Making progress on my 240 wagon. Replaced all the calipers and disks, last year the torque limiter bushings.

I'm about to take a long trip back to New Mexico from Oregon. The manual says the timing belt should be replaced every 50,000. I have no idea when it was last replaced. The book also says that SOME engines will actually be damaged if the belt brakes while driving (when else would it break?). So - I'm taking a new belt along for the trip. WIll the 240 be damaged if it breaks? Any tips on replacing?

 

never heard of a US b230f/ft being damaged by a broken timing belt. its the 16 valve b234f used on some 740/940's that is subject to collisions. european high compression b230E engines, possibly too.

the timing belt is a 60K mile item. pop the upper cover off and inspect it. if its old worn cracked, time to replace. its not a job I'd want to do on the side of a dark lonely road at night.

 

Yes practical concerns dictate - replace the belt. Ugh. Do you remember if the nut to the crank shaft pulley comes off clockwise or anti-clockwise? You "had a lot of Volvos, not so many anymore" are you loosing the faith? Or is it that the newer ones aren't up to snuff? Thanks!

 

I seem to have ended up with a lot of mercedes

 

The nut for the crankshaft pulley comes off counter-clockwise.

 

Thank you much - I hate having to find out for myself not knowing if I'm tightening the thing. : )

 

fear not, it's an easy job. the timing belt in my 89 240 gl broke this morning.
by 2 pm i had time to tackle it. i am a small engine mechanic by trade so i have air tools and an electric impact.. the impact wouldnt work to take off the crank pulley bolt. no problem . i cut a 4 foot peice of lawnmower starter rope and stuffed it into #1. bolt came right off with breaker bar. the new gates belt has marks on it , and the ones on the cam and distributor gears were easy to find, the one on the crank ... not so much , but if you set the crank at tdc before removing the bottom cover and leave it alone during the process you ought to be fine. total time from hood up to test start was about 1 hr 15 minutes. add 30 minutes for putting the cover the belts fan and shroud back on .. done .. god.. i love these cars. I'm getting a 740 turbo wagon Wednesday and i'll be replacing that timing belt asap .

 

phaedrider - thanks for your encouraging and detailed post. Two hours is pretty good time considering - I wonder if you took off the radiator and the fan - that's what takes me so much time - is the little bolts on the fan using a tiny wrench. But what does " i cut a 4 foot peice of lawnmower starter rope and stuffed it into #1" mean? #1 cylinder? That can't be right. I'm sure you're telling me how to hold the pulley still while taking off the crank bolt - can you elaborate on that? Thanks! : )

 

thats exactly what i did. Its a trick i was taught over 20 years ago for removing chainsaw clutches. Worked like a charm. I did not remove the radiator, but i did remove the shroud and fan. The 1 hiccup i had was trying to figure out tdc on the crank....then i realised the marks are on the cover and pulley. Other than that it was much easier than i expected.

 

yeah, you stuff rope into the #1 cylinder through the spark plug hole, then bring it up towards TDC, and the rope 'locks' the crank in place so you can apply torque to that often very stubborn crank pulley bolt.

 

Wow - what a seemingly primitive way to lock the pulley. You'd think there would be a hole in the pulley you could put a screwdriver thru . . . Thanks!