Greetings, and a great New Year to all!

89 240 (221K) w/ AW-70 developed a bad tailshaft leak, so several months ago I replaced the seal but not the bushing ('cause I hate working under a car w/o a lift). Worked fine for a few months but started leaking again despite my best telepathic intervention. So I tried "Plan-B" which was to basically to ignore it and add some fluid when it started slipping. I was satisfied with that until I got sick of people beeping at me at stoplights trying to tell me my car was on fire as it billowed smoke from the fluid soaked exhaust pipes. So I finally relented and got the parts (seal, bushing and gasket) from the Volvo dealer, yeah, I was rocked for $55.00, but as you can probably tell from the post so far, my brain is tiny and I had to get the stuff while the thought was in mind and do the job before I lost interest. A just punishment I suppose.
It all seemed to go fine except I followed the general rule of the backyard mechanic which is, to put it back together exactly like it came apart, instead of the general rule of an actual mechanic which says that when a bearing has a hole in it, the hole probably lines up with an orfice that feeds it. Now, the old bearing was seated in a way that the hole was merely over solid casting and not adjacent to any orfice nor did it line up with the oil galleys on either side of the seat. I put the new bearing in oriented just as the old one was. It didn't occur to me till after it was all together that the bearing hole might require a proper alignment to a feed hole, and the old one may have spun. I didn't look for a feed and don't recall noticing any holes in the bearing seat when I cleaned the housing.

So here's my big question before I take it apart and do it over again, does this bearing indeed require any specific alignment or is it just splash fed?

BTW: I did try the 7/900 FAQ's several times but the pages just hung and wouldn't load

Thanks for any and all advice! (pertaing to the bearing, not my curbside manner!)

'89 Volvo 240, '76 BMW 2002. Formerly: '86 240 diesel, Two '71 1800e's, '83 BMW 530e

I have an '89 with an automatic and I think that year may have had a problem with tail shaft seals. I have seen quite a few posts about having to do the job for this year. But now that yours is done, you should be fine with that.

Like you, I tried the "keep up the fluid and ignore the mess" method for quite a while. In the meantime, my Oxygen sensor went out so I replaced it with a new generic. That sensor only lasted a couple of months. It was then that I researched and found out that the zirconia sensors the LH injected Volvos use (and almost every other car except Regina Volvos use) is an air breather and doesn't like breathing ATF. So I had a friend replace my tailshaft bushing and seal before I changed O2 sensor again.

I hope you dodged this problem, but if your check engine light comes on, look there first.
--
Andy in St. Paul, '91 745 Regina 198K mi, '89 244 142K, '87 245 RIP

Hi Andy,

When the seal started leaking on my wife's 89 that same thing happened to me. It was a couple years back and I know I posted several times what I thought was different about the 89 year to make that a sore spot.

And not the entire 89 year either, if I read the parts catalogs right.

The O2 sensor bung is in the very end of the downpipe in direct line of fluid centrifugally splashed from the driveshaft at the tailshaft seal.

The result of the soaked sensor (externally) was such that the chemical battery actually reversed itself, showing up as readings well negative of zero, ending up placing the ecu into that smelly rich limp-home state. That in turn plugs the exhaust openings of the sensor with soot (internal to the exhaust pipe).

Since then, following the posts here when I can, I believe several other owners of 89 240s have encountered this fun.
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore Crrrrazy Ray's!

Hi Andy & Art,

Thanks for the tip. Despite that the O2 sensor had been slathered in ATF for quite some time, it seems OK and the car runs well. I replaced the exhaust from the cat converter back just before last inspection and it passed emissions fine (at least the station didn't mention anything about it). The car is a late '89 and perhaps has some of improvement features of a '90. Cheers!

Kurt.

'89 Volvo 240, '76 BMW 2002. Formerly: '86 240 diesel, Two '71 1800e's, '83 BMW 530e

I believe the hole is a drain so that oil does not overwhelm the rear seal. It is not a pressure feed point like a crankshaft bearing as far as I recall. So the worst is that the rear seal leaks, even when new. I think the bushing is supplied oil only by splash.
I have done a few, but it was a while ago. Does the bushing have tangential grooves in its ID? If so then splash is all it gets.

