I have a 2002 S60, just hit 95K miles. Lately there is a little bit of noise under the hood, at the front of the engine passenger side. My thought is that it is either the drive belt or one of the pulleys. I don't have easy access to a mechanic however and need the car to commute. Are thee any definitive ways to tell if the drive belt is wearing or a pulley is loose or needs to be replaced ?

Also, what is the small rectangular metal thing at the top front left, about 3" square next to the upper radiator hose ?

Thanks.

 

I'm not a mechanic, but I had some noise from my pulleys, some squeaking. I applied some WD40 to quiet it down. Much better!

 

I think that what you describe as a small rectangular thing is the power steering pump, Try to feel if any the pulleys feels loose while the engine is switched off.

One very good thing when locating noises from engines is to use a big screwdriver and put the plastic grip against the ear and the other side against or close to the engine component you want to check, It works like a stethoscope and is very useful.

Just be careful so you dont touch any moving or electrical parts.

 

Is your power steering fluid low?
If you turn the wheel does it affect the noise?

 

I brought the car into a local mechanic today and he thinks the noise is the water pump and or a loose timing belt tensioner, and since I am at 95K miles he thinks if I replace the timing belt, tensioners, and water pump that should take care of it. He gave me some good tips about doing it myself or if I want his garage to do it it would be about $700 parts and labor.

I looked online at www.fcpgroton.com, where I have bought parts in the past, and I can get a timing belt kit with water pump for about $200, just not sure I want to tackle it myself. I have done timing belts on my old Mazda and Honda but not a Volvo.

I know there have been threads on timing belts, but any quic advice ?

Thanks,

Mark.

 

As long as you mark everything and work carefully you will be fine.
If you have done them on other cars I think you can handle the S60.

 

I just did the timing belt in my 02 S60 with the 2.4T engine. It was a lot easier than I had expected. This was the first timing belt I've ever done too. I have always been intimidated by the prospect of working on the Volvo engine (I'm used to working on american vehicles), but it's really not that bad. Completing the timing belt gave me the confidence that I needed to do the PCV system maintenance. I just finished that up yesterday.

Anyway, here are some hints that I can give you that you might find helpful for your timing belt install:

1) You don't need to remove the balancer pulley. I simply removed the little shroud that kind of wraps around the bottom of the pulley (2 10MM bolts I think) and was able to easily remove the old and install the new belt.

2) the accessory belt tensioner has a little cap over the hex head that needs to be popped off in order to get a wrench on it and loosed the tension. I used a little flat blade screw driver to pop it off.

3) jack the front of the car up pretty high so you don't have it bend over so far while working on it.

4) when you get the new belt on, if it seems like it's about 3 inches too short, it's probably because your belt is wrapped around a little piece (don't know what it's called) that sticks out behind the balancer and is not letting your belt wrap around the timing gear tightly. You won't be able to see it though, you'll have to feel it with your fingers.

5) check your PM's

I didn't do the water pump while I was in there, so I don't have many hints for you, but:

1) check your PM's

 

Thanks, what does this mean ?

"Check your PMs" ???

 

Private messages. Upper right corner, under your username, click on "private messages".

 

I havent really heard noises coming from stuff like this, usually is the serpentine belt tensioner, which if you try to knock that cap off instead of use the torx 60 tool on it, you might have more noises. also the alternators will make noises like frogs under the hood.