Please help!? My 850 ran fine until I actually REALLY needed it!? (Failed Tensioner)
 

Was picking up my little girl for first time in a long while. Car was running like a top until this afternoon. Lights on dash came on and motor just stopped. It will turn over and I had neighbor listen for fuelpump under the spare. It's working. Please help guys?

If the lights are on and you have fuel is your timing belt still good? Open the oil cap and have someone crank it. If you see the cam turning the timing belt is likely good.

Usually if all of the dash warning lights come on, the alternator is out. Is the serpentine belt still on?

Yes. Belt is still on?

Is the cam turning when you try to start it? Looking into the oil filler hole.

Have you checked for spark at the end of the coil lead and at the end of a plug ??

Thanks for the replies guys. Was dark when I got the car home last night. Felt like a complete... When neighbor pushed it back to my driveway in a hopped up chevy...

As soon as things warm up this morning a bit I'll start the real troubleshooting. Are y'all telling me it could be something else than a bad alternator? I will check for the cam turning. I hope it's something simple. Is there a fuse between the coil and where ever it's fed from? Checked the fusebox in the dark last night but didn't see a description along the lines of "ignition".

Really appreciate the help guys.

Ok. Heres what I have. Timing belt ate through the plastic housing. After opening the housing up, a roller bearing came falling out. I know where it's supposed to mount back, but the bolt holding it down fell behind the assembly. The belt seems fine. Can I unbolt the assembly holding the roller? Isn't that supposed to be the tensioner? How do I make sure it's still on time?

I'm 99 percent positive it's the tensioner. Please tell me that bolt is not in the block and theres a way to unbolt the assembly to re mount the roller?

I think I'm screwed right? Trying to start it without a timing belt probably bent every valve in the head right?

Not every one. Probably 3 or 4. Still expensive. Last time I priced Volvo valves they were about $30 each. Not like Chevy parts. Of course, at this point that's the least of your worries.

If the belts broken or off any of the gears and you tried starting it, somethings bent and you'll have to pull the head or replace the engine. A valve job would be the minimum it would need and there's always a chance there is going to be more to it.


http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/for...php?f=1&t=8803

Ok, well, not ok but as painful as it is, this is where you can help other people. When was the last time a timing belt was replaced? If the roller failed, was it making noise upon start up?

If the roller failed and the car jumped time it damaged the inside of the head and maybe even destroyed a piston. You can do 3 things;

1. Have the roller and belt replaced and see if it starts. In my opinion that is a waste of 3 hours and $150 if you do it yourself, $400 if you pay to have it done by a independent mechanic, $800 at a Volvo dealer.

2. Pull the head and have it fixed. $800 / $2,200 / $4,800.

3. Sell the car for scrap and use the $350 you get to get another town car (a car that you drive around town).

I always say it

If your not going to maintain your car, just buy a Honda, they run good with poor maintenance.

Volvos you WILL kill them without maintenance, with good maintenance they'll run forever. 99% of times I hear of a car getting scrapped it was because people don't change their freaking timing belt!
Pay now or pay later.

I think Volvos do fall into that category where you can ignore a lot of maintenance and it will allow you to up to a point. The previous owner of my poor wagon didn't do a thing that didn't absolutely need to be done to start or stop the car. Even oil changes were just a new filter once a year. It leaked so she figured she was adding a quart often enough she didn't need to drain it !! It's come a long way from the crumpled front fenderd, broken windshield, MIL light, clunking rear, scraping front, non idling vehicle packed with fast food bags it started out as when I first bought it.
An interference engine just isn't forgiving, no wiggle room no matter who the manufacturer is. Break a belt, spin the engine, you bend a valve minimum.
BTW ... there are plenty of interference engines in Honda models too :eek:

So Dutchman, where do you go from here ??

If you're the curious type you could always pull the plugs and run a compression test to see how many holes have bent valves but basically you're going to need to pull the head or engine to get it running again. :(

That and see if you can get the broken bolt out of the block as that might be a reason you'd have to pull the engine anyway. A lot of times when something like that snaps it releases the tension and the part of the bolt remaining isn't that hard to get out with a easy-out, vice grip or reverse drill bit. Just depends on the room you have to work on it while it's in the chassis.
Can you post a picture of the offending bolt ?? That is if you're still unsure what it is.

