Hi all,

Has someone ever had to remove/replace the inner timing belt cover? It's the one that is between the cylinder head pulleys and the crankshaft.

Somehow, when replacing the cylinder head, I cracked the inner timing belt cover and didn't realize it. The car was perfectly timed too and no amount of adjusting the current cover will keep it from rubbing against the pulleys.

Does anyone know if its possible to remove the timing cover without having to remove the cam pulleys? Especially the intake with VVT? I'm 99% sure the belt will have to come off for access, but I'm not sure about the rest.

Any help is appreciative!

 

Well the answer to my questions is, everything has to come off, except the water pump if you're careful.

Harmonic balancer, inner pulley, accessory belt, timing belt, tensioner, idler, thermostat housing, intake cam sprocket and VVT sprocket, it all has to come off. Annoying-but necessary.

 

Having recently had intimate interaction with the timing belt covers on an 03 S80, I am flummoxed by your descriptions. (Are you really talking about an S80?) There are only two such (plastic) covers, the upper one above the camshaft pulleys, which is trivial to remove, and the end one covering all of the timing belt pulleys on the right-hand end of the engine. I have never heard of an "inner" cover. If you remove the two I mentioned, the entire timing belt system is exposed.

The end cover can be a brute to remove, but not because of any of those parts that you mention. The main problem with removing the end cover is usually the little coolant bleed fitting that penetrates the middle of this cover. In no forum on the web could I find guidance for disconnecting that little fuel fitting. Many people report breaking the little plastic nipple behind the cover while struggling with it, and then maybe rebuilding the bleeder nipple in brass, or something, rather than buy a whole new thermostat housing. After breaking it myself, I bought a spare fitting, analyzed it, and realized how easy it is to disconnect, if you know how: push in on the elbow part of the fitting while you pull outward harder on the knurled pads on either side of the fitting (which may require a tool because of the cramped space), and then while still pushing and pulling(!), also rotate the fitting back and forth a little to help it release. Voilà!

But I suspect that is not what you were talking about…

I agree stuffing the end cover back into that cramped space is difficult— you have to ensure that the tang on the bottom-rear slips into the slot for it, which is invisible down there. I guess you can check this by looking up from below the car if you remove the skid plate under the engine.

 

You are talking about the upper timing belt cover and the outer timing belt cover. The OP is talking about the inner timing belt cover. It's behind the belt.

 

Thanks for the clarification, ES6T. I hadn't seen that called a "cover" before. I tend to think of "cover" as something on the outside, not inside. (Volvo calls it a "Timing gear casing".)

 

That's essentially what I was referring to. It covers the front and rear sides of the belt, so i called it an inner cover. Regardless what you want to call it, its a pain in the ***.