if you find your transmission leaking fluid from around the area of the rear of the pan, the tube, or connection, do yourself and your mechanic (if you have one) a favor and REPLACE the tube and connection knukle. i had my rear main seal replaced and when i picked it up, i noticed more smoke than i had seen and this time it smelled like trans fluid. took it back to my indie and they looked at it and couldn't find the problem. they kept it and let it run for about an hour. nothing!! i took it home and brought it back again the next day. i was trying the magicians disappearing in the smoke act only i didn't disappear. took it back. they drove it a few miles and let it run for about two hours and nothing again. i drove it hard and with the OD off and got it to smoke for them.

it seemed that it would only leak when i had been in start and stop traffic and building up pressures.

replaced the connection knuckle to the tube and i took it home. smoked the same. next day they repaced the entire tube unit and found it to have an ever so slight crack in an area of the bend that remained sealed until it had pressure. it's been a few days and no smoke. i'll keep my fingers crossed.

bubba

With the AW70 trans, I pull the bracket that holds the pipes to the transmission itself. This is a notorious spot for debris to collect and chew away at the pipes over a couple hundred thousand miles.

I've never had a trans pipe fail from not having the bracket attached. In my opinion, it does more harm than good. Once it's eaten away the transmission pipe, there can be a 1/2" paper-thin spot, or worse. It usually cracks and unloads a lot of trans fluid.

Chris, with your experience, do you recall if anyone has mentioned a price for these lines as new parts?

I once pulled the best set I could find in a yard only find under strong light at home they were no better than mine.

Last time I bought one, it was something like $45, with a wholesale discount.

Apparently Bubba's price is much better than mine, since that price was from two years ago.

Even though they aren't that cheap to buy, they are cheap insurance. I looked at it being a convenience factor, since the part was already bent to fit.

the price i was quoted for he part (original volvo) was 40$$. the shop i used is mainly a volvo parts counter but offers a shop as well.

One dealer in the milwaukee wi area gets $40, the other $58 for them. Just did mine a few weeks ago, as the P.O. had used rubber hose over the ends which were leaking at the ends, and I had a pinhole leak caused by rust through the side of the trans pan. While i was "going in" i did the two lines, the filter, and bead blasted and epoxied the outside of the pan. (i made sure to repeatedly and thoroughly wash and clean the pan to get all the glass beads (sand) out).

Now i am drip free.

The tubing IMHO is engineered with insufficient safety margin when they crack like that. Stess corrosion at the crystalline boundaries? The sucker was probably drawn too thin to begin with, then mandrel bent and anodized/coated to retard corrosion. Once the anti corrosion coating is gone, the corrosion begins and is accelerated at the bend stress.

It's a tough call engineering wise. Make everything bulletproof and the suspension gets heavy, the car ends up a tank, and no one buys it. Oops...that describes Volvo's experience with the 240 series. Just kidding!

i like my 'tank' and wish they were still made. without getting into the 'techie' description about the tube, that was my thoughts since it appeared to be in the bend area.

Bubba