Volvo 240 gear shifter foam (sound deadening)

240

I'm been trying to track down this and after scouring literally the entire internet I can only find one website that stocks it. However it's quite pricey once shipping is added so I thought I'd see if anyone wants to do a group buy.

If one person joins in it would cost $63 each
If two people join it would cost $56 each
If three people join it would cost $52 each

Comment or PM if interested

This is what I'm talking about: (I'm told it makes a big difference)

http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/iPYAAOSwcUBYNrSl/s-l300.jpg

familyman

A search for its part number gave me three sites on the first google results page that seem to have stock. All around $30 US. Didn't add postage on though of course.

I know sometimes we get it in our heads we only want original parts... But part of it is beneath the car. Meaning grease and movement will kill it over time. It still has "indent gaps" too, so it has give when the shifter moves. Meaning there's still a gap for noise. So...

Have you thought about removing the 4 plastic press-in clips that hold the rubber boot down, sliding it upwards, then cutting a few cm of some scrap carpet foam underlay into a long strip, wrapping it around the stalk, and securing around the middle with a cable tie? It would crumble over time through shifter movement. But so will the original and it would probably be a once-every-five-years thing.

Another option is something called "batting" from a Spotlight store. Ladies use it in quilting and I've also seen it wrapped around some pillows and inside lounges and cushion zip covers. Probably lots of other things would work too.

Just something to think about anyway.

carnut222

I've heard of people using foam from an old seat - cut up to approximate shape. FREE! :)

240

@familyman there are lots of sites that list i5, but they don't actually have it available. I placed orders with two separate sites and they both cancelled my order because they didn't have it. I emailed a bunch of other ones to check if it was available and it wasn't.

I am using seat foam at the moment - it does work a bit, but the actual Volvo foam is made of special sound deadening foam whereas seat foam isn't. So there is a considerable difference. So that's why I'm trying to track it down.

(I believe @lasercowboy could explain it much better than me, as he has in a different thread previously.)

AshDVS

I'm about 99% sure that this is now NLA as a new part.
I definitely see no Volvo genuine listing for it.

You could use some high density foam from someone like Clark Rubber or similar.
https://www.clarkrubber.com.au/

lasercowboy

You could conceivably make one using a good quality closed cell foam (unlike seat foam, which is open cell, and not much use for this particular purpose, as it'll disintegrate way too fast...)

However, the shape is sufficiently complex that it would be (a) not trivial and (b) essentially impossible without an original in hand to work from.