I just finished changing my timing belt, tensioner, idler pulley and thermostat and thought I 'd add a tip that I couldn't find easily when I searched for the answer. I've changed a few timing belts before on DOHC engines but for some reason thought this one would be much more difficult. It wasn't, it was actually the easiest one I've done. The only part I had difficulty with was finding the timing mark on the crankshaft. You can feel the mark with your finger. Its a raised nub on the side closest to the crank serpentine pulley. You can't miss it. Find the nub and feel down to the peak on the crankshaft sprocket. I marked the corresponding peak with a black marker to make sure I had it correctly lined up all the time. Follow the rest of the directions for changing the belt and it goes nice and smooth. Minus the time it took to find that information, it took me just over 3 hours and very little aggravation.

Glad I did mine finally. I ve been sweating about it possibly breaking. The guy I bought it from said it had been done but looking at it after I pulled it I don't think so. Idler pulley looked pretty tired too. 102000 miles.

 

Glad it all went well for you.

 

I am going to replace the timing belt on a 2000 S80 2.9L. I've found two different timing belt kits online, one for 1999-2000, the second for 2000-2004. The images show that the tensioner pulley is different between the two. Can I determine by VIN or similar which part I need? If so, how? If not, how hard is it to inspect this part on my car to see which one I need?

 

Since yours is a Non-turbo car remove the upper cover over the timing belt. Then remove the power steering bottle. Then the one screw holding the timing cover on the front of the engine and slide it up and out and see which pulley setup you have.

 

Hey Spunkymonky, Can you tell me where you got the instructions for replacing the timing belt and what special tools were needed? I never repalced a DOHC timing belt before but it looks pretty easy.