gave up trying to fix the vario myself, and have put the car in for a service at an ex Volvo dealers', 100kms away from me in Düsseldorf. The place is full of old Volvo bits, the owner looks about 106 years old and their main mechanic says he's worked on all the old DAFs in the past. Just what I was looking for!

It looks like they may have cured the rattly "you're-not-quite-in-gear-yet, mate" noises by adjusting the gear selecting remote control rod, but they reckon a microswitch needs to be replaced - something which activates the clutch disengagement valve so you can still change gear when the choke is on, and the revs higher. I'm not quite sure if I've put that right, so here's mac's description of it :

mac wrote: If the clutch is correctly fitted and adjusted it will begin to engage at an engine speed of between 1000 and 1150 rpm. By 2500 rpm. the clamping force will exceed 103Nm and will continue to climb as engine speed rises.
One problem arises during cold start/drive off - the engine speed with the choke engaged is higher than 1150 rpm. To allow forward or reverse to be engaged under these conditions the clutch housing is fitted with a vacuum operated servo which acts on a release arm carrying a bearing. This partially counteracts the centrifugal weights by depressing release fingers on the cover plate. This, when correctly adjusted can delay full clutch engagement until 2000 rpm. The servo is operated by engine vacuum via an electrically engaged valve triggered by a microswitch operated by the button in the head of the gear lever.

Some piccies from the green book and the parts catalogue (the microswitch is part 10)



The part number is 3297631 or 3345087

Can anyone help?

Cheers

Tom

That diagram looks like a standard mid/late 80's early 90's put in anything microswitch Tom... you could be lucky here. Dimensions about 30mmishx15ishx5ish?

I don't know as I wasn't the one taking it apart and the car is 100kms away ... John reckons it's easier to swap the whole gear selector over rather than stripping the microswitch out of it. I might be in luck here, although I guess that means getting used to the RHD warning lamp "you're not in gear, sunshine!" buzzer thingy

Tom

Given that 1.4s will generally run perfectly happily without choke (albeit a little on the lumpy side), I'd get it back and replace the microswitch in your own time. I think Chris is on the money there...a 'generic' microswitch will do the trick...but trying to find a suitable replacement when it's 100km away may be tricky...

cheers

James

Well with a bit of luck, a replacement gear selector unit (with intact microswitch) will arrive at the garage shortly from Holland, along with some silencers and gaskets. It'll still run even when the choke is pushed in too early, but it doesn't like it if you give it too much throttle and the engine is cold. I've had some heart-stoppers pulling out of junctions into moving traffic - you think you'll make it easily and then the engine conks out I suppose I could put the choke in before changing gear, and then pull it out again, but I'd like it if it worked as it was meant to

Still can't believe my luck in stumbling across this ex-Volvo garage. But I don't want to gloat too much until I pick up the car (or have paid the bill).

Tom

Sounds like you're onto a winner

cheers

James

I picked up the car this morning. The clutch has been re-shimmed and now engages much earlier, the gear selector linkage was adjusted, and a bushing (?) at the top of the primary unit replaced (which means it now actually sets off in the direction you want it to ) and it now has a complete new exhaust, from the downpipe to rear silencer.

It goes really nicely!

One problem they couldn't fix (yet) was the non-action of the clutch disengagement valve. They replaced the complete gear selector unit (and therefore the microswitch as well) but that didn't solve the problem, the idle speed revs still need to be right down (choke pushed in) before you can put it in gear. It's OK for now, but in the long run I'd quite like to have it fixed. Would the next step be to swap the clutch disengagement valve itself? Are they known for failing?

I should have asked at the garage this morning, but was in a bit of a rush

On a further note: I drove to the garage perfectly legally, but in the meantime Düsseldorf has introduced an "Umweltzone". So I drove away risking points on my licence since the 343 doesn't have a 3-way cat. So I've discovered a great garage capable of servicing a vario, but can't go there until the car has an historic plate ... In theory.

Tom

Glad you got it (mostly) sorted Tom. The "umwelt" stuff is pretty bloody sinister. What's a 3-way cat? Qashqais (and I'm sure all new stuff) have a fuel cat, which the petrol passes through. Presumably it rehabilitates the fuel to make it less of an offender.

It is sinister. And now they want to have one in Bonn after all, which means sounding the death knell for my Trabant. No chance of a green sticker on the windshield of this! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQYOFMHjyHQ

I think a two way cat removes two pollutants (carbon monoxide, unburnt fuel) whereas a three way cat removes nitrogen oxides as well. Or something like that Basically any petrol car from around the late eighties early nineties onwards with a catalytic converter, lambda sensor and fuel injection is OK. Diesels have more of a problem, it goes by which Euro xx emission class they're in.

Do you have a clutch disengagement valve amongst your vario bits ?

Tom

I do indeed have a valve thingy, I might have a check and get back to you with a more specific answer later though! So what happens if you have a carbed car, any way to get the emissions down low enough? I'd have though with a new cat it'd be fine, but they specify lambda bollox?

filthyjohn wrote:I do indeed have a valve thingy, I might have a check and get back to you with a more specific answer later though!

OK, great, no rush!

filthyjohn wrote:So what happens if you have a carbed car, any way to get the emissions down low enough? I'd have though with a new cat it'd be fine, but they specify lambda bollox?

No chance It goes by the "Euro x" emission rating of the car. Euro1 is the limit for petrol cars and AFAIK no carb-fed car reaches that ...

Tom

There were some carb+cat combinations in the early 90's (most notably some Ladas sold in Finland after 1.1.1992; also some of the cheapest Japanese cars like Mitsubishi Colt). But that was a horrible bodge prone to breaking the catalytic converter and a nightmare to adjust properly, and garages generally won't even touch them anymore. As I understand it, the carb was adjusted for rich mixture, and then the ECU cut off the fuel supply in an attempt to keep the mixture spot on. In the end, a monojet was less of a hassle to maintain, and probably started costing less than the electronically controlled carburettor when they were sold in ever greater numbers.

But yeah, probably nothing that anyone could just bolt on to an 80's carb engine without extensive modifications.

Looks like I've only got a few years to enjoy the rasp of my DHLA 40s then. Once the councils over here realise how much money can be made, we'll have inner city emission zones too.

The original tuning of my 360's (standard) carb used to result in really, really low emissions numbers....far better than are needed to pass the current UK 'cat' MOT test. It was a bit lean, and used to have a just-about-noticeable stumble when you floored it...but it was perfectly manageable.

Late 340 1.4s here had a carb + cat setup....except I don't even think the carb was electronically controlled (beyond the standard fuel cut). K10 Micras had this arrangement too...although I think they had greater electronic control of the carb than 340s.

cheers

James

They did. The late micra has come solenoids on it for controlling fueling. Long time ago when I last saw one!