I was checking out the belts on the S60 and couldn't find any signs of cracking.

Car has 92 K and I'm betting the belts have been replaced.

 

Lousy photo.

 

Really? The belt, sprocket, bolt and even dirt are visible.

Maybe new glasses or a new computer would help.

Thanks for your opinion anyway.

 

The belt looks out of focus to me as well.

It's not about HOW A BELT LOOKS. It's about when it was replaced, the PROOF of when it was done. If you don't see a change sticker, a replacement receipt, and/or white marks on the parts where the mechanic marked the parts during the replacement, consider that is was NOT done. The failure of these parts will total an old car, this is not an area of guesswork.

 

this is 100% correct. The failure comes from the idler and or pulley. Most times not the belt. If you are any where near 100k and not sure it been done .. Do it..

Think about changing the water pump when or if this work is does. Cheep part and if for some reason it goes you have to pay to have TB done again.

 

No it is a lousy photo. It is all visible but not in focus. Can't tell a thing from it.

92k on the car and you don't know if the belt has been replaced then you should replace it. Cheaper than a new head/engine.

 

I agree. No need to touch the timing belt. Motor on.

 

OK. two things I learned from his thread.

1. I'm a lousy photographer.

2. Since I don't know if it has been replaced, I ought to go ahead and do it.

Oh, and 3, I sure am glad I found this site

......My son and I tinkered with the car for several hours yesterday, changing the oil, filters, bled the brakes etc.

Seems like a fairly easy auto to work on, AND we found all of the pads and rotors to be like new.

The oil was a different story however. The filter was collapsed and the oil was black as coal.....not anymore........

Now to fix the leaking washer fluid reservoir.

Thanks for the help/suggestions.

 

Oil should be dark, but maybe not black. How long have you guys had the car?

 

Good decision. The lowest cost source for OEM Volvo parts is tascaparts.com - actually a Volvo dealer.

Replace the tensioner and idler roller as well as the belt. I replaced the water pump too on my son's V40 at about 80,000 miles but the pump I took off felt like new. There's a Volvo mechanic who posts here (Lifesgoodhere) who says the pump is generally good for more than one timing belt interval. In hindsight I would not have changed the water pump.

Good luck with the S60. When my son graduates college I'll probably buy a used S60 for him.

 

Oil changes can be a tell to how much maintenance was done on the car. I suspect that if they were lax on the oil chnages then things like the timing belt were likely not done.

 

Anyone tried the kit below? Any good?

Are the seals included hard to change. Is it necessary to change them as a precaution?


Volvo Timing Belt Kit and Water Pump Kit - OEM Parts TBKIT331WP2 | FCP Euro

 

With your S60's low mileage I wouldn't touch any of the seals unless they're leaking. I'd also leave the water pump alone. If you decide to change it, the OEM manufacturer is Aisin, though the Hepu is also a good quality unit.

Tascaparts has the Volvo OEM timing belt kit for your car (I'm guessing year and engine) for $110.19. Volvo 30731727.

You'll also need some coolant. Don't use the green stuff, use Volvo OEM.

 

Information removed.

 

No it isn't. The blue Volvo coolant is Glysantin G-48, also sold as Glysantin G-11. It's low silicate, low pH, phosphate free, has 250 ppm silicon and very high levels of corrosion inhibitors and is pretty much the best coolant you can buy. G-48/G-11 has little in common with auto parts stores "green" coolant which can be pretty much anything.

 

+1 With Migbro on the coolant type.

However, I'm not sure why they will need coolant if they don't do the pump?

My normal thought is to do the water pump every 10 years or 200,000 miles. I had a pump leak at 13 years / 75,000 miles. So, I changed it when the idler went bad (squeeling) at 86,000.

 

Impressive for someone who thinks alignments are overrated.

They are both ethylene glycol based and fully compatible. Doing a timing belt and no water pump shouldn't require any coolant anyway. Maybe if you spill a small amount when moving the reservoir, but it can be topped off with water if its only a few drops.

 

Hmmmm. Don't remember mentioning alignments, but, whatever.............

 

Not in this thread

 

All coolants are compatible in the sense that your car will still run whatever you pour into the radiator. It's a question of what you want the inside of your cooling system to look like after a year or two. If you want it to continue to look like it did when it left the factory use the factory-specified coolant. If you're willing to roll the dice on brewing brown sludge in your radiator, buy a gallon of generic green stuff and pour it in.

The problem with talking about "green" coolant is that the color does not define the chemistry. "Green" could be just about anything. So a "green" coolant might be compatible with the Volvo factory coolant. Or it might not. To be sure you have to know the coolant chemistry and ideally the coolant type (e.g. G-11).

The Volvo factory coolant has HOAT (Hybrid Organic Acid Technology) chemistry. There are some HOAT coolants that are green, but green has traditionally meant a silicated non-HOAT (and non-OAT) coolant. Silicated coolants are known to cause gel formation when mixed with HOAT or OAT coolants.

My own experience with coolants in the last 10 years is:
1) A Dodge pickup running traditional Prestone green coolant. Corrosion problems and brown, sludgy coolant.
2) Toyota vehicles running Toyota factory coolant (pink phosphated OAT coolant). Very long life coolant with no cooling system corrosion.
3) VW running G-12/G-30 coolant (orange OAT coolant). Very long life coolant with no cooling system corrosion.
4) 2000 Volvo V40 with original twelve years old factory-fill G-11/G-48 coolant (blue HOAT coolant). Clear blue with no cooling system corrosion.

Volvo's G-11/G-48 coolant is arguably the best coolant currently available. It's used as factory fill by several high-end car manufacturers so there are numerous ways to buy it. A gallon of BMW 82141467704, for example, costs about $20.00 at the BMW dealer.