I bought my V70, the serpentine belt looked exactly like your last picture. I replaced it right away. The timing belt looks ok though.

 

my uk volvo shop states its to be replaced at 80,000 miles....

 

Its possible to examine the cracks visible in pictures Tech, but remember, are best seen in the band off and bending it backwards. Tech (or dealer) should be able to say, if they can check for you.

 

I want to try and do this. Tuesday I'm going to remove the timing cover and take a look. Shouldn't be to time consuming minus having to drain and refil the expansion tank. I've done suspension work- shocks, control arm, etc. and even replaced the heater core. At 250k I don't have much to loose. But I do notice in the winter time some white milky substance in the oil. Head gasket? Maybe, but I've had it creep up on me for over 4yrs and still this car won't die- well, besides the starter I replaced which was rediculously easy to fix- plug and play. I've walked through the timing replacement a few times with the haynes manual and some forum feedback on here. I just don't have the hands on experience when the details start creeping up on me like exactly how to remove that tension pulley and I'm sure I should do the idler pulleys as well. Can it be that hard? I figure the best way to figure it out in to either crash and burn and get my hands dirty. I also need to replace the PCV system as I went to go check out the filter and it wasn't their and no doubt the whole line is clogged. My car leaks oil like theirs no tomorrow. One thing at a time. Here's my point. Does anyone have a link to a thread or website that shows either a video walkthrough or picture step-by-step? That would be a HUGE help and all I need to seal the deal on doing this.

 

hey people, just wanted to say just did my timing belt, tensioner, idler, and water pump. at 142k on original volvo belt. no cracks, tears, anything. but my car is the exception to the rule so seriously change your timing belts people! and do everything while you're in there. water pump is really the most optional but the extra 30 min while you're in there and 60 dollar pump is better than going in there again just for the pump. but when doing the belt, like the water pump, why not replace tensioner and idler. not really much more time involved. the haynes manual gives a good walkthrough, some unneccesary steps. skip taking off the fuel lines, spark plug cover, and back cover of timing belt area. if rotate the engine to where the timing marks line up you don't need the cam locking tool. to be sure, vice grip the belt to each cam pulley to prevent one from turning while replacing the idler and tensioner. then simply unbolt the tensioner (manual tensioner models). pull the belt off the crank and idler, unbolt the idler, replace. carefully remove the old belt from the cam pulleys. put the new belt over the cams, be sure the belt is tight between the two pulleys or you will be a tooth off! run the belt over the idler and around the crank pulley. again keep it tight (don't miss a tooth) or your timing will be off. then just put the belt around the water pump and install the new tensioner. tighten the tensioner as described in the haynes book. and you're done! save the 3hr book time by doing it yourself!

 

Here is a link to some timing belt replacement instructions with photos:
http://www.happywrenching.com/volvo/...placement.html

I do not think it is necessary to drain the coolant tank. Just plug the line and move the tank above the strut mount. I fixed some oil leaks, replace cam seals and t-belt, etc. You can see some of my instructions here:
http://www.atthetipwebs.com/technolo...ips_repair.htm

The most important thing to me is to have a good t-45 torque bit. I had more problems with that than any other when it comes to the t-belt replacement.

 

so a couple of things to remember about belts they are rubber and climate afffects them, in hotter climates they will not last as long---thats why techs pictured belts look like they do at lower miles, with that being said I live in a very moderate climate and do not see premature belt failures-- and I work on 25+ volvos a week. The other thing to consider is age, if there is m/y 99 cars out there with less than 105k they should have the cam belt replaced.

 

I was thinking the opposite. Cold climates would create more wear on rubber belts. I believe it's really a combination of age, miles, roller condition, etc.

 

I would agree that in climates that are cold will also affect belts quicker, with that being said I was making a point of the moderate climate situation. The over all end result is that it is always better to do the belt a little earlier than to late. I do not do not see very many brocken belts and out of those I can not even remeber one that broke prematurly, this is based on only factory belts.

 

It is possible that the accident caused this to happen, We have known it to be the case in the past, if the timing casing pushed against the belt upon impact and crimped the belt for a split second the momentum of the pulleys stopping for that time could cause a breakage to the belt.

 

Help out the next person and record your timing belt replacement parts as well as the belt.

 

Yes, you can check it every day. You can also demand that a mechanic inspect the belt and document that he said it is good. However, if it breaks tomorrow, it's NOT the mechanics fault. If it hasn't been replaced within the last 5 years or 70,000 miles (or whatever the manual recommends), change it. As you said, it's a 12 year old car. The manufacturer has attempted to give you good advise on keeping things in good shape but there is no guarentee past the warranty.

 

I need help for a S70 1999. Im actually trying to replace the alternator but noticed there is a tensioner on the serpentine belt. Im wondering I need to loosen it to undo the belt. My question is acutally does that tensioner affect the timing belt.

 

I just recently had the timing belt tensioning pulley on my '98 S70 T5 fail at 150K. I heard a rattling from under the top cam cover. I started working on the car, and as soon as I took the side timing belt cover off the ball bearings fell out of the pulley. Luckily, the plastic cover was keeping the pulley from falling off, and the pulley was still providing enough tension when the car was running that it didn't lose its timing. I had ordered a timing belt replacement kit from IPD a while back, as I had been meaning to replace the timing belt and pulleys for a while. Here is my question: the kit is for cars with the more common automatic belt tensioner (1266127), but my car has the mechanical belt tensioner (1266128). Can you replace the mechanical belt tensioner with the parts for the automatic belt tensior? They share the same idler pulley, but use a different tensioner pulley (see images). Also, I was just curious what the easiest way is to determine if there has been contact between the pistons and valves.

Thanks,
AJ

 

Here are the images of the timing belt diagrams that I meant to attach.


-AJ
'98 S70 T5

 

I wouldn't risk trying to change the system. There is a very good chance your tensioner is good. Check it out. If the other parts are the same, I'd go ahead and do the job and see what happens. If it's ok, you'll know it.

You can see a few valves by looking in the intake but you'll by no means know without starting the car, removing the head, doing a compression test or something like that. When you get everything together and turn it over by hand a couple of times, a broken valve will likely stop you, a bent valve may not.

 

Thanks!! I contacted IPD as well, since I got the replacement kit (includes belt, idler pulley, tensioner pulley) from them. They said that the hydraulic and mechanical tensioners were not interchangeable, even though it looked like the engine block had mounting holes to accept the older, hydraulic type tensioner, and the kits share the same idler pulley. The kits do however have different belts. I didn't want to take any chances, so I purchased and installed the mechanical tensioner type kit.

A note on that. I double checked the timing before starting the car, but when I started Vicky up, she was making a clicking sound in time with engine speed. I shut her down, removed the timing belt cover, and found that the belt had jumped one tooth on the exhaust cam pulley. I didn't realize that the newer mechanical tensioner is adjustable, and didn't come set to the proper tension. Luckily, VADIS had instructions for that.

Adjusted the tensioner tension, put the belt back on, and pures great. Ended up doing a compression test just to make sure none of the pistons or valves were damaged.

Hey, you don't happen to have a 98 S70 T5 ECU for sale on ebay right now? There is someone selling one with the same handle as one of your cars.

-Alex

'98 S70 T5 "Vicky"

 

Thanks for the links. I assume the 850 is pretty much the same as a 99 S70. Is there any other pointers you can think of. I've done the timing belts on several v-6 Alfas, including a gtv6 and milano (75) and one in a transversely mounted in the 164S. But it has been years since I've done one.

 

The '99 S70 has a different tensioner. Not sure how to adjust that. There is no hydraulic tensioner to fool with, just the roller tensioner.