Hey everyone,

As part of my changing the radiator in my 98 V70, I tried to change the thermostat. The bolt closest to the engine was stripped (previous owner). Long story short, after pb blaster, drilling little pinholes in the housing to get the lubricant in, and several hours of trying different things, the lower housing broke off (just the part where the bolt screws on). So, I know I am screwed now, I just want to know how badly.
Is this difficult to change (it looks like it is)? Is there any way to replace the housing without taking out the power steering pump? Is there any writeup about this?

Right now I am pretty pissed at Volvo: why in hell would they use torx screws with this application, when clearly they also use hex ones?

Anyways, any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Sorry but the power steering pump needs to come off and I also think the alternator needs to come off as well.

 

How difficult is this Tech? I mean, is there anything to it, beyond removing bolts? Thanks for all your help.

 

Not really the alt can be a little bit of a pain because the bolt goes through from the back side of the Alt.

Other than that it isn't that bad.

 

Do I need to remove any tensioner, the belt, or anything like that? Also, do I need to bleed the ps pump, or can I leave everything connected? Needles to say, many thanks.

 

You need to remove the serp belt.
You can slide the power steering pump off to the side and you will be fine.

 

I have done this myself and I am no mechanic by any stretch of the imagination. It's a pain but doable by anybody willing to work on their own car. Probably need a good vocabulary of swear words though. I replaced the torx bolts with hex bolts when putting mine back together.

 

How do I release the tension from the serpentine tensioner. I think I see all the bolts that I need to remove, but I can't seem to figure out how to loosen up the belt.

 

There is a hole in it that is like a 3/4 drive size. sometimes you can use a 1/2 to 3/4 inch adapter to move the tensioner. Also I have used my long prybar and slid it between the pulley and tensioner and moved it that way.