So the fluid dripping off my oil pan by the drain plug turns out to be power steering fluid...(at least its not the VVT/cam stuff!) I did a quick top check and didn't see anything obvious other than the hose from the reservoir to the pump seems to be "damp" - so I wiped dry and will check after a drive tomorrow to see if its either the reservoir, the top hose to the pump or what... Tomorrow I will do a bottom check - I need to pull off the snows so I can peak underneath. Any suggestions on what to look for - ie hose from pump to rack etc?

 

No suggestions, just cheerleading. Have fun in there. I'm in Shanghai right now and the wife's S40 just busted the power steering pressure hose. Cost me $400. Hope yours is not as bad.

 

wiped everything dry, took a nice 25 mile drive including a stop in at Autozone to buy a quart of Pentosin 11S "liquid gold" ($18 US - not a bad price but still generic is $6). Got under the car - totally dry! no weeping from any of the hoses /gaskets around the pump/reservoir - nada. So I topped the fluid level and can only surmise it was a residual drip off/wetness from some earlier maintenance or came from my daughter's 850T (which I also maintain). I also noticed a couple of rusted hose clamps (oil cooler lines?) down low on the side of a block next to the oil pan that look to be a problem waiting to happen...

 

Is Pentosin 11S the correct fluid? I just looked at my maintenance log and I used Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF.

That's the engine oil cooler and I saw that too. Clamps are Volvo 989879 - I replaced mine.

 

I've used Pentosin CHF11 on both my 2003 V40 and my 2010 V70 successfully. It appears that Volvo calls for Pentosin CHF202 though so if you had the choice between the two, I'd go with the later. They appear to be compatible and can be mixed. Note that Pentosin advises not mixing either of them with ATF.


On a different note, I too went through the same troubleshooting thinking I had an oil leak until I discovered that it was PS fluid. In my case, I traced it back to the upper hose where it connects to the pump. I had loosened and rotated the hose on a few occasions in the past so that I could deal with timing belt, seals, etc and the hose developed some small cracks as a result. They were very difficult to see and the hose did not always leak. In the end, it became apparent that I really needed to crank the clamp hard in order to ensure a good fit. At that point I decided that a new upper hose was in order. Bone dry since then.

 

Right or wrong I used plain old ATF (Valvoline I think) in my 2003 S40. The PS reservoir cap says ATF and the owners manual also says ATF. If both these things say ATF then my guess is that they came with ATF from the factory.

 

For what it's worth, the first time I tried to top it up, I filled with ATF JWS 3309 (because my owner's manual also said "ATF"). I figured, if it just states ATF then it must call for the same stuff that is spec'd in the owner's manual for ATF fluid (bad assumption). The reaction from my rack was immediate. It moaned and groaned and started spitting out red bubbly liquid out of the reservoir until it was all gone. I tried this a few times, jacking up the front wheels and getting my wife to turn repeatedly one side and then to the other. More and more bubbles. Tried to drive it, not a good idea. More loud terrible noises. I then flushed that stuff out and replaced with CHF11...smooth as silk. No problems since. Again: for what it's worth.


I'm not sure what Volvo was thinking when it did not offer more specific fluid specs.

 

thanks good feedback. mine wasn't too bad - it was at the very bottom of the reservoir dip stick when I checked - topped off with the Pentosin 11 and have driven about 100 mile since then with no problems. My problem is my brain says "well it had to go somewhere..." so that's why I'm keeping an eye on it. Quite possible the shop that replaced my ABS pump in the winter may have removed a PS line and forgot to top off...