I had the timing belt, water pump, tensioner, idler, cam seals, serpentine belt, and a coolant flush done today by the local independant shop. Total cost was $1,109.xx. They had the old parts on the counter when I walked in...both belts and the water pump and idler were in good shape. The tensioner had a little catch to it, but nothing major. Car is 5 years old with 116k on it, so it was due. Hopefully the little 2.5 will run another 116k.
Only thing they recommended was front brakes because I'm down to 2mm. The rear brakes still have 6mm left...these are the factory brakes. Crazy that they've lasted this long.

 

I have a 2001 S60 2.4L Turbo. The cam seals blew off and we replaced them and the timing belt and went ahead and replaced the timing belt too (158,000 now, but belt was replaced at 108,000 miles several year ago by previous owner). We ended up having to replace the valve cover gasket and all the spark plugs and the water reservoir. We put everything back together and now it will not crank. We have double checked the timing. It will fire and turn, but not crank. We found a oil gasket that had a chunk gone and ordered a new one. Would the gasket have anything to do with it not cranking? The friend who is working on the car seems to think that because of the faulty gasket, it is not getting good oil pressure and messing up the vacuum. I have someone else telling me that the timing has to be the problem. I have also heard something about a possible security feature with the alarm that might disable the engine. Any suggestions?
I would also like to know what cause the seals to blow. I have read several posts about the PVC (or PCV) getting clogged. We went to the parts store to purchase one and they said my car does not have one. We really do not want to invest all this time (a month now) and money and still have not fixed the underlying problem.

 

I have a 2004 XC-70 with the VIN 59 engine. I have the service interval table from volvocars.com, but I find ****** and ******* a little confusing. The first one says VIN code 59 interval is 120,000 followed by every 45,000 miles for all turbo equipped cars. The last one just says VIN code 38, 59, 61 and 68 only 120,000 miles. Now the confusion is I don't see any service described with ****** only the timing belt, tensioner and idler described with the *******. Does the 45,000 mile interval refer to the belt on turbos or to something else on turbos? Mine was done at 104,000 by a Volvo dealer (I'm not the original owner) which would seem to be early for the VIN59 engine.
Thanks,
Bob

 

Great thread & lots of good info etc.

I wanted to add a couple things that I have learned from owning several different Volvo models, and also how time, temp, city & severe duty driving, other maintenance, and even the good ole US Gov't can effect just when your supposed to our should be servicing the timing belt and related systems.

First thing I always think about when the TB subject comes up is how there was little change in the materials and designs of the belt and pulleys etc from the late 90's to really 2000's but pretty much every MFG had an increase in the service mileage to over 100k miles due to federal mandate. Sorry I don't remember the exact specifics but basically overnight the owners manuals were rewritten with higher intervals.

I have seen it in other models/makes besides Volvo (they all had to conform etc) and most I am familiar with increased by 40% and more.

That said I have gone well beyond the recommended (the old typical 60-80k and also new ranges 105-120k) mileage several times due to different reasons (originally due to lack of knowledge of the service or time, and others from lack of funds) and though I was lucky and my worst issue was a failed tensioner pulley bearing on an S40 1.9t all the belts were still in usable condition when either changed or inspected during a different service. etc.

I do mean lucky because going nearly 150k once and over 200k on another one is what I would call pushing the limits, but again they were not badly cracked or frayed or showing other advanced stashes of breakdown and failure etc.

I don't recommend you try that and take zero responsibility for what may happen if you do, and it is not something I prolong since.

I believe the reason I did get lucky was completely attributed to the type of driving the cars saw which was mostly normal Hi way and almost babied etc. and without the extreme temps or increased temps from overly aggressive driving, and the steady flow of cooling air from highway speeds combined with only using full synthetic oils (I believe full type IV but who knows for sure anymore and this is another subject of its own) and keeping up with general maintenance.

Like others I have seen the belt failures before the recommended mileage and the resulting damage, and the local adds have a good share of parts cars that are otherwise in good condition etc.

I can understand that the consumer protection Agency and other involved agencies (epa etc) all have their agendas and agree providing new vehicles that do not need major service until beyond 100k is a good idea, but they would have done us better to force the warranty to cover the same time frame or have improved systems to actually last that long.

I haven't seen any personally, but I have heard allegedly (lol) there are or had been law suits against other MfG for failure prior to the maint schedule.

On the positive side the auto industry seems to finally be embracing newer technology from the industrial industry for new design belts that handle larger loads and have greatly increased service life. They look similar, but are different etc.

I think one of the car b mags did a write up (C&G maybe?)On them so toy can search online. I would expect they need different pulleys and tensioners though.

Oh and anything over 750 for a full Tb service should be questioned, and anything over 1200 potentially criminal. I won't bore you with the details but the time a dealer tried to charge for each little job individually and asked for 1800 proved interesting.

 

This is a great thread. Excuse my ignorance with lack of car talk knowledge.

I have a S80 2001, about 135k miles. About three weeks ago, after I started my car, I heard some noise, and just thought it was due to the cold air... After few errands, my car completely died. I had to get towed to the mechanic. The mechanic said something about a timing belt, and something else that was damaged.

He mentioned that the repair would cost about $3500. My husband had the conversation with the mechanic. My husband also metioned that the engine would more or less need to be rebuilt and that would probably cost about $5,000.

