greasy belly pan, in search of the culprit

[SquareWheels]

Thanks for the encouragement VTL. My wife is also far along in her pregnancy, hence the extra irritation. To be honest, an axle replacement intimidates me. I was thinking of having it towed to the dealer (hear me out) in hopes to negotiate with them that the axle they replaced 1k ago just failed. It's either that or tow it to my house and see what I can do.

[vtl]

Axle is easy, especially right one. And, probably, less time than tow to dealer.

Btw, extra car is generally a good idea

New car is a hole in family budget, another old car is a russian roulette. The more you have fixed in your old car, the less to expect to break.

[SquareWheels]

Well, I assume it's the right axle, given what we saw at the beginning of this thread. It seems likely. I'll have it towed here and fix it myself.

Second car you say? I wish. Urban living and budget are big factors for us. I'm lucky I have a "garage" to work on it.

I wonder what went wrong after or during the axle replacement. How delicate are these axles?

[JRL]

No better, no worse than most.
Probably fell out, common.
It was not secured/pushed in all the way

[SquareWheels]

I chickened out and had it towed to the dealer it's my only car, I don't have a torque wrench yet, and just feel a little ill-equipped and need it done fast. I'm also hoping to negotiate considering I just bought it and the axle they just replaced prior to purchase is the likely culprit.

Also, they were surprised it was drivetrain related. They re-parked it this morning and it moved fine. ??? They assumed it was in for the ETM replacement that I turned them down for two weeks ago (installed xemodex). Now I'm thoroughly confused and will play the waiting game.

No codes. Could this axle issue be intermittent? Wouldn't the other wheels get some power to move the car even if one axle was bad?

[howardc64]

What happens when the car won't move? Does engine rev but feels like nothing is getting to the wheels? How about when shifting through gear selectors, do you feel the transmission engaging when going between P, R, and D?

[SquareWheels]

I asked her the same thing. She said the engine revved but wouldn't move. She said it felt like it was in N no matter which was selected. She doesn't remember if it felt like the transmission was engaging or not. No sounds out of the ordinary.

She also said the tow truck driver tried it and verified the problem.

[SquareWheels]

Wow. Didn't expect this. So the greasy oil pan led to finding grease spatter marks which led to the car not moving a few hours later. It's all unrelated. The dealer said the transmission is at fault apparently when it gets really hot it shows the symptoms. They did notice the fluid was a little overfilled. They've run tests, submitted them to Volvo and are awaiting their reply, probably regarding the warranty of the rebuild a few months back. They also want to run tests when it's cold tomorrow morning.

This sucks.

[vtl]

No better, no worse than most.
Probably fell out, common.
It was not secured/pushed in all the way

Is it possible with right axle? Bearing carriage would hold axle in place...

[SquareWheels]

"Internal transmission failure" is the diagnosis. Luckily, the transmission is being replaced at no cost to me covered by Volvo NA. The warranty didnt follow me since I bought it after the new tranny installation but the dealer must still be covered for a year. Good of them to follow through with this. Hope it all goes well and fast. What a disaster, but it's much better than if I bought the car from a different source.

I'm so glad I got this car from a dealer and not a crappy used car lot, repo lot, or private party— I'd be completely screwed.