Hi,

I know nothing about the V50 cars, I own a 2002 V70 station wagon.

My question is about a 2006 V50 station wagon that is for sale for $1000. Has 145000 miles, registered and in clean condition.

Owner says: Needs timing belt
Stopped running
Needs tow

I have NOT spoken to him yet to find out if he kept driving when the belt broke (IS that even possible)???

Is there a possibility of severe damage to the engine when the belt breaks ?? How do I determine this ??

Is this car worth buying and for how much ??

Thank you.

 

If the belt is broken, the engine valves smacked the pistons. Needs a valve job at minimum. No you can't keep driving it when the timing belt breaks. I would personally stay away unless you need it as a parts car and plan on taking more than $1000 of parts from it. I also just don't buy cars that don't run and drive. Who knows what else could be wrong or neglected if they allowed a timing belt to break on an interference engine.

 

Thank you for replying.

So just to make sure I understood you correctly: If the belt breaks & even if you stop the car right away, the engine will still need a Valve job at minimum??

Is the same true of the 2002 V70 Station Wagon NON turbo (Which I own).??

I bought my V70 5 years ago and the timing belt looks new (NO cracks). I have NOT put on it that many miles as I ride my motorcycle more.

And you would stay away from the V50 with the broken belt even at $500 price ?

Thank you.

 

All white block (aluminum) volvos are interference engines. Timing belts should be replaced every 10 years/120k miles, whichever comes first. Only volvos that are not interference engines are some of older models(pre-2000) with a SOHC.

As soon as that belt breaks, the timing between the crank and cam is wrong and the engine will still be spinning and there will be damage. There is no way to stop the engine from hurting itself when the belt breaks. This is also true for your current car. If you don't know when your car's timing belt was done, I would look into getting it done. It's the first thing I do on a volvo. Usually a sticker will be placed on the timing belt cover with mileage written when the work was done.

Like I mentioned before I just personally don't buy cars that at least run, but I only buy a car if I intend to drive it, I don't flip any cars. Whether or not the car is worth it at $500 depends on your personal preference and mechanical ability.

 

Yes, that engine has 20 bent valves. A cylinder head repair/valve job will cost you several thousand dollars retail.

I'd run away as fast as I could ----------

And make sure your 2002 has a good belt on it before it happens to you! It's the same engine in both those cars.

 

All of the above IS good advice (and yes, the 2002 V70 is a ticking time bomb if you've never changed the TB).

The only thing I'd add is that sometimes the owner will say "TB broke" when in fact it only slipped. AND if that slip was no more than a couple teeth, the engine stops running immediately, and the valves avoid getting in a fistfight with the pistons.

Might be worth a bit of effort to peel back the TB cover enough to see if the belt is still there (even if it's ragged and even shredded). If so, you could pull the plugs and take a peek into each cylinder to see if the tops of the pistons show any signs of contact with the valves. You COULD get lucky and score a really decent car for chump change. Or sign on for a boatload of pain. ;-)

 

I assume I will need some kind of a Camera to see the tops of the pistons ?

I know when I changed my plugs, I could not see anything through the tiny holes :-)

 

If you can't fix this yourself - run away as fast as your can!

 

Well. I've done a lot of work on my cars before but not sure if this would be worth the trouble and cost and frustrations. But as you said, it maybe worth taking a look to see what is going on.

 

