Oil leak

[tom39]

Thanks for the info everyone, I guess a trip to the dealer is on order.

Not to beat a dead horse. Lets say I get in there and I discover that the RMS is indeed the issue.
How difficult is it to remove the auto transmission to put a new seal in?
Does the pan have to be put back on in order to replace the RMS?
Can the trans be removed from the car without removing the engine and cradle?
Is there enough room for that to happen?
Or do you have to drop the cradle with the trans and engine attached and then remove the trans?
Any FWD vehicles I have worked on in the past it was always easier to pull the engine and trans than try and squeeze one by the other while still in the car. I really do not want to have to do that.
Has anyone done this job before and if so what would the time frame to complete the job start to finish?

Thanks
TOM G.

[xb corp]

hey tom..
not an easy task, but you can try. make sure you have enough space to work around. i suggest removing the engine from car would make the job a lot more easier.

remove negative terminal
release the shock absorber from the hub, remove brake calliper & ABS sensor from hub as well.
remove p/s ponion coupler.
remove the pipe fittings for air-con gas (one at the a/c compressor, another right in front of the compressor)
remove all hoses that attached to the radiator & intercooler.
hang the engine with crane.
completely remove all the mounting bolts at the rear of subframe,
loose the front bolts (size 18mm) by 3/4". slowly drop the engine..
see if there is any other cable/ hoses that are still attached.
if not, completely remove the bolts and drop the engine to floor.

jack the car body high enough so you can tow away the subframe off the car. the rest is pretty straight forward, remove 6 torx T50 screws that holds the TC to drive plate, then remove all size 14mm bolts around the bell housing. take note of the length, they come in 3 type of lengths.
tap the BH.

remove the drive plate center screws (6 or them, 12petals head), it will reveal the RMS. pry off and change to a new one.

Over here in Malaysia we can get it for USD22/ea. i dunno why the guy from UK has to buy it at 170pound!

estimate time:1 whole day with an assistant and few cans of beer.

[tom39]

Well I guess I will find out soon enough.
Thank you everyone for all the help.

Will take pics and post progress as much as possible.

Thanks Again
TOM G.

[Joe Hurless]

I wish I could tell you its that upper cam seal by the upper motor mount, but the evidence just isn't there. Noone wants to deal with a rear main seal... hell, our shop passes that horrible job off to other shops that need the work. In any case I hope works out with minimal pain... I'll be interested to watch this thread continue to develop.

[uaart1]

I too am in the same situation with my base '98 V70 w/ AT. 137K mi. Leak IS coming from weep hole and BH/oil pan seam area.
Few drops on floor (pan, drop cloth, shoes) daily.
Against all hope I politely ask: can the RMS be done with engine in car and the tranny dropped, or is this more work?
If not, if engine is coming out, what else should be done while it is out? Timing belt (almost time)? Heater hoses? ??

Thanks.
Scott

[jblackburn]

Against all hope I politely ask: can the RMS be done with engine in car and the tranny dropped, or is this more work?

You'll have to lower the frame and drop them both down, and work the transmission out. Even then it will be an extremely tight squeeze. I was able to pull the tranny out of my FWD Honda without removing the engine, but it wasn't fun trying to maneuver it around the engine...an auto is much clunkier. You might be better off just making it a project for when you have the time & buy an engine hoist. The seal can hold off as long as you keep putting oil in the car.

I remember pictures over on Volvospeed about someone doing it with the engine in the car, but their site is down at the moment.

[tom39]

Well here is the latest update on my oil leak. The pan was indeed leaking. A few of the pan bolts worked there way loose and broke the seal causing a ever so slight leak. (As shown in pic, signs of leak shown at corner of pan resulting in a discoloring of mating surface) The problem was that, though the pan was leaking it was not the oil leak I was seeing. As stated in prior post by many, the culprit was indeed the RMS. I have some pics of that too, I will try and post them sometime soon.
The job overall was quite easy. You need only basic tools, a few o-rings and gaskets, a tube of pan sealant and a 3in paint roller.

What must be removed is
1. Oil cooler block from passenger side of pan
2. Transmission motor mount
3. Power steering lines

While I was in there, as suggested, I replaced the o-ring on the oil pick-up tube also.

Overall the entire job is about 2-3 hrs if you take your time.

[whoa]

Nice. I look forward to seeing what you're going to do about the RMS!

[DanLSmith2798]

It's my son's car, we pulled the engine and put some higher performance mods to it... then we had that dreaded oil leak. We found that putting silicone sear around the oil pan when it mates with engine was a BIG mistake. The silicone cured but it will not squish down like the Volvo sealant, and when putting the oil pan bolts to bottom of engine, and the silicond would not allow that perfect surface to surface seal, tightening the bolts made cracks in the oil pan right around where those bolts heads go against the oil pan. Just a hairline crack around each bolt head but it made for a good leak, and required the purchase of another oil pan. Hope this is not your problem.

[Joe Hurless]

Nice writeup Tom. That's definitely an efficient method for the pan gasket. Now you just need to write us up a 90 min RMS fix