hi! i just bought my 1992 240 roughly a month ago and it’s my first car. it was running great, and i even replaced a few things once i first got it to simply do some maintenance on it because i wasn’t sure how long it had been. anyhow, i noticed that my car was leaking a LOT of fluid and later discovered it was transmission fluid. my friend told me to not even turn on my car, and when i told my other friend about it they made it seem like a big deal. is this something that i should be strongly worried about? am i safe to drive it to a local mechanic in my city to have them fix it for me? i am not sure why it is necessarily leaking the transmission fluid, but i checked the dipstick for it and it came out completely empty, whereas a week ago it was fine. as i’ve said before, this is my first car, and i don’t know much about cars at all. any help would be much appreciated, and i would like to know what could be the reason it’s leaking, how to fix it, and what i need to buy, as i am a student and need to know how much money to set aside. i also do have photos i could forward if needed. thank you in advance, and thank you for reading! i look forward to the responses.

 

Fill it with transmission fluid and take it to get it fixed.

 

That's what I'd do.
To the other questions: transmission leaks are not common in these cars--it should be something easy, hard to speculate but don't drive it without fluid, that will ruin it!

 

note that you check the transmission fluid level with the engine idling and everything fully warmed up. you add it via the dipstick tube with a special funnel, I use one like this...



make sure the funnel is CLEAN, you don't want to introduce any dirt or dust into your transmission fluid. Use a quality Dexron III ATF, I use Castrol Transmax Import Multivehicle, as these Volvo's have Aisin-Warner (Toyota) transmissions, and that stuff is the optimal spec for them.

 

i purchased this fluid for my car. is that okay?

 

I don't see on the label what spec it is. for sure you do NOT want to use LV or VI (6) spec stuff.

 

Where is it leaking from? If you live in norther climates where they salt the roads in the winter, a common failure is the cooling lines that run to the radiator. The salt causes them to rust out and leak. Another common leak point is the tailshaft seal. Typically what happens there is the bushing in there wears out and causes the seal to leak. To repair you need to replace both the bearing and the seal.

 

so somebody on here said to fill it with transmission fluid and drive it to a mechanic. well i tried that, and failed miserably. i filled it and before i could even get in and start the car i checked under it and a good 80% of it i’d say was on the asphalt. i mentioned previously that this is my first car, i bought it with my own money and was extremely proud of myself for doing so and thought that stuff was starting to pick up. now i’m starting to think that i was simply sold a piece of **** because i’m a stupid 17 year old. i of course had a mechanic check it beforehand and he stated that it was in great condition, and now **** keeps breaking on it it seems like everyday. i haven’t been able to drive it for the last week and a half or so and it’s really upsetting. Anyways... i can’t drive it to a mechanic, i can’t have a mechanic come out to me, and i can’t work on it myself and i have absolutely no clue what to do at this point. i don’t want to give up on it yet, as i saves every single penny for about 2/3 months to purchase it. but i’m seriously considering it now.

 

to answer, it’s leaking from the middle of the car, near the oil pan i would say.

 

i tried that. it leaked way too quick.

 

then thats most likely the transmission cooler plumbing, which is two skinny pipes that run from the side of teh tramsission up to and back from the radiator.

 

agree with pierce. if those lines are leaking then it would account for the rapid loss of fluid. you can jury rig them with short lengths of hose and hose clamps
but this is only a temporary fix to get the car to a repair shop to permanently replace the lines with new ones.
look down on the passenger side and follow the 2 steel lines back to the transmission starting at the radiator end. it should be obvious where the failure is.

 

Tow the car to a shop, put it up and make sure, there is no point speculating...

 

"i of course had a mechanic check it beforehand and he stated that it was in great condition, and now **** keeps breaking on it it seems like everyday."

DON'T take it to the mechanic that stated it was in great condition.

 

Your friends are right. Don’t drive it till you’ve sourced the problem.

I would refill half full and watch exactly where it is coming out as a first step.

this will tell you how serious it is.