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Notes on S70 T-belt change

Help, Advice and DIY Tutorials on Volvo's P80 platform cars -- Volvo's 1990s "bread and butter" cars -- powered by the ubiquitous and durable Volvo inline 5-cylinder engine.

1992 - 1997 850, including 850 R, 850 T-5R, 850 T-5, 850 GLT
1997 - 2000 S70, S70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70, V70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70-XC
1997 - 2004 C70

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dosbricks
Posts: 1116
Joined: 30 December 2004
Year and Model: '96 855, '98 S70
Location: South Texas
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Notes on S70 T-belt change

Post by dosbricks »

140k interval, so just finished changing:
Serpentine belt, tensioner roller, and idler.
Timing belt, tensioner ($125 ouch!), tensioner roller, idler.
Water pump (genuine Volvo $95 ouch!)
Front motor mount.
We're looking to keep this car past 250K.
All parts came from fcpgrotron which did good on service and price (cut me a discount since I also ordered struts for my wagon at the same time).

First off the S70 crank sprocket doesn't have a little mark in one valley. It has a nick in the back edge of the two teeth on either side. When the block mark is lined up on the valley between them the cam marks line up... almost. My intake cam lined up but the exaust was a half tooth to the left.
I had the IPD cam locking tool but I would not recommend it. It would not fit even when I tweaked the crank back and forth a hair. I called IPD. They said it was not unusual for a cam to be a half tooth off and there was one and a half tooth on either side of center before there could be interference. This alleviated some of my anxiety, but the IPD tool is not necessary anyway because you can always put the top cover back in place and tweak a cam back into position.

In a perfect Volvo world all these marks would line up on the mark and us first time t-belt changers would not get stress diarrhea worrying about it.

When I put the new belt on, sure enough, the exhaust was one half tooth off on either side of the mark (belt tight on the right), so I put it back the way it was. All this is just to say don't sweat a half tooth... something I never heard on the boards.

The car runs great, so if my wife's engine is gonna' blow tomorrow, let me know right away so I can tell her.

By the way, changing the water pump is a pain in the jerk, especially cleaning the old gasket off the block. You can't see the top except with a mirror. Somebody posted that they didn't clean theirs well and it leaked (another stress run). On my 850 I think I'll go with the theory that they last forever.

On the plus side, we saved about $550 over the dealer price for parts and labor... if you consider changing all that stuff saving. :roll:
'98 S70, 230k, purchased new in '98
'96 855 GLT, 163k, purchased lightly used in '99
Onceuponatime RIP '69 Shelby GT500 w/7.0 liter

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