My son in law did this with a little help (very little) from me in one day.

Timing belt, tensioner and both rollers

The PCV system

The Thermostat housing he broke with an impact screwdriver. To do this he had to remove the Power Steering, Alternator, A/C unit and the bracket that holds the A/C. Trust me you don't want to brake that housing cause I was a real pain to get it off to replace. And then the one Erie sent us was the wrong one, but he made it work.

It started raining so he didn't really get finished til this morning, but he probably did everything in about 10-12 hours. I figure it would probably take me about three days to do the same stuff, maybe more and not sure the car would run when I get done. I think we are going to do the PCV on both my R's, since I don't think they have ever been done.

 

That was pretty good time.

 

He just looks at things and figures out how to take them apart. He doesn't keep everything he takes off all organized either, but he jsut puts it back together in the opposite order he took it apart. I have to really mark things and keep things all separate or I will never figure out how to put it back together. That's assuming I can figure out how to take it apart in the first place.

I am the real analytical type in my job also, but when I write a program the next guy who has to look at it can tell exactly what I was doing and why. I am known as one of the best programmers every place I have worked. Quite a few programmers are very mechinically inclined, but that doesn't make us fast at doing it.

I guess when you get paid for the job the same amount regardless of how long it takes you, you learn how to do things fast.

 

I think it took me about 5-6 hours to do the timing belt alone, of course I had to do it right after I got out of knee surgery, so hobbling around on one crutch probably slowed things down a bit. <grin>

 

I was halted by that tensioner pulley first, THAT Torx screw stripped on me of course. I then wrung my salt-grain sized brain and came up with a phenomenal technique to remove that SOB. I grabbed the flange around the Torx with a 10WR locking plier (Vise-Grip) as hard as I could, and turned it CCW. This broke the torque and after that it came off like nothing.

I then tried to compress the hydro tensioner. Haynes tells you to be very careful and compress the tensioner very slowly. I followed the instructions strictly, and at the end of the task some oil leaked out of it. The tensioner still had enough force to bend my Allen (hex) key so it was still usable but I didn't want to take the chance and bought a new one.

BTW, am I the only one seeing a large botch on the crank-pulley gear, closer to the pulley or was it put by the original/previous owner? I used correction fluid on the invisible vee notch on the timing gear, and when I was done I noticed this large botch.


JPN

 

Any special tools/tips?

 

Nick is a mechanic so he has most every tool, but there was nothing really special needed.

 

Special Tools:
I recommend Lisle's Torx socket set:
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...t+set+for+torx

Unlike generic Torx bits, these guys directly fit your ratchet handle, giving you more room to work on.

Special Tips:
- Cursing. Make sure to curse when something won't do what you need it to do. This helps sometimes. Some examples are......

- Forcing. When THAT TORX SCREW holding the tensioner pulley strips on you, you may resort to some violence. A Vise-Grip is a good example ofa violence in style.

When everything is back in place, make sure to turn the crank pulley by hand. With a socket & extension & breaker bar, turn the crank CW at least 3-4 times and make sure nothing is hitting or binding. This is one of the most important steps, and if not followed you're in for some $$$ ride.

If replacing the water pump (which is rare on Volvos), make sure to scrape off the original gasket from the mating surface on the engine block. It is hard to reach so you may need an inspection mirror & good lighting. Brass/Bronze gasket scraper is preferred over steel ones to avoid scoring. I then put a thin film of paste gasket material (water pump sealant) on both mating surfaces. This process is not necessary but I wanted to, well, make sure. I also put some paste sealant on the bolts to ensure leak-free installation. Yes, "making sure" is the right word for this job.


JPN

 

So I gotta pick up a vice grips for sure? What size? Large/medium/small?

 

2 sizes would be ideal. 10WR (large) and 5WR (small). Vise-Grip was invented by a Danish immigrant named William Petersen but now a company called Erwin seems to have the patent.

I would say every mechanic, pro & home alike, should have at least 10WR. Any brand's should do, the closest in terms of location would be Craftsman, and they now sell newer-style Vise-Grips. Snap-on sells them too, under Blue-Point name. But if there is a Sears near you, Craftsman would be more convenient as you can go there & replace it free of charge in case it breaks on you.

I have 4 of them; 10WR, 7WR, 5WR and 5LN (long-nose). I use them very frequently and are extremely durable. I would recommend those with soft grip. I use the small one tokeep the fender inner liner in the folded position to get access to the crank pulley area.


JPN