Request for advice, timing belt quandry

[Cees Klumper]

Belt is Hutchinson branded.

[V50M66]

That belt is junk, get it out of there and use Genuine Volvo or Continental. All pulleys should be INA or Genuine. Water pump should be Aisin or Genuine. Nothing else is worth risking your engine for a couple bucks savings.

The cheap aftermarket belts love to walk like that.

When you re-do it, check your VVT hubs for in/out play. Just because you didn’t touch it doesn’t mean it isn’t bad from mileage. It should have no or minimal play. Unless it’s horribly bad though, it won’t cause the walking issue you experience - that’s the belt.

[Cees Klumper]

Thanks! Yes that is the plan. This was the only kit Skandix sell and normally they carry quality parts. The water pump is Aisin branded and I believe at least the idler pulley is Ina, but I will replace all parts with Volvo original. I checked the VVT hubs yesterday and they have 0 in and out play. Plus the noise was not there before I installed the new parts. The car has only 147,000 miles on it. To be continued (next Summer).

[crasbe]

Belt is Hutchinson branded.

Never heard of that. But tbh I would just replace the belt first if the water pump and idler are okay.

[Cees Klumper]

Thanks, that's probably a good idea, would save time and expense for sure. I also think the main suspect now is the belt rather than the tensioner, water pump (it is an Aisin, same as what came out) or the idler pulley. I checked everything by hand on the bench and it sure feels very smooth etc. Ok I'll start with a new Volvo timing belt and take it from there. I developed quite a routine in all the different steps to take to swap out the belt, what with the harmonic balancer, serpentine belt pulley, turbo piping, plastic covers and so on and so forth!

[scot850]

What brand is the water pump? That almost sounds like the failed one I removed from an 850 that a repair shop said the noise was a bad rod, but it was a bad water pump bearing.

The only other suggestion is a time consuming one of swapping each part and seeing if the sound goes away. You could swap 2 at a time to speed things up as it would narrow it down to one of 2 items. If that does not help identify the noise, then unfortunately it is something that has been accidently caused by the swapping process on another item.

Neil.

[Cees Klumper]

Thanks Neil. The water pump is Aisin, same as what came out that said both 'Volvo' and 'Aisin'. The new one has 'Volvo' ground off and it's the identical part. But that's not to say it isn't 'bad out of the box', these things also happen. That's been my quandry - to replace one after the other part, like i did yesterday swapping out only the tensioner which made no difference, because every time it's a lengthy process. I really appreciate all the advice and suggestions, will have plenty of time to sleep on it as we won't be back here in France until next Summer .... leaving Saturday for the airport in the blue trusty C70 T5.

[V50M66]

The Aisin pumps are great, I highly doubt it’s the issue. Same with the idler or tensioner if they’re INA, which is what the Genuine parts are. New belt and you should be good.

[scot850]

Likewise, I agree too that the Aisin pump is unlikely the cause. For INA idler/tensioner see Abscates's experience with his T5. I would normally give them a 100% rating, but failure can happen.

Some belts as I saw on a YouTube video recently, are poorly made and can cause strange noises. Perhaps also the reason for the wandering belts too. Once I get the P2 Volvo OE belt fitted I'll let you know how that goes. All genuine parts in this case.

Neil.