You should also go into your "UserCP" (profile) and add your location. Might be someone in the area with skills who might be willing to take a look at it or if you choose to sell it people would know what area it's in.
I'd still list it in the classifieds if you chose not to fix it.

I think the op is done with us for now.

OP is the poster child for how to screw up a new used car. He has owned this car for about a week. Car has unknown mileage - broken odometer. The first thing you do in this situation is assess the timing belt and then change it asap.

This car is now going to the junkyard. OP will never overlook the timing belt again.

Where are you located and is it going to end up a parts car ??

Those are assumptions, and you know what they say about that...

I have warned several people about timing belts and to date, NONE have heed the warnings and yes belts have broken. So, do I believe they have learned their lesson? NO!

I'm watching at least 4 cars now that are at least 25% past the change schedule. It must be the look on my face, not scary enough.

Hey now.

Really appreciate the replies. Spent 20 bucks on a used timing lot on fleabay. Includes a tensioner roller so I can at least I can put it back together and see what happens.

No. The car made no weird noises or gave me any indication anything was wrong. It just stopped running.

One of my friends had the same thing happen to him. Not with a Volvo but with a ford ranger. He was as desperate about the whole mess as I am but decided to put it back together on the advice of a mechanic friend of his. He told him that when something like that happens, if luck is on your side, it may be ok. Since the roller gave out from one moment to the next, it would have disconnected the crankshaft from the cams pretty much instantaneously. And the valve stems don't typically come to rest on the highest point of the lobe. I didn't instantaneously try and start the motor back up because it puzzled me for a second. I hope that second was long enough for the cams to stop turning altogether. Hopefully the valve springs were strong enough to stop the cams in all valleys pretty quick.

When I did try and start it, the starter turned pretty freely. So I'm still keeping my fingers crossed.

Wasn't me ignoring the maintenance. I bought it two weeks ago and since I am a single dad, am on a pretty strict budget. First thing I had to absolutely do was replace the front tires. Belt was showing on both.

I bought the car because I'm originally from the corner of the planet where volvos especially have a reputation of being bulletproof and I really need a bullet proof car. I'm not completely lost around wrenches and would have done back maintenance over time and when I could afford it. Just bad luck the tensioner went when it did.

I'm about 45 minutes east of Memphis Tennessee.

Bolt holding the tensioner roller in place on it's bracket gave out. It all came out in one piece.

No. Selling it for scrap is not an option. I have the luck of being surrounded by some pretty knowledgeable gear heads. If push were to come to shove, the heads will come off and the valves replaced.

Good luck! - I hope the repair doesnt get too expensive for you...

Valve job on a Volvo 850...
 

Please don't cross your fingers, you'll need them to screw those little bolts out of the cam cover.

The timing belts on these cars are made so the belt does NOT slip on the crank. It has a special guide thing on the under side of it to insure it doesn't jump the belt. It's a silent killer like a stroke. I have never had anyone say they heard a thing or felt anything.
http://img.happywrenching.com/volvo/...mall-space.jpg

A Ford Ranger (certain ones) do not have a interfierence motor. You can break the belt every other day, hook another one up and drive on. These cars have such close tolerances that NO ONE GETS LUCKY. If you don't have valve damage I'll pay you the $20 for the used kit you just purchased. Second thought, I have one better for you... Here are the clean head removal / installation instructions I finished yesterday:

Head Removal and Installation, Volvo 850 / S70 Turbo B5234T, B5254T, Head gasket replacement, valve replacement.

I purchased an 850 that I had to drive home. The timing belt was about 10,000 miles over due. I got it home and the next place I drove it to was to get the belt replaced. I purchased a 960 with less than 54,000 miles on it and the first thing I did to the car was had the timing belt replaced.

Oh, I just noticed that you have not answered my "helpful questions" I asked in one of my earlier post (I'm kinda getting use to it)...

1. When was the last time a timing belt was replaced?
2. If the roller failed, was it making noise upon start up?

Hey.

No way of knowing last time belt was replaced. No sticker or anything so my guess would be its overdue.

