On the way back from the 120 miles trip the car started smoking on a highway. When I pulled out, I found the transmission fluid dipping (see attached pics). I did the last 30 miles by putting more tranny fluid (car ate 1.5 quarts), and being warned all the time about the fact that my car smokes....

Now I want to find the leak origin.. Any suggestions what it may be? Could it be that I caused the leak myself? During one of stops I was not careful enough to shift the stick from Drive to Park before the car fully stopped (it was moving very slowly, though and the shake wasn't that hard, but who knows)..

 

kinda hard to tell. you need to clean all that off with a degreaser like Gunk, then see where its coming from. wild guess says, the fittings for or ot the other of those transmission cooler lines.

 

A common problem is that over the years vibration causes the clamp you show in the picture to wear through the transmission lines that run to the cooler in the radiator. If you remove that clamp, you may see the source of the leaks.

Apparently those trans lines are difficult to find outside of the junkyard. Even ones from the junkyard are likely to be rusted on (if you live in the rust belt) or have the leak as yours does. I have read others on the board here that repair it with rubber hose. On mine, I fabricated new lines using steel brake line.

 

If it does end up being the cooler lines FCP Euro has new Volvo ones.
Volvo AT Cooling Pipe (244 240 245) Genuine Volvo - 1306840 | FCP Euro

 

From the picture you supplied, it appears that your lines have already been repaired with compression fittings at the bend where they go up to the cooler. Verify those connections. I suspect that your leak emanates from the clamped area itself or from where the lines join the transmission and that the fluid is running downhill from there towards the clamp. In the picture, the lines seem dry towards the front of the car from the clamp. Much more likely to drip on the exhaust from the transmission side. It could be from a loose fitting there (15mm I think, but do not over- tighten, be gentle) . Also carefully trace the lines to see if either of them is contacting anything besides the clamp at any point; even each other. If so, there is a great likelihood that a spot has rubbed away and a pinhole leak has developed.

 

Thanks to everyone for replying.

I've tried to degrease the surroundings to better see where the leak emanates. When water dries, will try looking there again. Do you think it's possible to get to those transmission lines without jack stands?

 

not unless you're really really skinny. and even then, ugh.

jack stands or ramps or a service pit, or a full lift is pretty much a must for getting under a car to do anything more than an oil change.

 

Or Mr. Incredible.

 

It is possible, if a bit cramped. You can also park your right front tire on a piece of wood or on a curb to give a couple more inches of room as long as that something is stable. I was able to access my lines from the side without any lift. Some 240's sit lower than others though.

 

When my red block Volvo tranny was leaking the transmission shop charged me about $365 to fix it. I think it was the transmission leaking. They didn't say it was a line.

 

Thanks for the helpful comments. Thinking that if this is something easy it should be cheap, and if serious I can't handle it myself, I brought the car straight away to mechanic. It turned out to be the lines, AND the pan gasket. Ended up paying a bit over 300$ (though, this included some easy work on the bushings for the gear shifting lever).