I had a trannie fluid leak on the only 240 auto I have ever owned, a '93.

Once the leak got to the point of requiring frequent topping up, I climbed underneath and emerged certain that the front trannie seal was queefed out.

Of course, I put off that job until I saw a worried look on my son's face when I arrived in a cloud of smoke to pick him up. The next morning I went underneath again to assess what I was going to have to do to replace the front trannie seal.

While underneath that pig, after cleaning the mess thoroughly, I noticed a persistent drop of transmission fluid on the clamp which held the trannie cooling lines in place. Praise the Lawd! One of the hard line had rubbed through at the clamp.

I cut small sections from both lines at the clamp's location and installed compression unions. I also fabricated a new (and bulkier) clamp from Micarta to peg those lines in place while lessening the chance of an encore.

Leaks can be like sounds - it's sometimes hard to find their source.

Richie (near The Burgh)

PS - Why so many ATF changes?

Hi Rusty,

You can't take this to the bank, but one of my 240's leaks in a similar manner.

If I drive it daily or go on a 5k trip the transmission looses almost nothing, but if it's idle for more than a couple of weeks it leaks. I'm pretty sure it's from the converter because it's puddle is under the front of the transmission, just a few inches from the smaller puddle of engine oil that I think is from the rear main seal.

Previous to my buying this car in 2016 it had sat for 8 years in a garage. I don't know if this contributed to these conditions or if it's just a result of 275k miles, but it's bothersome. At some point I'm going to pull the engine and trans as a unit and fix them.

regards, Peter

Some thoughts: Probably a minor problem as these trannies are pretty bulletproof! I’d check some of the usual suspects but first check the tightness of the pan bolts. Especially if you have loosened them before. Other places to look include the rear tailshaft seal leaking due to a deformed bushing. Also look for cracks in the cooling lines and leaking from where they attach to the tranny itself. Both of these leaks happened to my 90 as the mileage started to climb...
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Will I buy another Volvo??? We'll see....