Terrible luck.... Core plug?
 

So despite me treating the car nicely it still persists to hate me for some reason? I had to have it recovered on Sunday after a calliper ceased, I fixed the brakes after this I moved the car and realised it's leaking oil :eek:

I got under it tonight to try and locate the leak, there was oil everywhere! I gave everything a good clean, ran the engine up and got back under it to watch for leaks, there wasn't anything until I turned the engine off and oil started appearing from the hole between the engine and transmission, it wasn't gushing it was more of a trickle.

Is this the dreaded core plug issue? Or does it sound more like crank seal?

What's the best way to tackle this on a 2003 S60 Auto? Engine and box straight out the top? Will the engine come out this way on an S60 with box attached?

Thanks for any help and guidance in these dark times :music-smiley-019:

It does sound like the core plug...had something similar happen to mine several years ago around £100k to 110K....gearbox out, full clutch, CSC & DM flywheel replacement. Around £1000. Charges seem to range between around £800 - £1200, it's a lot of work. Mine would have been around £300 less without the DMF.

drop the sub frame support on axel stands remove box out sideways be carefull auto box is very heavy a second pair of hands will be needed the job may take 5 hrs dependant on how good you are with the spanners or take it to your local independant volvo garage get quotes from a few places .

I'm not looking forward to it because it's just one of those painful jobs but it's not the first time I've pulled engines and gearboxes so not too worried about actually doing it, I just wanted to check which method works the best as sometimes community methods and Volvo methods are different.

With the weight of the autobox I was actually going to take a look at the box and see if there's a good / safe way to get a strap on it and hoist it rather than attempting to manually handle it, only downside is it means potentially hiring 2 engine hoists.

Right sooo... After more research I think I've decided on my plan of attack:

Buy an engine support beam.

Subframe will be completely removed avoiding the need for the special jack.

Drill a hole in a piece of thick metal plate, bolt it to the trolley jack then strap the gearbox to it.

Compile long list of bolts, seals and other materials required.

check the cam seals first, save all that effort!

I cleaned the entire area then watched oil drip from the hole between the gearbox and engine, the top looks dry the bottom of the engine is covered.

Here's some photos from under the car 😞

dont over stress the exhaust by lowering the engine too much you dont need to lower it loads to remove the box.

Thank you for the tip, I thought this is why they say to remove the 3 cross members to allow the exhaust to move a bit more?