Volvo Forums - Volvo Enthusiasts Forum - Timinge belt replacement

I am going to post my experience on my 2002 s80 t6, that's the 6cylinder twin turbo s80, it has 135k on it when I did the timing belt.
One thing I can say if you want to do this, do your homework on parts and any videos that show how to work on timing belts, doesn't have to be the exact Volvo model, just enough to get you some info.
I purchased the tb,wp and pullies as a kit, for about 250 bucks, I also changed out the serpentine belt and changed out the spark plugs also. You will need to pull the thermostat cover off to get the waterpump out, so it might be a good time to replace it also, or atleast get a new gasket.
Special tools, I did not need any, you will need a big 30mm socket for the nut on the flywheel, is about as crazy as it gets.
Oh and you will need to get some antifreeze,form a gasket, and antiseeze.

Start by taking passenger side wheel off, take off the cover under radiator, and start to drain it, you will only get out about gallon at the most, this will help to not make a mess when you pull the water pump off.
also locate the shield in the wheel well that you can fold back to expose the flywheel, use visegrips to hold it in place. also remove the crossbrace.
remove covers on motor for the plugs and timing cover. remove the serpentine belt,Now be very careful on the cover in front of the timing belt, it has a small hose coming out of it going to the coolant tank, it has a difficult clamp on it the kind they use on the fuel line it looks like, but it goes thru to the thermostat housing the tube they use is plastic, it breaks very easy, DO NOT go crazy on it, mine broke, but I will discuss that later, so once you get that line off you should now see the timing belt.

at this point all should be ready to remove flywheel, and start getting into the timing belt, but you should verify that the engine is at top dead center, if not put you 30mm on the crank and move it clockwise so all the marks are correct, now the reason for this is,and I asked the same question, if its good now how will it move, trust me it will move, Iused a paint marker to mark the crank and then marked the teeth on the exhaust and intake wheels, that way now you have tdc before you start tearing into it.

Once you are ready to get into the goodstuff, loosen the tensioner for the tb and remove tb, now you can get into the pully and the water pump, all that is pretty straight forward, the waterpump, I used a little form a gasket to hold the gasket in place, a little easier.

once you have everything in place to put timing belt back on just becareful on the tensioner and watch your marks for tdc, cause when you put the tensioner where its supposed to be, the belt wants to move your exhause or intake cams alittle.

so now you have everything back together as far as the timing belt, once you are sure all is good, it took me about 6 tries with the s80 to get it perfect, now I would roll the motor over by hand 2 revolutions, to make sure you here nothing bad, clockwise of course lol.
once all is set, just start putting everything back together, pretty easy, just time consuming.
Now I can tell you about the overflow tube I broke on mine, I have pictures on here of it, don't be concerned about breaking it, it is not a big deal:p
if you break that tube, first take the whole thermostat housing off, its like 4 bolts. dig out the rest of the plastic tube if you like, not that important. I drilled it out by hand for a 1/8" Pipe thread, used a 90degree compression fitting 1/4 tube and there you go, saved you about 200bucks for the housing itself.
no I had to modify the front cover to allow enough tube to stick out to get a hose clamp on it, but it worked out well.
All in all this job was ok, tight courters to work in, and then the thermostat deal, but all in all it went well, time spent on it was about 6hrs, total cost was about 300 bucks, shop wanted 900 just to do timing belt.
I used a video on utube from FCP, its base on a s60 but is very helpful.
good luck and don't be scared, take your time, do not hurry.
I know I might have missed some stuff, or did something unusual but it worked for me lol