Nope. Never heard anything out of the ordinary until motor just quit..

I had a bad roller in one of my cars and it squeeled for a few minutes when I started the car when it was cold. That went on for about a month before someone warned me. When I pulled the belt, the roller was so tight it took both hands to get it to turn.

See? And that's the thing. Never made any odd noises or acted up in any way. I would have definitely heeded any odd noises or the motor acting funny. This car is (was) more to me than a grocery getter. Its the lifeline between my kids and myself.

I understand. My wagon is my only mode of transportation. Public transportation really sucks here.

I hope you are the first person that did not do head damage.

Nope. Everyone was right. Didn't fix the problem. Got the belt put back on yesterday after having set timing. Car is dead. Not to mention the fact that my lovely ex somehow got wind of it. Now facing a civil action that she had prepared with her lawyer citing I do not have personal transportation and should have my shared parenting time set back to two hours supervised per two weeks. Was served yesterday. I have no other choice but to sell it and use it for a down payment on something that does run to try and avoid that.

Really appreciated all the help guys. Much love.

Man, really sorry to hear that the car isn't running, worse yet, that the mother of your children is giving you a hard time. Hope things change for you.

There is a good chance that all the car needs is another head. It may be cheaper to get another car, but if your wrench turning buddies will help you, you can get that one fixed with about $800 in parts and supplies. Should be able to get it on the road in 3 or 4 days.

Alright. Tomorrow the head is coming off to assess the damage. Am a candidate for a used cylinderhead if any of my Volvo brothers and sisters would have such a commodity sitting around..

Ow. Found out it's a non turbo despite of the glt badge?

VMD: I can check salvage yards around here and see if they have one and what they would charge for it.

Hey ibfied. Would help. I'll start calling around here too

Question. Since the marks on the cam sprockets are virtually non existent and I can't tell one scratch from another, how would I know the cams are on the right spot? I can see the notch on the crank, but not on the sprockets. Guy that sold me the tensioner off of fleabay included a idler roller, a tensioner and the two cam sprockets for some reason and the sprockets he sent me have very clear cut lines in them. The ones on my car didn't.

When I did my timing belt and cams, I used a dremel tool to "enhance" the cam timing marks so they arent so hard to find next time. It's a not-that-uncommon thing on volvo cam sprockets.

As for the head: call around and let me know what you find. I know there are currently 3 850 n/a cars in the local yard here, and last i checked (about a week ago) two of them still had heads on them.

I also have access to na heads, not that it matters. I already pulled the cam cover off one of them so an hour of the work is already done. Yesterday was 1/2 price day here so I just missed that sale.

Thinking about it, I think you would be better off with a newly rebuilt head vs installing a head from a jy car for the following reasons:

1. An old used head will likely have old, dry, hard valve stem seals and will likely leak, smoke and soon crack a valve because of it.

2. Because of the work involved, you'll still need to send the used head to the shop for a pressure test and decking. So, the cost of someone sending you a used head will likely be more than the cost of a few valves.

3. You can get a reman head shipped to you from FL for about $425 and I doubt you'll be able to beat that price with our help.

I think I can get a head from a jy near me for less than $100. Shipping would likely be $75 and heck, I would likely want a few $ for my trouble/help.

Your timing is off so I wouldn't worry to much about finding the cam sprocket marks right now. DO NOT take those cam sprockets off the cams. If you do, you will likely mess up timing.

Alright. Status update. Nothces on the pistons indicate all the exhaust valves hit the pistons at some point. If any of you can scurry up a used head without valve damage I would be in a good deal better shape than I am now. Rspi, I understand that a properly rebuilt head would be the way to go but here's the thing. I don't have that kind of money. If it would run for a couple of months giving me time to a. Shoot my ex's claim to bits by parking my glt in front of the courthouse and b. Give me a car to get the kids on the weekend, I'd be golden at this point. When spring rolls around and it's warmer outside, I would have saved up enough money to do it right, then thats when I'll do it. I found it not all too difficult to pull it in the first place and wouldn't hesitate to do it again. For now, I wouldn't mind it smoking a bit..;)

I have 3 at my access and can get one tomorrow if you'd like. Just let me know.