Hello folks, I was a happy driver of 1998 T5 until today. I was driving off a grocery parking lot this evening when I noticed funny noise coming from upper right side of the engine, an irregular rattle-like noise. By the time I got home the noise became very loud, almost like banging noise. There was no overheating, no warning lights came on, and the engine did not loose power. Nothing appears to be loose from the underside. There is no leak either. The car has 129000 miles, the belt job has been done at 70000 by Volvo dealer.
So what do you think it might be? Did the belt broke? Did I ruin the engine?..

 

You would have to do more looking on the engine.
If you can remove the timing belt cover and make sure one of the pulleys aren't coming apart.

I would look really good before starting the car up again.

 

Tech,

I was able to remove the cover. To my delight the belt was there and appeared intact. The cover was ripped off on the upper right side (right side of right camshaft pulley) and has deep groove inside, just like if something plowed in it from the inside. There were some debree on the bottom of inner cover of t-belt, some plastic o-ring and something that looked like a piece of bearing. I think you were right - one of the pulleys came off. I ordered a t-belt kit, which includes the belt, tensioner and two pulleys. Can you tell me please what are the torque numbers for bolts of those pulleys? Also, do I need a torque wrench for spark plugs?

In a separate question, I removed the small aluminium cover that is just below the large black cover with Volvo-20 valves on it. there are wires running under that aluminium cover which feed some sensors. Those wires are enclosed in a corrugated plastic wrap. The wrap was so brittle that it crumbled in one place just by touching it. Do I need to replace the wrap or it is OK to use heat-resistant tape instead? Or is it OK to just leave as it is?... Thank you.

 

I will try to find the Spec's but I just tighen it good.

Just torque the plugs good by hand with a Ratchet and you will be fine.

You can either use Tape or leave the wires alone.

 

Tech,

I can't align marks. When I align one mark, the other one goes off the mark. Please have a look at a picture below:
http://img467.imageshack.us/img467/2...oenginewh6.jpg

The aligment does not get better when I turn the cranckshaft. Can I take off the belt and align intake and exhaust shafts one at a time? (and a crancshaft?) The tensioner bearing was torn apart, but the belt appeared to be under tension. Just want to make sure there is nothing else I can do before I call the local shop. Thank you.

 

The problem is the top timing cover in the picture isn't complete.
You will need to get a new cover to get the timing marks to line up properly.