850 Transmission Dipstick Housing Leak

[Delboy3867]

Hi:
I've got a 1996 2.0L Turbo 850 SE which has given me no trouble in the nearly 6 years we've been mates - I love my 850 and even though we've a 2002 V70 I still prefer the old classic.

Anyway, recently on a farm road, (with the missus driving as I'd had a couple beers - New Year's Day), we hit a high spot in the middle ridge of the road which turned out to be an exposed granite boulder. There was a terrific thud but I couldn;t see any damage at the time so I left it. Then I realized when we got home that she was leaking tranny fluid at a pretty steady drip.

Inspection of the underside reveals that the "bright" finish housing at the end of the dipstick tube has suffered the blow most of all - there's a considerable dent in it and there's a leak that appears to be coming from the squeeze-gasket where it attaches to the main housing.

I'm not that scared of taking it off and replacing/re-seating it with some new gasket but having never done it before, was sondering if anyone has any experience of removing this part and could tell me what to expect! I'm sure it'll lose a LOT of ATF but will it mean I lose the lot? It needs a flush and fill anyway so I'm not too worried - more wondering what size of a whoosh to expect!

I reckon the mating face has gotten screwed up and think I could flatten it sufficiently to get a seal again. i hope so, cos Volvo parts down here in New Zealand are objectionably priced, to say the least.

Hope someone has some input to help me out.

[rspi]

I thought I seen one of those at a parts place recently but could not find it now.

I would drain the fluid before I pulled the pan. I didn't remember the dip stick going into that, I have a tranny in my storage. I really doubt that the mating surface on the tranny is damaged, those casings are pretty rigid. Maybe the pan is bent. I think they seal it on with the anaerobic sealant but it's small enough to seal it with anything.

[wheelsup]

If simply resealing it doesn't work and you need the part and can't find one locally I can ship it to you for $25 US (should fit in the small flat rate box). Will go USPS International priority. The tranny is a AW50-42LE. It's out of a 95 GLT 2.4L n/a (non-turbo). Should fit your car but double check.

You got really lucky hitting that over a lot of other things down there. When I was young and stupid, when I was driving my current 850 it was my parents, and I went over a "jump" at a fairly high speed. Cracked the oil pan. Didn't treat it so well back then...

If you guys have Permatex sealant down there it's good stuff. The hardest part will be ensuring that the surfaces are pristine and clean. A guy posted a DIY on replacing the solenoids on here, and shows how to do it, he mentioned that the hardest part in sealing it up was keeping the fluid from accumulating on the bottom left surface IIRC, as it drips about a drop every 10 secs. So you basically have 9 secs to line it up .