Hi, all. This past weekend we tackled the timing and accessory belt change on the '86 240 wagon. It took longer than expected( don't these things usually work that way?) but was successful. For those who may be attempting it for the first time- here are some things to think about.
- Be sure you have a long breaker bar and pipe cheater and some strong arms to loosen that 24mm crankshaft damper bolt. We also used the ipdusa clone Volvo 5284 tool. A good $50 investment.
-There is a thin washer-like plate that goes between the crankshaft sprocket and the lower timing belt cover that is held to the sprocket by the crankshaft damper. It is not listed or described in the instructions with the timing belt kit or the manual I have. If you forget to put it on before the lower cover, you will have to remove the crankshaft damper again. We thought we would just skip it when we found it sitting around. MISTAKE!
We fired up the engine to test it , and it ran great for 10 seconds then quit. We determined that the belt had slipped a few teeth and had to redo the belt after lining everything up to ensure things were in sync. We were lucky we didn't have enough slipage to cause valve interference. Apparently this thing acts as a guide to keep the belt running straight.
- The upper cover is a real PITA to get in place. Some bending was neccessary for us to get back on
-We took this opportunity to grind off some excess material on the alternator adjustment mechanism that was so close to the water pump pulley that we had interference (grinding noise) when we adjusted our previous worn alternator belts.
- We found out that removing the fan first from its mount and then the shroud and lifting the two out (or in) simultaneously worked . Otherwise, we couldn't see how the fan would come off by itself.
I hope this is helpful to others that may try to tackle this. It was a good experience for my 15 y/o son and I; and he has become more invested in this car. After all, it is to be his first car.

 

Nice. Good advice! Here is the link to the tools: http://ipdusa.com/search.asp?strKeywords=5284&submit=GO

If we can get more threads like this, I can make a FAQ or HOW TO guide thread with links to this kind of info (something Adub wanted ).

 

When doing timing belts on cars with plastic belt covers, I usually just break or cut the lower cover somewhere invisible, so I can slip the cover off the crankshaft without the hassle of removing the accesories off the end of the crank.
It's only a cover, and teh bottom of the belt is well enough protected from damage when the crank pulley etc is in place.

Regards, Andrew.