1998 S70 T5 manual. 86,000 miles on it. Unsure of history, so will be getting timing belt changed. Few questions before a shop runs me into the ground with expenses. On VolvoSpeed there are a lot of people saying that I only need to change the actual timing belt on the inital change. They report that the water pump, and idler, tensioner pulley can wait until the 140k service. What do I need to look for on my actual vehicle to determine what I actually need done. Also, I hear that there are some duiffenrences on some of the parts. Some were manual, some hydraulic. How can I tell what is on mine, and what difference will it make. I appreciate the help, since I am very clueless when t comes to these types of things.

Thanks.

 

I would do the Belt. Having to pay a little now is alot better than having to pay over $2000.000 later to have it fixed.

I would do the tensioner and idler. The life of them according to Volvo is only 80,000 miles anyway.
The Hydrolic tensioner is a cylinder looking thing under the tensioner pulley.
The mechanical tensioner has a 12mm bolt in the middle of the pulley.

I would just do it all now and save you Money in the long run.
WIll cost a little over $300.00 to have someone do it now.

Check out site for a little more on the timing belt and tensioners.
http://www.babcox.com/editorial/ic/ic60326.htm