AW-70 to AW-72 Swap: Possible in Earlier Cable-Speedo Cars?

[BigSky164]

I am in the continual process of improving my '84 245 and now I am looking at transmission options. I have the stock AW-70 in the car now and it does alright, but it leaks fluid badly and sometimes has a hard 1-2 shift at parking lot speeds. I got a quote from a reputable transmission shop for about $275 to repair all the leaks and flush the transmission. Not too bad in my opinion, but I still wonder about the 1-2 shift quality.
Today , I went to the local salvage yard and was looking at a '93 940 with an automatic transmission. The car was totaled when the passenger side front suspension collapsed at speed and crumpled into the footwell. I looked at the VIN plate and found this car has a lock-up AW transmission (code 6). Further research shows it has a AW-72, which has been recommended by members of this board for swapping into a 240.
Will this work on an earlier car that needs the extension housing for the speedometer cable drive? I have heard the extension housings are swappable from AW-70->71, but will they swap from 70/71 -> 72? Can the speedometer drive gear be driven onto the output shaft of an AW-72 transmission? Has anyone done this before?

Thanks,
Nick

[MrBill]

where are you?

I have a 240 turbo trans sitting here you can have.

[BigSky164]

Ha! Wrong coast; unfortuneately I am in the middle of Montana!
The prospect of gaining a lock-up converter is one of the main reasons for my interest in the swap. I am not looking for something that will handle +T power as I have a high compression B23 with an "A" cam that I am very happy with. I was just contemplating going to a lower-mileage (156K compared with 270+K) and possibly *better* transmission.

Questions still stand.....

Thanks again,
Nick

[andysbeta]

Nope, the rear tailshaft housing is alot more beefier than the earlier aw70/71 gearboxes . I put a 1994 AW71-L in a 1984.5 245Ti, thinking I could swap housings and add the geardrive from the original AW-71. No go, two totally different animals there! Maybe the earlier AW-72 has the smaller tailshaft akin to the AW-70/71? I haven't pulled an AW-72 to verify. Anyone have any input on this?

[SwedishBee]

just do the swap, and upgrade the 86+ rear axle and cluster to the electronic driven speedo.
Im sure the transmission will be worth it.

[Wren]

Originally Posted by andysbeta

Nope, the rear tailshaft housing is alot more beefier than the earlier aw70/71 gearboxes .

Somewhere around '93 they made a change on the transmissions as I know that there is a change in the output shaft seals from say, a '90 model and a '94.

I was under the impression that the AW-72L transmissions only came in the 16-valve cars that were made between '89 and '91.

Kenny would know more about this, but from what I know, the guts are the major difference between a 70, '71 and a '72.

[BigSky164]

I have some of the Volvo Parts microfiches at home and I will check the extension housing P/Ns from 93-94 and see what comes up. I was looking at output shaft P/Ns and there was a match between the 940 and 240 transmissions. The extension housings were different from to 240 to 940, but the 740 to 940 housings were a match. The output flanges are different from car to car, however. And I may be wrong about the transmission being a AW72; I wasn't able to jack the car up enough to make out the numbers on the tag on the side of the transmission.

Thanks again,
Nick

[2manyturbos]

Originally Posted by WrenWright

Somewhere around '93 they made a change on the transmissions as I know that there is a change in the output shaft seals from say, a '90 model and a '94.

I was under the impression that the AW-72L transmissions only came in the 16-valve cars that were made between '89 and '91.

Kenny would know more about this, but from what I know, the guts are the major difference between a 70, '71 and a '72.

And you are correct. The AW-72L came in the 16 valve cars. The 1992 and newer NA 940s came with lock up converters. The 1992 version will work for your conversion. It is actually an AW-70L. The 1993 and newer AW-71L is much stronger, however, it runs a larger diameter output shaft and cannot be retrofitted to the earlier style cable drive speedo tail housing as said above. If you can find one, the AW-72L has the old style output shaft and can also be retrofitted.

[BigSky164]

Originally Posted by 2manyturbos

And you are correct. The AW-72L came in the 16 valve cars. The 1992 and newer NA 940s came with lock up converters. The 1992 version will work for your conversion. It is actually an AW-70L. The 1993 and newer AW-71L is much stronger, however, it runs a larger diameter output shaft and cannot be retrofitted to the earlier style cable drive speedo tail housing as said above. If you can find one, the AW-72L has the old style output shaft and can also be retrofitted.

Yep, parts manual confirms this. If only the car in the yard was a '92 instead of a '93... Oh well. Thanks to everyone who responded for the info.

Thanks again,
Nick