Ok so I brought cylinder #1 to TDC like you said (Unscrewed spark plug and used a screwdriver to feel it at the top while turning the crankshaft bolt clockwise) then checked the cam gear, intermediate gear and crankshaft pulley hoping they would all be lined up but this is what I got. Any suggestions? Can I just take the belt off and turn each gear with a socket to where they need to be?

 

And just to verify if i take the belt off and turn each pulley/gear to where they need to be it WONT mess up my engine right?

 

Correct. The definition of a non-interference engine is the top of the piston will never under normal circumstances occupy the same space as the valves, so you're safe as long as it is the stock cam. Turbo motors are the cars where one can occasionally run into an aftermarket cam that makes the motor an interference motor. Extremely rare on an n/a motor.

 

Well swiftjustice44 you were right sir! I just drove it around my neighborhood and about a mile from my house. It didnt seem like there was anything wrong but my main concern is what if im just 1 tooth off how can u tell? Because as of right now it seems like it drives smoother than it did before I replaced the belt. Got any tips buddy?

 

Well, there's always the old stand by, a timing light to double check your work BUT...before the timing cover is buttoned up...double check the 3 reference marks...if they'relined up, you're good to go.

 

Lol and what if they didn't? Now when I just started it after going for a 20min cruise and let it sit for 2 hours the idle sounds weak and like it wants to stall out. I noticed one of the Lil vacuum lines coming from the air filter hose past the MAF is cracked at the rubber elbow and the same prob happened earlier so I wiggled my MAF and the air filter hose lines and that's when it ran like a champ. Could my MAF need cleaning and that's prob what the prob is or is it the timing belt again lol

 

If you've never cleaned it, it will not hurt. Be gentle as the wire within is dainty. Clean either with aerosol brake cleaner (cheap) or electronic parts spray (expensive).

 

Would normal brake parts from advance auto work? And just pull it off an spray then let dry?

 

Yup. Aerosol brake cleaner...comes in a can. Use it liberally until clean, air dry and reinstall.

 

Damnit! I got the car to start right after putting the belt on and drove for like 20 mins then came home and chilled for a few hours. Then went out to move the car around in driveway and it had hard time starting then the idle was crap and real low so I had to feather throttle to move the car around.

Today I bought MAF cleaner and cleaned MAF then put everything back together and it had hard time starting but on 3 rd try she fired up. I continued to drive for like 30 mins and parked her. Came out 4-5 hours later and tried to go to work and tried starting about 10x's along with primin the engine and she won't fire up. I don't get it.

Questions:

-If my belt were off it wouldn't run great once I got her started nor start at all, right?

-Could this be a prob, I bought new plugs, wires, distributor cap/rotor and air filter but broke one of the new wires so had to use an old one, the spark plugs don't fit onto the wires because the nipple isn't removable (so forced to use old plugs) and therefore one of the old plugs is stripped so it isn't torqued down as tight as others.

-Could I actually be off by one tooth on timing belt? But wouldn't the car run like crap those two times I cruised?

-And I'm not sure if it's a fuel prob but I smell fuel so it's def getting to the rail.

Anyone got some suggestions?

 

I see you have a parallel thread running on TB, so just stay with it.

 

What's wrong with that? I'm just tryin to get answers and help quick since no one knows about Volvos duuuude

 

Nothing wrong with it at all. You're getting some great advice there, go with it, duuuuud.

 

Yea I'm really siked on this forum and will deff help anyone thT has this same issue. You guys have been a blessing but unfortunately for me my car still don't start I'm do bummed

 

Hello:
I came across this thread and it is about time to do the re-tensioning of my new timing belt on my 89 240. I probably have 700 miles or so on the new belt and am going to do the re-tension - with the new tensioner.
However I have come across a tutorial that says rotate the engine 360 and a how-to on another site that says turn crank 1/8 turn "to make sure there is tension on the belt" before locking down the tensioner nut.
Here you're just saying to loosen tensioner and re-tighten - makes sense - but the other folks don't agree.
Very confusing.
Any feedback would be much appreciated.
Thanks...

 

I was diagnosing an idle problem with my '86 745 B230FT. The timing belt was replaced long ago but never re-tensioned. Result? 25 degrees advanced at idle. Removed belt covers and it was obvious that the belt was 1 tooth off at the cam (my distributor is driven off the back of the cam). Just loosening and re-tightening the tensioner bolt brought the cam sprocket / belt alignment back on target. No turning the crank back-n-forth to ensure that everything was aligned before tightening the tensioner bolt. Also, my upper belt cover has a rubber insert over the tensioner bolt that allows one to easily loosen / tighten the bolt after 700 / 1000 miles without removing the cover.

 

Just loosen the bolt on the tensioner...it will retension itself. I will say this...I've heard some old timers say to retension the belt every 10k or so. I really do not like retensioning old belts. I've had a few instances of breakage not long after...enough times for me to suspect it is not coincidence. YRMV