Hello all,

Would anyone be able to give me an idea of a fair cost for parts and installation of a timing belt and water pump for my 97 850 T-5? Thank you!

 

FCP sells the timing kit for your car for $199, which comes with the belt, tensioners, and idler pulley. You'll also probably want to do the water pump while you are in there, since it's driven by the timing belt. Price for labor is gonna vary widely depending on where you have it done - more at a dealership, less at a chain, even less at a mom and pop shop.

It's a pretty straightforward job....you can save a lot of money doing it yourself. if I had to guess, shop time for a timing belt and water pump is probably somewhere in the area of 3 hours.

 

Thanks for the info!

 

I would guess the average cost is about $650.

 

I posted a reply to this yesterday, but don't see it for some reason. I looked up the cost of the parts from when I did this last August. I will repost tonight when I get home. Can't remember what the number wast, but I think it was under $300 for all the parts including Water Pump.

 

$300 including the Water Pump.....Are you talking about Volvo parts or aftermarket? That seems a little cheap? The complete kit on FCP with a pump and all volvo parts was $459 as I recall. Not trying to argue or anything. I would love to get it all for $300 but I hesitate on using aftermarket unless somebody can attest to aftermarket being as good or better? I still need to do my TB but it's been just too cold and I'm waaaaay over on milage...

 

Sorry but I forgot to check last night, but I check my orders and here is what I got for timing belt replacement:

Serp Belt 17.95
Timing Belt Kit 199.00
Hepu Water Pump 50.00
87 Degree Thermostat 12.00 - Didn't even put this in.
Total: 278.95

The Hepu Water pump was recommended by several people including tech on this board.

My actual bill was $763 cause I did brakes, shocks and struts at the same time.

 

I think he was asking about parts & labor. Having a shop do the work. I've seen dealer cost between $850 and $1200.

 

Thanks for looking that up! I'll have to shop around, that's not bad. I don't know the prior TB replacement situation except that it was done at 74K. As such, I'm doing the pulleys, and tensioner too, that may be why I was thinking it was so much more. Anyway, thanks again for the breakdown! I just thank God I can do this kind of work instead of having to go to the dealer(s). Hay, everybody has to make a buck but holy cow, those guys are unbelievable!!!

 

Im going to do mine soon, Is this an interference motor? And are the cam seals easy to replace? i pulled the cover back on mine and theres a ton of oil up there. The guy i got it from said they did the TB last year but couldn't find the paperwork. The Belt didn't look worn but the serpentine belt is all cracked.

 

Yes.

Check the DIY sticky for instructions on both TB and cam seals.

 

monster: it should be dry under the cover, not oily. The oil will accelerate the deterioration of the timing belt.

That being said, Id do the timing belt (just belt, not the tensioners) and cam seals, and replace the serp belt while you already have it off. If you don't trust that the belt was done recently, then id go ahead and do the belt WITH the tensioners. at least that way you know when it was done.

 

Monster, you need to do the pcv system if there is a ton of oil under the spark plug cover.

 

Hey guys, thanks so much for the info. It got me ready to pay the bill. I had the job finished yesterday and total cost - with labor - was $550. That included the timing belt, water pump and another main belt. The mechanic was great and used after-market parts. It took him 45 minutes to remove a water pump bolt but he didn't want to break the bolt. 30 seconds to install new one! Oh well, probably $50 to have one bolt removed but it was worth it because he was sure that the belt and pump have never been changed (178,000 miles!). Car runs like a top. Hopefully, I'm set for the next 100,000 or so.

 

Great. Very unlikely the belt was never changed. The pump possible. Belt interval is 70,000 miles and you should stick to it, unless you want to get another car.

 

Did he do the tensioner and both rollers for the price? At that age and milage, it is not likely that he replaced the tensioner, that part is $100 alone. It could be good but if bad it can fail and cause the car to jump timing. It could be good but almost 200,000 miles and 15+ years it's hard to imagine.