Dear All,

Happy New Year to You All.

I've been working on my 850 in the last 6 months, and I found some tools to be useful. I'll note some of the tools, which I think are useful/helped me during various servicing procedures.

Basic Sets:
1. Screwdrivers (Craftsman Professional Soft-Grip Series)
2. 1/4" Drive Ratchet & Sockets (Craftsman Thin-Profile ratchet handle and 6-point metrics)
3. 3/8" Drive Ratchet & Sockets (Snap-on F936 ratchet handle & Craftsman 6-point metric)
4. 1/2" Drive Ratchet & Sockets (Snap-on S936 ratchet handle & Craftsman 6-point metric)
5. Vise-Grips (Blue-Point Soft Grip 6LN, 6WR, 7WR and 10WR)
6. Punches & Chisels (Snap-on PPC710A)
7. Universal Joints, 1/4"-3/8"-1/2"Drive (Snap-on 103UFTS)
8. Various Extensions (Snap-on & Craftsman)
9. Wrenches (Craftsman Professional Polished Metric)
10. Various Pliers (Snap-on)

Additional Tools:
1. Torque Wrench, 1/4" & 3/8" Drive(Snap-on QD1R200 & QD2R1000)
2. Pry-Bar (Snap-on SPB8A)
3. Flashlights (Eftel-Nichia LEDx6 Alkaline & Emmisive Energy Tactical T5 LEDx5 Lithium)
4. Inspection Mirror (Blue-Point UIM225)
5. One-Person Pressure Brake Bleeder (Motive Products' European Bleeder)
6. Battery Electrolyte Tester (Blue-Point BT101)
7. Coolant/Antifreeze Tester (Blue-Point AF102)
8. Digital Multimeter (Fluke 112)
9. Gasket Scraper (Blue-Point PK53)
10. Portable Torch (Burn-O-Matic)
11. Strut Spring Compressor (Blue-Point YA629A)

Musts:
1. Great Patience
2. Some Violence (cursing is optional)
3. Service Manual & On-Line Instructions (Bay-13 at Volvospeed.com)
4. Torx Bits (.....that bloody timing belt tensioner pulley bolt.....)
5. 3/8" Drive Breaker Bar (Snap-on FHBB12)
6. 1/2" Drive Breaker Bar (Snap-on SHBB24)
7. Heavy Hammer & Chisel Combo (they will solve most of your suspension problems)
8. Hydraulic Floor Jack
9. Jackstands (Craftsman Professional 3.5-ton/7,000 lbs, P/N: 950157)
10. Wheel Chocks
11. Duct Tape

Luxury (Something I didn't have):
1. Impact Wrench (Battery Powered Type)
2. Power Drill (Battery Powered Type)
3. Factory Manual
4. An Assistant
5. A friend/relative works as a certified technician at Volvo dealer
6. A friend/relative works as an engineer at Volvo in Goteborg, Sweden
7. Friends/relatives work as engineers at OEM suppliers
8. Same car for parts swapping for quick diagnosis
9. Million-dollar account to replace your Volvo once/year

I could not list everything, but these are pretty much I've been using. I'd like to add that a heavy hammer & punch/chisel are a must, as well as various Torx bits. I've recently bought a set of Torx sockets made by Lisle, USA and spiral-shaped bolt/nut removing sockets by Craftsman. Both were on sale at Sears, so I grabbed them. I also found that 3/8" drive breaker bar is extremely useful to work on suspension.

*Note that Blue-Point tools are often made by the same manufacturer that also supplies tools for Craftsman, so you can save a few dollars for each tool by buying Craftsman rather than Blue-Point. Also, German (Hazet, Stahlwille, Knipex, etc...), French (Facom, be careful how you say it) and Japanese (KTC, Koken, Vessel, Makita, etc...) tool companies produce excellent tools, but if you live in North America they are not as readily available as Craftsman, Snap-on, Mac, Matco, etc...

Please share with me some tools that you think are imperative or useful for working on Volvo's.

I wish you all the best of 2007.

Sincerely,


JPN

 

have u ever had to change a timing belt on an 88 240 dl? it sucks. u have to buy a special tool in order to loosen the nut on the cam gear. i wanted to shoot myself when i found out that i had to have that in order to finish the job. i had to put everything back in my car and then take it all back out when i finally go the damn thing.

 

Hello Mr. volvodrifter69,

Greetings from Chicagoland.

No, I haven't done the timing belt on 1988 240 dl. I've only done it on my 850. This one sucked too, though probably not as much as the 240. The tensioner pulley is held by one Torx bolt, and this one is very tight and strips easily, and the working clearance is limited too. Also, dealing with the hydraulic tensioner damper was another headache. Getting the belt past the crank pulley was a SOB too (some people take the pulley off, which makes the job easier but neither Haynes nor Bay-13 at Volvospeed.com mentioned taking the pulley off).

The dealer usually doesn't sell special tools. In such case, there are only 2 options; donate them to do the job for you, or make your own tool.

Thanks for the input, I appreciate it.


JPN