Last weekend I replaced (at home with no help) the rear main engine oil seal in my wife's 93 240 auto. This board has been a great help to me over the time we've been volvo owners. Here's some of the things I learned during the job.

(These are random notes, not a step by step........)

1. It's a common problem (leaking rear main). any local independent volvo shop will be well-versed in doing the job. In NE florida the price for the job is about $350 (it's a big job, really, so think long and hard about tackling this one yourself. about halfway through my project I was wishing that I had had the shop do it).

2. You need the tools and a good space to work. 4 jackstands and a good floor jack minimum with the regular full assortment of hand tools, including an 18 mm socket. Don't neglect to make the work area safe because you will be under the car for a while horsing on the tranny to get it in and out.

3. The parts you need are not too expensive. the new oil seal at NAPA was about $20 (I found them cheaper at our local discount chain but they would have to be ordered) and so I paid the $20. While you're under there with the tranny fluid drained, replace the fluid and the the filter and the pan gasket (another $15 kit). I also replaced the front seal of the tranny (pump seal) while I had it out. It was not leaking, that I could tell, but it, like the engine oil seal is a bear to get to and so I did the tranny seal too while I was in there. All together, I think I spent $50 on parts and fluid. Not sure if the $350 at the shop included the parts or not. ALso, make sure you know what model tranny you have before you go to the parts store. Ours has a plate rivited on the side of the tranny on the drivers side I bought tranny pump seals for both types and used the one that fit.

4. It can be (was in my case) a messy job. Even after draining the pan and the cooling lines, etc etc the tranny dripped oil all over me and the floor the whole time I was under there. next time I'll be prepared with a short length of fuel hose to cap the two nipples after I remove the lines that run up to the radiator.

5. my book talks about the "option" of removing the exhaust. I took it off and had lots more room to work. I also completely removed the lines at the tranny and at the radiator. not hard to do these 2 things and gives you lots more room.

6. the two top bolts that secure the tranny to the back of the engine block and the top starter bolt are bears to get to. 18 mm. I had to drop the tranny crossmember at the rear of the tranny/engine assembly down so that the angle would allow me access to those bolts. Really tough. required a couple of long extensions to get the ratchet back far enough to have room to use it. the engine is pretty well balanced on its two motor mounts and will sit there with no support beneath it. The valve cover will rock backward and down a bit and rest on the firewall holding it fine.

7. after you get the tranny out and the flexplate and the hub spacer etc etc and finally get access to the back of the crank where the seal (and the leak is), you will need a small hook tool (or similar) to get the old seal out of its housing. The seal sits in a housing that you can take off if you need to (make sure your engine oil seal comes with the gasket for this housing). I was able to get the old seal out without taking off the housing. I wasn't careful, however, when I put the new seal in and pushed it in too far (with my fingers and thumbs) so that it slipped out the back side of the housing. once that happened I had to remove the housing and do it right again. most oil seals that I've dealt with had lips in the housings that stop you from pushing it too far and make it square to the centerline of the crank. not on volvos. (i did the same dumb thing on the frnt frank seal of a friend's 240). Also, the end of the crank will have some baked on oil and crud on it except for the thin shiny ring where the old seal was riding on it. I recommend that you clean that stuff off (carefully, so as not to nick the crank) maybe with some super fine sandpaper or steel wool or similar (?). make sure that the seal is facing the right way when you put it in. Call me paranoid, but when I replace a seal I always wipe the outside of it with a thin coat of indian head gasket shellack to keep it from weeping around the housing. the book recommends grease for the same purpose. regardless, ALWAYS coat the lip of the seal (the part that rides on the crank) with some grease to keep it from burning on the crank right after you start it up.

8. getting the tranny mated back to the engine was hard for me. I could get it up to about an inch and no further. much pain here. finally figured out that the torque converter was not fully seated back into the transmission. if the face of the torque converter (the face that bolts to the flywheel/flex plate) is flush with the edge of the bell housing, it's not in far enough. you have to slide it out then turn it a bit and then try to shove it back into the tranny shaft. took me a while to do this. when it's right, the face of the converter should be set back inside the bell housing about an inch or so from the edge of the bellhousing that mates to the block.

9. putting everything else back on and back togehter is pretty straightforward (heard that before, huh?). during the pull-down I put all the bolts into a single can. mistake. many of the fasteners used are the same diameter but slightly diff lengths. keep em seperate as you take it apart and you wont have to switch bolts around when they bottom out in the wrong holes during the reassembly.

10. after all this work and my reassembly, mine seemed to continue to leak for a day or so after I put in the new seal. I was sick about it uring the time it was leaking. It stopped, though after a bit of driving and has been tight ever since. Looking back, I'm not sure if the oil that I saw on the driveway was really leaking past the new seal while it was getting introduced to the crank OR if it was just some residue oil from before the replacement.

It's a big job, not for the faint of heart. I do almost all my own work but I'm not sure I'd do this one again. Might pony up the $350 next time and let somebody else do it. I'm slow, and I had problems along the way so it took me probably 12 hours total. Having done it once, I think I could do it in 6-8 hours now. I hope this helps, or at least entertains, someone.

thanks for the help brickboard has provided me. trying to give something back (sniff, sniff)

(consider voting republican this year)

-cfd