By hand you would meet resistance when a piston hits a valve and be unable to go any further. You'd be unable to bend the valves by hand. You can move the cams all you want, any which way, when the crank is on the timing mark. Be sure to get it there before you do anything else. Putting the crank on...

Can you not fit a worm drive hose clamp in there? That's what I use for pretty much every boot I install, never had a problem with them.

Worst case scenario - I believe the whole housing can be removed from the engine. Obviously this too isn't fun... That's the, I'm taking my ball and going home scenario. All else fails, cover half of the front of the radiator with cardboard until you can get it off - any heat that is more than you ...

vovo850 wrote: ↑17 Nov 2018, 14:49 ... Well wish me some good wrenching, I'm about to remove tensioner and start over.

Good wrenching!

Bad MAF is a good bet, especially given what you said in first post. Unplug it with the car off, drive it around. If that cures it, get a Bosch MAF. If not, you're going to need a Bosch MAF soon anyway. Not a good idea to pul/unplug while it is running. These are cars are tolerant yes, but not of no...

vovo850 wrote: ↑18 Nov 2018, 17:05

bmdubya1198 wrote: ↑18 Nov 2018, 16:52 Have you checked the diagnostic connector for flash codes?

vovo850 wrote: ↑18 Nov 2018, 13:54 plus the code it threw was for MAF.

You can also read the codes I retrieved on my first post.

Gotcha. I would try swapping in a known good Bosch MAF.

The Volvo repair manual says that the pin should be at 1 O'clock when installing the thermostat.