98 V70 AWD 2.4L Timing Belt Tracking

jcdillin · Post by **jcdillin** » 21 Oct 2015, 15:06

So i'm trying to figure out if I have a problem or if i'm just being overly paranoid since this is such an important part of the engine.

I bought the cheap timing belt kit from FCP (I know, I know) and installed it, the timing belt was riding almost 1/8" off the front of the idler pulley. I removed everything and reinstalled the old idler and tensioner and everything tracked perfectly.

Put the FCP stuff back on and now everything is tracking better, but not as far back as the originals, is this an acceptable tracking or should I change everything out? It's right on the edge of the smooth part of the idler and it's just barely touching the front of the vibration dampener on the crank pulley.

Post by **cn90** » 21 Oct 2015, 15:13

Volvo or Conti only. Nothing else.
You will learn the hard way, trust me.

jcdillin · Post by **jcdillin** » 21 Oct 2015, 15:20

Not exactly helpful, but thanks.

The belt is a conti belt, the tensioner arm is INA and the tensioner is ASIN so not sure I could get much better? Granted all this stuff could be knock offs, not sure. The only unmarked is the actual idler pulley itself.

Post by **kahl** » 21 Oct 2015, 15:23

I would say it is OK if you are seeing no oscillation of the belt as it is running through the pulleys.

Post by **cn90** » 21 Oct 2015, 15:47

The idler pulley should be either INA or Volvo.
If the idler pulley is made in China, you will find out later.

Post by **Clockboy** » 21 Oct 2015, 15:57

I had just done this job on same model/year. I noticed the old belt was hanging off the idler about 1/8 in. before taking it off. The belt had actually rubbed a slight groove in the cover. When I put the new belt on it was pushed back on the crank pulley and was relatively centered on the other wheels. I rotated the crank a bunch of times to check the marks but also figured the belt would find a center point on the crank pulley. Seemed to work fine and all is well. I think mine is now set up the same as yours and has been working for a couple of weeks.

Post by **oragex** » 21 Oct 2015, 16:38

Make sure the belt runs in the middle on the cam shaft pulleys. You can push the belt sideways with your fingers to center it. Is the tensioner needle shaking or stable?

jcdillin · Post by **jcdillin** » 21 Oct 2015, 16:45

Yeah the belt is running in the center of the cam pulleys, it's only riding slightly forward on the idler pulley itself. My tensioner is hydraulic so I don't think I have a needle?