The car is a 1998 V70T5.

I had a leaking head gasket. I pulled the head took it to a machine shop and put it back on. I also did a timing belt kit.

I replaced water pump, tensioners etc.

I can not get the timing belt on.

I worked it in at the crank pulley, pull it over the cams to the water pump, but I cant get it over that last roller. Any ideas of what I am missing?

Robin

 

did you use a new tensioner? The tensioner needs to be compressed for the belt to fit on, then you release the pin to get it to expand. Always a good idea to use a new tensioner with a new belt install as quite often the tensioner is the cause of a belt failure.

 

tensioner new, compressed with pin in

Thanks

Robin

 

double check the belt part number and compare in size to the old one. it should go in fairly directly unless you are looped around something. Also RobertDIYs vids on youtube are very useful

 

There is a "thing" sticking out of the block under the crank pulley that has the oil pump relief spring in it. Are you sure you got it above that? It's really hard to do.
It should be good and tight, but I've never had one really refuse to go on. They do go on tight.

On a 98, are you dealing with a spiral tensioner, or a little hydraulic cylinder looking thing? They used both that year, seems to me.

 

As firebird asked: are you certain it's under the pin/finger under the crank sprocket?

It should go on with plenty of slack to install the [compressed] tensioner. If it does not, compare it to the old belt. Not impossible you somehow got the wrong belt. If it's the same length, you're still doing something wrong. It should go right on with slack until you set the tensioner. It should be 5 minutes to install. If you're certain everything is correct, remove the tensioner, install the belt, then reinstall the tensioner.

 

This morning I picked up another timing belt, the same model Gated T252 and it went right on.

Thank you for the help. I have no idea what I did wrong with the first one.

Robin

 

I noticed that there are two different Gates Belts for '98 V70s depending on the engine number.
Timing Component Kit; Eng. No. 1266127 & Before uses TCK252
Timing Component Kit; Eng. No. 1266128 & After uses TCK331
Were you aware of this difference? It is news to me.
I'm having great difficulty installing the TCK331, so I am wondering if it should be a TCK252?

 

what you can do is look to see if there's a part number break for the idler and tensioner and make sure all parts agree with your car's serial number (hopefully the sticker is still on the timing cover - but its also stamped on the block on the firewall side of #1.

 

In my situation I had the hydraulic tensioner and required gates belt number T252. I suspect my problem was at the crank and not really with the belt. I would encourage you to remove the timing belt and start over paying special attention to the crank.

you could have the wrong part but I suspect my problem rested with me.

the above recommendations were solid advice.

robin

 

Upon inspection of the Gates.com part numbers, the difference is indeed the tensioner. Here are the Gates links for each type:
https://www.gates.com/us/en/ymm/sear...-number=TCK331 has a round tensioner with tabs, i,e. eccentric bearing that you rotate with an allen wrench and then tighten.
https://www.gates.com/us/en/ymm/sear...-number=TCK252 has the lever with the hydraulic/spring tensioner pushing from the bottom.
The belts are NOT interchangeable.
Does anyone know if the hydraulic tenioner/lever combination can be replaced by the round tensioner, i.e., by putting the machine bolt from the lever into the round tensioner?

 

I don't know. I've used the engines interchangeably, but I never really wanted to convert one.

 

We have the 331 kit, and have already inserted the belt, so the kit is not returnable. I was hoping that I could substitute the torsional tensioner for the hydraulic/spring/lever tensioner. I think I answered my own question. If the eccentric bearing center hole was placed over the existing bolthole for the lever bearing, the bearing surface would contact the belt passing up the right side (drivers side) of the engine. It would not work.
Ordered the 252 belt.
Very important for anyone ordering a replacement belt. BE SURE THAT YOU KNOW YOUR ENGINE SERIAL NUMBER. There are TWO DIFFERENT BELT sizes for the 1998 V70 depending on your engine serial number(Not the VIN #). I don't think most suppliers are aware of this. If you look at the Gates kits above, you can examine the contents online, and you will see that there are two distinctly different setups...for the same year engine.

 

Now I am really confused. The engine serial number listed on the fuel rail is : 1270568. This implies that it is a later model, and should require the 331 kit with the mechanical torsional tensioner. The 252 belt is way to loose. The hydraulic tensioner at its maximum extension does not tighten the belt.
Anybody else been here before?