Thanks Rhys,

Yeah, there were distribution channels on the inner face of the bearing. Everything seems ok now, EXCEPT it was such a PITA trying to get an accurate reading off the stick that I ended up overfilling it by a few pints, now it's leaking worse than ever! One reading (after a short drive) it didn't even hit the stick, a quart later it was over the plastic indicator and a half inch up the metal rod. Where does the oil leak from when it's overfilled anyway? Is it ok to just "let it find its own level", or should I take a chance on stripping the the threads on the pan (like I've read that some here have done) and drain some out? Would it be easier to open one of the cooling lines at the radiator? Hmmm, one question leads to three, nothin's easy ehese days. BTW, I hear people suggest that an overfilled tranny is worse than an underfilled one, is that true?, What harm can it cause?

Its up on jacks now, waiting for it to cool down.

Thanks again all!

'89 Volvo 240, '76 BMW 2002. Formerly: '86 240 diesel, Two '71 1800e's, '83 BMW 530e

You will need to get the oil level down for sure. The dipstick tubes are so well sealed that they do not make an accurate reading until they are withdrawn and the airlock is released. Pause and then insert the stick and check with the car absolutely level.
The drain plug will work in most cases, or a cooler line, or even the fill tube IF the big nut will come loose easily. Try the 10mm drain pan plug first.
There is a vent at the top of the trans which will blow fluid out, but as you have found the seals will leak too. Get it to the low end of the scale and drive it for a while, and "creep" up to the mid point or closer to full. Underfilled a bit is better.
Overfilled and the oil will foam up and blow seals, and cause slipping in extreme cases.

Well, just to update for anyone else who may have similar troubles now or in the future.....

I'm satisfied that the bearing is okay as is with no particular alignment, though apparently (if I have it right) it shouldn't be lined up with the slot in the housing. My housing had two slots, one on each side of the bearing seat. After a moderate drive, the tail was bone dry. It was hot to the touch, too hot too keep my finger on (but so was most all of the tranny housing), however the yoke was hot but not near as hot as the tail housing. I'm assuming that if it was spinning in too dry of a bearing it would also be too hot to touch.

Though I did overfill the tranny, that did not turn out to be the cause of the second leak. Apparently, the cooling lines were worn at the clampdown to the point where one was almost ready to crack and the action of my raising and lowering the hydraulic jack that I had supporting the transmission must have stressed it enough to cause one line to fail, with the leak hidden under the clamp. There was so much fluid splashed around it was hard to tell. Only after wiping it down and starting the car up could you notice the drips building up right at the clamp with no other apparent source. I cut the line and slipped a temporary hose over it till I can get some high pressure/temp braided line to patch it more permanently (though that may be overkill). I'll have to find another suitable clamp as the original one won't fit over the thicker hoses. Oh, and I had no trouble using the 10mm drain nut to relieve the over fill (I've read here that the pan threads can be easily stripped).

Once again, my thanks to this amazing board and all the thoughtful folks here!

Hi, thanks for the replies!

hardknocks!, It wasn't too bad of a task actually so doing it again isn't really a big deal. Putting it up on jackstands was the biggest PITA, and getting the weather to cooperate again in January might be a factor the second time. The one thing that haunts me is that I picked a time when the fluid was pretty low so I wouldn't have as much to catch in the drain pan when I popped the housing. When it was removed, VERY little came out. practically nothing. So I'm not sure if it was because it was that low or because the source of oil for that end of the tranny was blocked by what MAY have been a spun bearing. It was in there very tight and it's hard to imagine that it ever moved on its own.

Are you saying there IS a correct or suggested orientation for this bearing? If so, would you mind explaining?

81242DLB21FCA, Your critcism must have been pretty harsh! Your post was either censored, edited out or otherwise deleted. Does the header say it all!? Please elaborate. Thanks!

hi there, the volvo green book shows a picture of the extension husing bushing and says install the blind hole oppisite of the groove in the body. talked to my friend (15 yrs volvo mech) and he says is not all that critical on this wear item. he has a volvo tool that can remove the bushing without removeing the tailshaft houseing and its pretty neat. hope this helps. i check my tranny fluid at least four times and keep wiping the dipstick just to be safe, also i try to find level ground but im sure you know this.

hi there, the passages should be better if installed correctly, but it shouldnt be worth changeing in my opinion. i have seen em both ways.