2004 volvo S80T6 Took off timing belt, not at TDC

afelix212 · Post by **afelix212** » 24 Jan 2014, 18:48

So I took the car for a valve/timing belt job, as the timing belt snapped. I got the car back and a week later the crankcase shaft moves out of place because the damn mechanic forgot to put the nut on it. I notice the timing belt is walking so I buy a tensioner because I figured that it was that that was making it walk. Today I took off the tensioner without setting the timing at TDC. Stupid I know, but I was in a rush and I figured the cams would not move on me...well they did, and now I don't know how to fix this as the crankshaft won't turn anymore. I'm fairly sure it's out of time now, so how do I put it back in time if I don't know where the correct place for the camshafts is. Cams move a bit to either side, then they stop. A friend suggested taking out the crankshaft and resetting, someone else suggested I move the cams manually back to TDC, forcefully. I'm way over my head now, and I don't have money to take to a mechanic. Old mechanic won't fix cause I still owed him, but now I'm not paying him after a faulty repair. I'll sue the guy eventually, but now I need help.

Thanks for any help.

Found the fix I think:

(1) Remove the timing belt
(2) Turn the crank clockwise until you meet resistance WATCHING FOR THE CORRECT CRANK MARK AT ALL TIMES. You really want to find the crank mark, and line it up.
(3) When the crank hits resistance, stop. Go up to the cams and rotate them by hand to relieve the resistance. No telling which way they need to go, which cam(s), etc. Well you *could* figure it out, but not worth it. Just relieve the resistance (take the tension off of the contacting valves).
(4) Repeat step 2, and step 3 as needed, until the crank is on the mark. Celebrate!
(5) Put the cams on their marks, when the crank is on the mark it is safe to turn them wherever.

The whole goal of this is to get the crank on the mark, and keep it there, then you are home free.

Bluevanacd2005 · Post by **Bluevanacd2005** » 25 Jan 2014, 12:57

I would be pretty careful doing that... Seems like it would be easy to do some major damage. If you remove the spark plugs and put something in each hole (maybe a skinny wooden dowel a couple feet long, but all 6 the same length) it would reveal the position of each piston. Then you would only need to figure out the valve's position..
Maybe by taking off the cap and position sensor on the back side of the cams?

Just a thought.

-Spenser

afelix212 · Post by **afelix212** » 25 Jan 2014, 15:43

Damage? How so? The cams only move a few teeth each way, so I'm thinking of just setting them in the middle, where there's no contact, and turning. As long as I don't force it I should be ok, no?

Bluevanacd2005 · Post by **Bluevanacd2005** » 25 Jan 2014, 18:01

Just make sure to be gentle.. Don't force it at all.

afelix212 · Post by **afelix212** » 25 Jan 2014, 20:21

Well, I somehow managed to fix it, sort of. I couldn't turn the crankshaft at all, so I decided to try and see if the cams moved any more with a little force. Well, it turned out they did spin a little more than I thought, and so I spun them about half a turn, I then tried to turn the crankshaft, and lo and behold it moved clockwise again, and I actually passed the TDC mark! I was pretty sure I had messed everything up, as the crankshaft was not at TDC when I moved the cams, but I went ahead and turned the crankshaft back to TDC and I aligned the cams. Put the belt back on, serpentine belt, and adjusted the tension before trying to crank the engine by hand. I was shocked to see that the crankshaft was turning fine, with a little resistance from the spark plugs, and so I decided to try and crank it. A few prayers later I started the engine and everything was fine. The timing belt slips about 7 cm off the gears. It was doing that before I decided to put in a new tensioner, so what could it be now? I'm fairly sure it won't slip any further than that with the new tensioner, so should I drive it now? I've been borrowing cars for the past three months and I'm anxious to drive my baby again.

Bluevanacd2005 · Post by **Bluevanacd2005** » 27 Jan 2014, 09:02

I'm thinking you mean 7mm. I would try to get it to stay on the pulleys completely before driving it.

Post by **precopster** » 28 Jan 2014, 00:07

TDC is not the term

afelix212 · Post by **afelix212** » 28 Jan 2014, 02:38

I'm thinking it's the tensioner now, got a new one but I think it's defective. Will hopefully test again today. By the way, the way to tension the belt the right way is to turn the crankshaft clockwise to tension the belt BEFORE adjusting the tensioner. Didn't know that until yesterday.