Not as long as the marks line up where they should be.

thanks,

started up and ran for a few minutes and turned it off

took off timing covers and rechecked. all was perfectly aligned.

Glad all is good now.

These are great pictures. But I have a 2006 XC90 5 cyl and there is a plastic tab at the 10:00 position next to the vibration dampener. There are 2 dimples on the face of the VD one of which almost lines up with the mark on the plastic piece. Is this an alternate TDC indicator? I couldn't find the notches on the crank sprocket - although at the time I didn't realize that they were so small so I could have missed them. The marks on the cam sprockets are certainly small enough.

I installed the belt using this as the TDC. There was not contact when I manually turned the crank, and the marks appeared to be lined up when checking, but the engine runs like poop - now power; I assume the timing is retarded and I am off a tooth or so on the cams. But is my original assumption about the TDC indicator OK?

Any help is appreciated.

Was that with the lower cover on?

I do not remember any plastic being near the crank pulley.

With the cover off, looking at the harmonic balancer, there is a wedge of plastic with a mark on it. I would think that if you put one of those wedge pins on the HB to hold its orientation, you would also put a fixed mark someplace to do the timing like the rest of the world does it. I have to take it apart again because I was just quoted $1,500 to do the belt, hoses, water pump, etc. Welcome to New Jersey!!

Have you had any issues with replacement tensioners? The one I got from one of the advertisers here was causing the belt to walk over onto the engine. It shredded the side of the new belt I had just installed. I wound up taking the new one off and putting the old one back on. The old tensioner is in good shape but I will buy a new one from Volvo tomorrow or Friday and replace the belt as well. At least the water pump is not leaking.

Maybe Friday nite I will be in there again. We are having guests over tomorrow night.

I appreciate the response.

OX

I still cannot picture it maybe I will do a belt on one tomorrow and see it.

But the crank timing gear should also have a mark on it and the marks on the teeth or in the groove.

The part issue I believe is a manf. issue I have seen some from many parts places have issues. I had a new style just yesterday give me a fit.

What is up with the cams? Are those hubs a VVT system? Does moving the cams the wrong way when aligning put a "set" on the VVT system? Do you have to over run counterclockwise then set clockwise to get the cam right?

Nope as long as you did not remove the pulley from the cam just make sure the marks are lined up and install belt.

Yes they are VVT hubs.

OK, thanks

What brand tensioner and where did you buy it?

Tech, what do you mean by new style, and what was the problem?

Well, fixed it today. Cleared the camshaft timing codes. All is well except to get a refund for the parts I bought.

I attached pix of the different tensioners and the shredded belt. You can see where the belt was rubbing on the tensioner and polishing it.

I went to the local dealer and got a factory install kit that wasn't that expensive ~ $220. It was worth the extra bux to not worry about the belt walking over.

Even after taking off the old tensioner with the aftermarket idler, the belt was still leaning on the engine side, see attached.

I forgot to take a picture of the what I thought was a timing mark, but I found the ones on the crank. I filed a small notch in the HB at the plastic tab and now I have a pseudo timing mark that I can use to find TDC easier while underneath but I would use the marked teeth on the crank sprocket to be sure.

My tip for the day is - I would get the belt on the cams and it would be tight from the crank to the intake cam, then if I tried to get the belt over the water pump, it would slip off of the crank sprocket and the cursing would ensue. I took a wooden door shim and cut it down and jammed it in the bottom of the crank sprocket and that kept the belt from falling off the crank.

BTW, I got the belt on without taking the HB off; was able to take off that cover w/the two 10 mm bolts. Thanks for that tip.

I have to take a search of the site and find out how to get the maintenance warning off. If you know ring back.

bw77 - the problem is that the "fingers" that grab the casting on the block dont fit around the casting on the XC90 5 cylinder. The factory fingers/retainers are wider and fit properly. See the attached pix. You can also see the effects of the shredded belt on the aftermarket tensioner. Vendor name is FCG. I am sure that the parts are OK for the other model cars, just didn't work for this one.

Thanks for the help.

The tensioner on the right side is for the older cars. The one on the left side is for the newer motors. Something must have been marked or ordered wrong with the original kit.