1998 S70 Timing belt tensioner

Teesun68 · Post by **Teesun68** » 13 Feb 2005, 10:06

My folks own a 1998 S70 with about 100,000 miles on it. The timing belt was replaced around 70k, but I'm not sure that the tensioner was done at the same time. Any opinions on how serious or risky it is if the tensioner was NOT done at the same time?

Thanks...Teesun68

Post by **dosbricks** » 13 Feb 2005, 19:07

In mid-year `98, Volvo changed the type of t-belt tensioner, so the answer depends on what type is their car.

The earlier tensioners were hydraulic and very reliable. The conventional wisdom is to change them at 140k. The later tensioners are mechanical and should be changed every 70k by the dealer since they require a temperature sensitive adjustment that is sort of tricky. There have been some failures of these tensioners that have been run to long (not good)

Engine serial number 1266127 and below have the hydraulic tensioner. Engine number 1266128 and above have the mechanical. You can locate the engine serial # on a white sticker on the front of the timing belt cover.

Hope yours is hydraulic like ours.

Teesun68 · Post by **Teesun68** » 18 Feb 2005, 16:50

Thank you for the info - will pass it on to them and see where it lands.

Much appreciate it....Teesun

b4miata · Post by **b4miata** » 19 Feb 2005, 06:22

Teesun68 wrote:My folks own a 1998 S70 with about 100,000 miles on it. The timing belt was replaced around 70k, but I'm not sure that the tensioner was done at the same time. Any opinions on how serious or risky it is if the tensioner was NOT done at the same time?

Thanks...Teesun68

Very risky!! I have 1998 S-70 purchased new in May of 1998 w/110,000 miles and I can only guess what type of tensioner it has because it is sitting at the dealer awaiting my decision on replacing the cylinder head. I, too, had the belt replaced at 70,000 miles, but not the tensioner. The tensioner failed 2 nights ago.

Post by **dosbricks** » 19 Feb 2005, 09:29

Thanks for the input, b4miata.

People with engine #1266128 and above need to know that they should take their cars to the dealer for T-belt changes so the tensioner will get changed also.

When the tensioner fails and the belt jumps tooth, the pistons are going to slap the valves resulting in about $4000 damage. Volvo should have red flagged this in the owners manual.

Sorry for your misfortune.

emzinca · Post by **emzinca** » 19 Feb 2005, 10:48

timing belt tensioner broke in jan. going 65 on freeway, morning traffic. lost gas power, had to get to side of road fast with no pedal. I have 100100 miles on my 1998 S70. timing belt, but not tensioner was replaced by a private volvo specialist shop in town at my 90k service. As a result, 15 valves were shot-had to replace cylinder head, valve job, timing belt tensioner, cover, pcv valve, cam seals, water pump etc. $4000 plus and I was without a car for ~3 weeks - get a new tensioner. hind sight is 20/20

Post by **dosbricks** » 19 Feb 2005, 18:07

Another tale of woe.

As a side note, I believe Volvo extended the T-belt change interval to 100k in 2000, so they must have beefed up the tensioner since I haven't heard of these failures on the later models.

The belt on our '98 S70 was changed by an indy at 65k. Today my wife and I were feeling thankful we had the hydraulic tensioner or it would have probably jumped tooth by now with 128K on it.

I am going to change out tensioner, idler, water pump, everything critical at about 132k.

b4miata · Post by **b4miata** » 21 Feb 2005, 19:57

dosbricks wrote:Thanks for the input, b4miata.

People with engine #1266128 and above need to know that they should take their cars to the dealer for T-belt changes so the tensioner will get changed also.

When the tensioner fails and the belt jumps tooth, the pistons are going to slap the valves resulting in about $4000 damage. Volvo should have red flagged this in the owners manual.

Sorry for your misfortune.

Well, you have confirmed dealer's estimate for repairs. I thought they were high, but from the posts on this topic, $4,000 must be the magic number. By the way, the dealer did the 70,000 timing belt work, but there is no mention of the tensioner on the invoice, so I doubt that it was replaced.

Post by **dosbricks** » 22 Feb 2005, 10:35

b4miata wrote: By the way, the dealer did the 70,000 timing belt work, but there is no mention of the tensioner on the invoice, so I doubt that it was replaced.

I think you have confirmed that Volvo didn't know that this mechanical tensioner was not going to last. If I were you, I would put up a big squawk about it. Print out this thread and any others from volvospeed.com, etc. for documentation that yours is not an isolated case.

There should be a TSB (technical service bulletin) on this problem. You could find out at www.nhtsa.dot.gov

At the very least, Volvo sould be footing the bill for the labor (probably the most you could hope for) since you had the T-belt changed by them. Post back if you have any luck.

b4miata · Post by **b4miata** » 23 Feb 2005, 06:25

At the very least, Volvo sould be footing the bill for the labor (probably the most you could hope for) since you had the T-belt changed by them. Post back if you have any luck.[/quote]

Thanks for the tip, dosbricks. I'll give that a shot. Yesterday, the dealer offered (after I requested a price break on the repair) to install a head rebuilt locally instead of the "new" one from Volvo. That reduced the bill to $2,800. I am ok with that since I know and have had experience with the machine shop doing the work.