Volvo RWD 200 Forum

Hi All,

I recently repair my front end from a collision with an SUV trailer hitch. Everything came out ok, except yesterday during a drive down a pothole ridden road I started losing all my transmission fluid. I got it home just as I was getting some slipping.

In the collision, the radiator was pushed back. During the repair, I delicately tried to pull everything back into position. With new valence pieces, everything is back where it should be.

I didn't have time last night to tear into the project, but I was hoping someone might have some experience with where to look for the leak and how best to repair it. I'm also hoping/assuming it is one of the cooling lines and not some kind of internal damage.

Any ideas or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

-Greg


--
1984 245GL 96,600 original miles

I see you are in the New Haven area. I'm on LI. If you need a radiator I have good used ones and would make it worth your while for a ride down. -- Dave

Thanks for the offer. It appears that the leak is near the bellhousing and not near the radiator.

Hopefully I didn't damage the tranny by getting it home on low fluid.

-Greg
--
1984 245GL 96,600 original miles

If you catch it before it starts slipping and jumping out of gear, AW70s typically give you three strikes at low fluid conditions. If you ran it low for too long, maybe you'll get a second chance, maybe you won't get anything.

Since the fluid leak is near the bellhousing, it's probably a cooling line. The usual spot of leakage is at the little bracket that attaches to the transmission. It is very possible that the impact and movement of the radiator finished off one of the cooling lines right at that spot, especially given that you were driving on a rough road when it finally died. Most 240s seem to have fatigue and wear on the cooling lines at this spot, which causes a tiny drip at first, then a larger leak as they crack open. Impact could, and would, speed this up dramatically.

If it's not a cooling line, it's probably the front trans seal or torque converter. But those aren't likely.

-------------
Chris Herbst
Scottsdale, AZ

1992 940 153k
2005 S80 31k

Thanks Chris,

I got a bit of slipping just before I got into the garage, then shut it off. Based on the puddles that were in front of my garage where I stopped to open up the door, and the trail leading up the driveway, I still had some fluid left.

I did a recent flush too, so that was all fresh fluid...bummer. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

I'll report back.

-Greg
--
1984 245GL 96,600 original miles

I suspect one of the cooling lines. If not leaking near the radiator, check near the transmission. They are known to break at the transmission without impact anyway, but they usually don't break catastrophically.

It's possible that the fitting on the radiator is damaged also. If a cooling line is broken, it should be easy to spot since it'll pump the transmission out of fluid in a matter of minutes.

If the radiator fitting is broken, you could mount an external transmission cooler instead of using the radiator--or replace the radiator, not a bad idea after a collision that requires front end pulling anyway. For cooling lines, the best choice is replacement, but they can be spliced. The lines are not terribly expensive straight from Volvo.