I know it's hard to given an assessment with the information I am giving, but would it be worth to invest in rebuilding the engine or should I just turn away from Volvo.

My heart is with volvo, but I am really torn with the $$$ of repairs. So, I'm thinking about Kia's, and looking at the Kia site just makes me run back to Volvo, I know not very mature.

Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for your time.

 

Myharmar

I would consider the condition of the beyond the needed mech repair and if it's in excellent condition or better then I would look into getting a replacement engine (used or an unbelievable deal on new) and having iy installed and balance that cost against the typical $1500 - 3500 you can pick up a similar car for, but also get more quotes on the repairs as these prices can vary greatly as well.

I would expect buying a similar replacement and selling yours as a parts cat (realistic value 300-900 range depending on buyer) would be most economical, but I did get really lucky one and found a crate Volvo engine (brand new etc) for 1000 and had it installed for under 900. I admit it was a fluke, but sometimes things work out.

Hope that helps

 

Years ago I had a 1984 760TD. The timing belt service was 90k. Driving one day I heard a strange noise. I pulled over and was looking at the idleing engine trying to figure out what was wrong. The engine stopped - later determined to be broken timing belt. The mileage was 55k, which was 5k out of warranty. Volvo provided a new head and I paid for the rest of the rebuild, over $2000 in 1984 dollars. After that I replaced the 5 belt at 50k intervals and they all came out in pristine condition. Must have been a bad belt.

I now have a 2002 S60 with 94k on the original belt. It's in great shape but I plan to replace in the next few weeks.

Rush

 

The barely visible timing marks on the crankshaft gear and engine block - the one on the engine block it's not visible with the belt on, but can be felt by hand, it's a small bump. There is also a timing bump on the crankshaft pulley not visible in the photo.

Car is a 2003 2.4i

 

Wow ! What shop was this at??

 

it is a good idea to replace it, see my other post https://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-...lt-pics-76579/

Your car is a 2001 build, so the belt has now 13 years on it. When removing it, check how hard the rubber has become. The age kills the belt by making it less flexible which causes cracks.

 

Yes, A new belt is now on it. The old one shows very slight cracking under close inspection. The old tensioner is in great condition but the old idler did have a little slack in the bearing. The water pump seemed to be as good as the new one bud didn't have confidence it would last another 100k. All were replaced to ensure it will be good for another 100k.

Getting the harmonic balancer off was a challenge. The bolts must have corroded. I recommend always approaching these fittings as possibly stuck. Soak with penetrating oil before attempting removal. I also purchased an impact wrench; a worthy purchase for future belts and other projects.

Rush

 

When buying a used Volvo that has had its timing belt replaced, and assuming the worst case scenario (the belt failed while the engine was running?), what's the easiest way to know if the engine was damaged when the belt failed?

 

Thanks for the warning i have a 2005 with 121k miles and i am going to replace as soon as i get it in from fcp euro.

 

OldPete, The "white block" Volvos are all interference engines so if the timing belt goes with the engine running, the exhaust valves will hit the pistons. Most often this bends the valves so you loose compression in all 5 cylinders and you need to rebuild the head. Some times the valves can actually imprint the pistons to the point they may need to be replaced. Not sure if your concern is what damage a timing belt fail can do or how to tell if somebody did the repair job correctly. I suppose you can try to use an inspection camera to look at the piston crowns, but that won't tell you if somebody properly replaced and lapped in the valves.

 

Hello, all.

I plan on changing the timing belt, pulleys, water pump, etc. in my 2001 S60 N/A very soon. I'm looking at this listing, for a Gates-branded timing belt kit on eBay. I heard Gates was one "original equipment" brand among others, for Volvos.

Would this be a good recommendation? I also thought about getting the same kit without a water pump in favor of acquiring an Aisin-branded pump.

Thanks in advance!

 

Check out Volvo friendly web sites like EEuroparts, FCPEuro, IPD USA and Autohausaz (I've shopped all four with good results) for packages. Gates is a respected brand as is Continental. Upgrading the water pump to OEM or Genuine Volvo is a good idea and the factory book recommends the tensioner be done at 100K as well. I just did my 850T with a Conti kit (belt, tensioner, pulley) and added an Aisin pump plus OEM quality serpentine idlers and the serpentine belt (to quiet some noises).

 

5 year old or more, no matter the miles
changes belts!

and I have a friend that got a cheap serpentine belt and it jumped and went under timing belt and caused head crash

 

I wish I could sell timing belts to customers every 5 years

 

2012 s60 with 72k miles

Going to do some maintenance with volvo parts and have this in my list to buy:

Timing belt kit: belt, tensioner and idler

water pump & gasket

serpentine & A/C belts

serpentine tensioner

serpentine idler pulley

Anything else I'm missing?

Thanks in advance for the input.

 

water pump replacement may be overkill for the first belt on a 2012. Also, the maintenance interval for a 2012 S60 timing belt is 10 years/120K miles... But with that said, its always a good idea to pull the cover before ordering parts to see if there's any leaks at the cam or crank seals as well as the water pump (particularly for older cars on their 2nd or 3rd timing belt)

https://www.volvotechinfo.com/index....ltInterval.pdf