Hello everybody
As the title says, i don't have a problem but a (serious, but you can call it crazy) dillema regarding the timing belt change/replacement on my 2004 S60 D5
Can't remember from where i got it, but somehow it got stuck in my head that the timing belt on my volvo must be replaced at 120.000 KM (not miles)....as i have now 116.000 KM i thought about changing it so i contacted the local Volvo dealer here about a price offer. The guy there asked for my VIN and after that he asked me why exactly do i want to change it, because it's way ahead of time as he checked and according to Vida and based on my VIN , the timing belt replacement is done at 160.000 km (or 96.000 miles). I was like "What the hell, is he actually refusing the money?" He recommended me to have the gearbox fluid replaced if the car is an automatic (it's a manual) and told to me wait untill at least 145-150.000 KM before changing the timing belt.

Honestly i was dumb-strucked....after reading stories about broken timing belts and how fatal an encounter like that is, i got really worried (or spooked) and contacted him back asking about how much will it cost to have it looked at for any signs of wear/fatigue....again he told me that it would be pretty pointless and a total waste of money as he would charge me the exact manufacture price as he would for changing it alltogether. Dumb-struck moment number 2 right there - again he was refusing my money (how to put this nicely, Romania is well known for ripping people, car services are no exceptions, they usually charge you for things they didn't even replace). Beeing skeptical i asked if they ever had a volvo there with a broken timing belt, he said no, and tried to confort me saying that Volvo is a premium model and those replacement recomandations are given based on serious tests bla bla bla.

Now 2 things i must mention from the start :

1. I'm sure the car's number of KM wasn't tampered with (it was a "spoiled" volvo with an ex-owner way richer than me)
2. The car doesn't act weird/funny/strange in any way....i don't have any problems with it, it runs smooth and all is fine - all this "timing belt replacement paranoia" was only kickstarted by me hearing that it must be done at 120.000 km + the dreaded stories about blown timing belts + some local legends that the quality of roads in Romania (not that bad, but still sub-EU standards) and the ammount of dust in the air makes the belt change to be done sooner - again, i don't know if this is true in any way, or it's just some BS service talk to make you pump up money sooner.
3. I'm not an agressive type driver - i like to cruise not to race (don't know if it matters or not)

In the end i didn't replace the belt but somehow i'm still living under a big shadow of doubt and fear that the belt might pop, mainly because allthough i trust the guys at the volvo dealership (who the hell refuses money ?) i don't have the techincal knowledge or experience to know if it's ok or not and frankly i didn't get much input from other volvo drivers on the matter (i only had another 2004 s60 D5 friend that changed it at 180.000 KM - late, he knew that, but he was amazed to see that the belt and everything there was still in good condition, and another 2007 Mercedes C180 dude that told me to "chiill the **** down" ) )

What do you guys think ? should i set a pre-emptive strike and prematurely change the timing belt about at least 30.000 KM ahead of schedule, or should i trust the good old Volvo that it won't let me down (no signs of it doing it so far)

(PS : - i know i sound a bit paranoic or crazed up, but i really love this car
- also please excuse my bad english, not my native language )

Thank You
Mike

 

hey mike,

roads in Romania suck, shops try to rip you off i know.. i'm romanian


i have an 02 2.4T not the diesel and i just change the timing belt at 160.000km.

previous owner said he changed it but i couldn't be sure as he didn't said he did it in a volvo shop so i could not check on that statement.

went to volvo and asked them to look at the belt, they said it's a little yellow but does not show excessive wear and tear. one volvo mechanic said: these things need to be changed at 120.000 km and maybe that's what the previous owner did so it's showing a little wear now(car was then 160.000km. 40.000km would explain it)

then another volvo mechanic said these need to be changed at 160.000km and i should change it for my peace of mind. so that's what i did.
they say the belt tensioner and pulleys go not the belt and there's no way of checking for wear on those(probably why the nice man said "i'll charge you the same" because he'll have to take it apart - it's labor that get's the price high not parts, the kit is relatively cheap).


i'm not entirely sure about the diesel engine but would not see why it should be changed earlier on that, diesels run at low rpm so i imagine less wear.
also, i've hear people taking extra precautions and changing it at 120.000km.