I am a retired Volvo Tech, I have over 40 years experience. I retired in 2020 and have owned , always owned, Volvos since before I had a driver's license. I have never seen a Volvo interference engine NOT bend valves when the timing belt broke/jumped. Twice I have witnessed it happen, at idle, in the shop before my very eyes. Regardless of the circumstances, they always bend a few valves. Typically four or five, give or take a couple. The worst case was when someone tried tow starting one, with a broken belt, with a tow strap (manual trans). That one had about 12 bent valves. I have seen many with only bent exhaust valves.
In EVERY case, regardless of miles, I have slapped new valves in to replace only the bent ones. The first few times I lapped the new valves into their seats but after a while I ceased doing that. I have twice, in charity cases, just stuck valves in ones that had damaged guides as well. I run a reamer down the guides, slap in the valve and carry on. All of those went on to run great for years after, a few were cars I bought from customers and fixed for my own.
Without experience I wouldn't recommend doing a timing belt yourself, much less pulling the cylinder head to replace valves. For me it's easy, with all parts needed at hand I could complete a bent valve scenario repair including new timing belt & components in one working day. The dealerships I worked for were a different story. Thay would never quote anything less than an exchange, remanufactured cylinder head. That made it an impossibly priced repair. Only one exception was when a Tech put belts on an S60 T5, didn't get the belt on correctly, the belt went over the C/S pulley and it jumped time. The dealership then paid me to slap valves in it.
So, after this long diatribe, the V50 you are considering has bent valves IF the timing belt came off. The fix doesn't have to be exorbitantly expensive. It doesn't have to have a valve job. But if you have no experience in such repairs it will be relatively expensive. Find a Volvo independent with a long history and experience and get a ballpark quote.

 

Thank you so much for sharing your depth of knowledge with me. I don't know where you live but could use your help. I live in the Sacramento area.

Well, the owner of that car never wrote me back and it sounds like more work and expense than it's worth.

I do want to ask you if you could look at my other post and tell me where these square plastic corners go? I am sure I will figure it out when I try to put them back but it would save some time.

Couple of months ago, I had the steering lock on me on my V70 which is something I never had before. So had to take the covers off the steering wheel and drill into the locking mechanism to get it to release the wheel. And those are parts of that, I just don't recall where they go.

Can someone tell me where these parts go please? - Volvo Forums - Volvo Enthusiasts Forum

Thank you.

 

Thank you.

Ok, so I just checked the Timing Belt on my 2002 V70 Station Wagon (Non turbo). The belt is in excellent condition. I can't see ANY cracks, kinks or even hairline fractures. There are also no indications anywhere that I can see as to when the belt was replaced. Car has 175K on it now. Bought it in 2017 and did not put many miles on it as I mostly use my motorcycle.

The Belt is in Prestine condition. How do I know when I should change it?

One mechanic wants $700 for labor for what it seems to be 1-2 hr job. I've never changed a timing belt before but have done many other things and basically maintained my cars myself.

Thanks for the help.

 

It's a 2hour job for an experienced mechanic that will do it properly with the correct tool to lock the cams in place and ensure the engine won't kaboom on startup. It's longer than that for someone who has not done it before. As someone who has done a few on the volvos I owned (and has never done it in under 2 hours,) I would have no problem paying someone $700 labor to do the timing belt on my new car as long as a volvo shop is doing it. I also have never locked the cams, but I used the timing marks which is probably what I spent most of my time on locating and setting position and making sure it was still good after assembly.

With these cars, if you don't know when the belt was done, I would get it done to be safe. As others mentioned, time passed is just as important as mileage gained.

 

Volvo recommends replacement every 105k miles OR 10 years on that year/engine. And as another has said - it's about a 2 hour job for the belt, idler and tensioner. (after you've done a few), with no special tools needed, unless doing cam seals. Clear exact instructions ARE need to make sure the VVT gear is set in the correct position before belt removal. If you've never done a timing belt on a sideways engine - with less than 2 inches of space between the frame and the timing gears - I would not recommend this Volvo be your first try! Typically I would replace the water pump at the second belt replacement - unless a factory brand pump had been installed at the first replacement. Don't use or let any off brand of water pump be put on your engine.

 

I would highly recommend a water pump at every timing belt replacement on "white" engines, except for those 850s with 50K-70K interval. I have seen too many times a water pump failure after the first belt replacement, be it 105K or 120K. It IS very likely for a water pump to fail when it has excess of 100K miles on it, and NOT likely to last 'til 210K or 240K. Likewise, use only OEM pump, either Volvo branded or Aisin. Aisin pumps are the OE Japanese pumps for these engines.