I checked the condition of my timing belt after reading Tech's sticky about timing belt precaution. But I am still not sure if my belt is in critical condition or not. So, I uploaded pics to make sure. BTW, my 99 S70 T5 has about 94,000 miles on it, and I have no idea whether previous owners did belt job or not.

Another question is that I see black tubing (or split loom) around the wires to spark plugs are almost gone. When I touched them, they just turned into dust. I had a feeling that I shouldn't leave it like that. So, I got some tubing from Lowes. It says it withstands up to 200F. Is this good enough or am I making mistake? Is there better way to do the job? I also did similar to the cables around fuel injectors.

My final question is that I am planning to drain and fill ATF. I know that IPD sells clear hose kit, but can I just use the clear garden hose from Lowes?

 

I forgot to ask another question about this.
The rubber thing cracked in the picture, is it serious thing requiring immediate attention?

 

Re: 1st post:

• Timing belt looks to be due, but really could not tell much from your pics; looks like some cracking on the outside of belt (which i wouldn't expect to see if it was changed in last 20-30k mls), but really need to look on inside of belt to see if any cogs are cracked. Either way, you should do it asap.
• Tubing on wiring: guess you will tell us how it works; you already installed it..
• ATF Hose: I wouldn't buy anything for my car at a home store. You need to go to a auto parts store and get hose that is designed for automotive use; i.e. can withstand exposure to not only heat, but gas, oil, etc.

Re: 2nd post:

• looks like your frame mount bushing. Can't really tell from the pic how bad it is. When it gets really bad the car will start making weird groaning metallic noise. Did you buy the car used recently? If this one looks worse than the others, could be sign of previous collision damage...

 

Thanks for the answers. I guess I need to find a good Volvo mechanic for timing belt. And you are right. I got this car used recently and cheap. It has some previous collision damage though I do not think it is severe. Hood is slightly buckled up and there are signs of collision at all bumper corners. I hear some noise like from an old wooden pirate ship when I turn from end to end while pulling it out parking lot. But that does not bother me much. Here is a pic of mine after waxing.

 

Pretty sharp!!

But before you soak a ton of $$ into it though, i would take it in for a full 4 wheel alignment. They will be able to tell you if the frame (or anything else) is bent. It would be a shame to put a few grand into it and then find out it can't be aligned! My $0.02 anyway...

BTW: have you changed out a timnig belt yourself on any other car? These cars aren't too bad to do a timing belt R+R on; just need to know what you're doing and be careful. Lots of good write-ups out there on the procedure.

Good luck!

 

I was planning to do it in a couple of month, but if this is urgent I will probably just pay someone to do it. Since I am newbie (meaning I have never opened the hood while I was owning Nissan and Honda), I need time to learn to do simple tasks myself first, and get familiar with things. Everything is luxury with Volvo including maintenance cost. So, I am going to learn to do things myself as much as possible, and it is also a part of the fun of owning a Volvo. Once I master Volvo, I will have confidence of owning any car.

By the way, right after I got this one, I had my mechanic replace front rotors, pads, and lower control arms and upper engine mount, rear o2 sensor, and trunk shocks. They also did alignment, but I had to come back twice to redo it. They said they discovered the tire pressure was not even, and so adjusted it. After that the car does not pulls to one side with steering at the center. Then, I replaced J hose, fuel filter, air filter, turbo return line seals, and broken lights here and there, fixed ABS module. I actually ended up spending more $ than what I initially paid so far over the last a couple of months. I feel that its a totally different car now in a good way.

 

Wow! If you had to do that much to it I doubt the timing belt has ever been changed. I would put that 1st on the list.

It sounds like you are pretty handy even though you paid to have several things done. If you are handy you could have done a lot of those things yourself.

Volvo's are not hard to work on if you know what's wrong. The hardest thing about the timing belt is the cramped work space.

As for the ATF hose, if you are talking about something just to drain the fluid into a drain pan I think you'll be ok. Not for installing on the car.

Good to have you abord!

 

The wooden pirate ship creaking you hear when turning side to side, would be the strut mounts. Common on these cars. I have had to change a few of these.

 

Ok, I just added that to seemingly endless my to do list, next to split steering rack boots.

 

I have a question about spark plug torque. The information found on internet and that in owners manual does not match. Of course, I should follow the official guideline but I cannot ignore the peoples experience.
I found that many people seem to use 0.028" gap.

Mine is 99 S70 T5. So, is the following is what applies to my case?

Turbo-charged models: Champion RC8PYP (or equivalent)
Spark plug gap 0.03" (0.75 mm)
Tightening torque 18.4 ft. lbs. +/- 3.7 ft. lbs. (25 Nm +/- 5 Nm)

or it does not make much of difference?
if anti-sieze applied, is there torque difference?

Another question, what I have found so far about the strut nut torque is 48 ft.lbs. and the outer tie tod end nut torque is 52 ft.lbs. lbs. But these are for 850. Are the specs same for S70? BTW, mine is lowered if that makes any difference (Bilstein HD and H&R sports coil).

I asking this because I found that my passenger side strut nut bolt seem to be tightened more than that on driver side (The passenger side nut is deeper down on the bolt). Will this affect alignment, or should I attempt to make them even?

And the last thing to ask is that I have to replace split steering rack boots. So, I believe I have to disconnect the outer tie rod ends from the steering knuckles by removing the nuts below and then using some fork or puller to separate them. what I have read on this board is that if I use the fork tool it will damage the tie rod end, and the puller is expensive. So, my question is that is there other cheaper and safer option?

 

I have never ever used a torque wrench for spark plugs; just good'n tight but not so tight that it would take a lot of muscle to loosen them next time. Basically enough torque to compress the seal washer on the base of the threads.

I also have never used anti-sieze on plugs either, but it won't hurt; just don't get it near the electrode end! Does the owners manual really spec champions??

How much different in length are we talking; a couple of threads or so? To answer your question, no, you don't torque until the same number of threads are exposed on both sides. There are tolerances in play here you know... still they should be close.

If you're just replacing the boots, you're doing it the hard way. Leave the outer tie rod ends alone. Pull the clamps off the old boots, then slide the boots outward toward the outer tie rod end on both sides (could also do one side at a time; doesn't matter..).

Then the inner tie rod ends will be exposed (looks like such). Loosen and unthread these all the way out from the rack; then you can take off the old boot, install the new one, and reverse the procedure. Not sure but there might be lock plate type washer on there that you have to flatten out to remove; if so, might want to replace that washer w/new (though i have reused them in a pinch).

 

Ok, sounds simpler. thanks for the tip.