i'd say try to get a different opinion from another shop.
i'm heading to a volvo shop today for some issues i have and i'll ask about the D5 see what they say. shop is in Madrid and i trust the guys there.. more or less.. i'll let you know what they say..

don't dispair just yet

Cheers,

Cristian

 

Mr Christian you've put a smile on my face reading your reply...it still amazes me how as i was trying to get an answer to my concerns,i went on a international forum but the first guy willing to help is a romanian (makes me rebuild my faith in romanians ). Hope all is well where you are and things are better and better each day as back here they seem to be heading for the worst (these week the petrol price was increased....again). I'd also invite you to the national volvo owner's club forum (if you aren't a member already) but seeing you hang around here i'd say you are already on the right spot (don't get me wrong, the guys there are very ok and willing to help, but there's a bit too much "ego - who is better than who" around there for my tastes).

Regarding my car and especially because you're also romanian, you can understand a bit more why i'm so concerned about it...you know how the SH auto-market in Romania goes and how fast a "good deal at the first glance" can turn sour and prove to be an older, neglected or totalled car....stories of mileage number tampering and other cheats run wild on the romanian forum and some of the guys there have taken quite a heat after buying ripp-off cars.

If it's one thing i'm sure about, it that this car wasn't toyed or tampered with....i can be a bit skeptical when it comes to a car's history sheet coming from a local/private auto-shop, but when it comes from Primus (the biggest volvo dealer in Bucuresti, also the most dreaded for it's crazy over the top prices) i'm at ease. The ex owner wasn't even to phased about it, didn't even marketed as a selling point (like that "all repairs made in a dealer's shop" marketing ads you see on SH cars that proove to be wrong when you face'em) he was just like " Ahh, yes, i know nothing about cars, so i just took it here when i had something worring me about it" (imagine he was taking it there even to have a signaling light exchanged). Also, seeing his father's S80 and knowing he bought a brand new XC60 after selling the s60 to me, made me think he loved and cared the Volvo brand. Maybe i'm a bit naive and i did took my precautions....i even ambush met him the first time...he didn't know i was coming to see the car, practicly got him out of bed at 7 o clock in the morning - i wanted to see the car in it's usual, normal day-to-day usage, not the "fancy, all things nice and shiny ready to be sold" mode. It had a few minor paint scratches including a nice "here you go my dear neighbour" keychain scratch on a side, but when talking about Romania, that's more than usual.

Regarding the timming belt and knowing how the auto-shops work here the dilemma came from the fact that the Volvo dealer told me to wait...it's a pretty rare thing now here for somebody to don't want to figure a way to rip you off in some way... maybe i'm just overy-coucious. The cousin with the Mercedes said it's normal to be changed at that number of KM due to the larger engine type (2.4).

In the end, i'll probably go to my home-town and talk to my uncle about going to some mechanic he knows and trust to have it looked up...this guy (the unkle) is a very trust-worthy and tech/meh savy dude that has about 3 million km driven so far in different cars - he knows cars for sure. I've already told him about my concerns and he told me to stick close to what the manual says and that changing it now with be too soon, as Volvo ain't no cheap "our clients do all the test driving and quality check" type of car manufacturer. Going to a service i don't know and trust right now, even if it's only to have it looked at for signs of wear, will probably only end me in the "must be changed immediately" line they like to throw to make a quick-profit.

Iti multumesc sincer pt sfaturi si iti doresc multa sanatate si numai bine in tot ceea ce faci.

Cu respect, Mihai

 

I asked my volvo shop in Madrid about the timing belt on a D5 and they say 8 years or 160.000km forsure. (probably what the manual says as well)

your's is 2004, well 2005 as you were saying and getting close to 120000km so I say you're good for another 2 years depending on how much you drive.

for a little added piece of mind you can have a mechanic check the belt's condition but pretty sure the result will be "inconclusive"
he will only tell you something if the belt is in bad condition but if it's not i'd say don't worry about it if you have just a bit of faith in the previous owner.

sent you a PM so we don't bother the nice people here with our Romanian conversation.
i'd say stick around the guys here have been good to me and saved me some real cash when an independent shop screwed my auto tranny after an oil flush. it was a reputable shop but woudn't you know it.. the one mechanic in the entire shop that touches my volvo is named Florea ))
if not for the advices i got here i would have been down 3k€.