1998 V70 Timing belt, cylinder head work 330k miles!

[abscate]

There are a pronounced lack of (word deleted) and an abundance of ladies and gentlemen on MVS. The knowledge base is fantastic. I am probably going to stay Volvo in my family because of this site and incredible depth of knowledge here.

i love it when someone pops in needing a fix on an old Volvo and we create a new home mechanic from someone who has never wrenched before.

[5rivers]

Back again....
In between the downpours today, I struggled mightily with the timing belt. I would almost get it on the two pulleys and one of them would move forward, causing an out-of-time cam. Other times the teeth on the belt would be slightly off on one pulley making it difficult to slide on. I must be doing something wrong, since the belt just does not want to be installed.
Appreciate any suggestions!

[abscate]

I wish I could flip over there this week. No rain here 2 hours east of you.

Have you compared old and new belts?

[erikv11]

For a pesky tight timing belt fit, try cheating a little bit on the cam sprockets as you put it on.

Start with everything dead on the marks: crank, intake sprocket, exhaust sprocket. Before you start to install the belt from the bottom then up the right side, move the intake cam a hair in the clockwise direction, and the exhaust cam two hairs in the clockwise direction. Less than a tooth for sure, like a quarter of a tooth for the intake cam maybe a third of a tooth for the exhaust cam. The rotation will make it easier to feed the belt up and over the two sprockets. Once the belt is over the two sprockets, hold it on the teeth and rotate the sprockets back counterclockwise, basically as far as they will go without jumping any teeth. You will almost get the sprockets back to their marks but not quite, and that is fine. They will go the rest of the way when you pull the pin. But try to get it tight, that will give you enough slack to get back around the rest of the belt path.

Another thing I have read is to make the tensioner bolt very loose until the belt is on, so you can almost take it out of the equation. Then swing the tensioner back into place after the belt is fitted through the timing path and tighten the mounting bolt. Have never tried that.

[5rivers]

Hi abscate and erik! Thanks for the offer and suggestions!
I have had the belt on a few times and the exhaust cam suddenly moves forward, especially when I have attempted to tighten the bolts. I have tried moving the sprockets half a tooth forward and then getting the belt on but again and feel surprised and very ecstatic, then when I go to tighten the bolts they move forward again!! I have even used a deep well socket on a breaker bar inserted into one of the sprocket holes to keep the exhaust sprocket from moving. That has helped but I need three arms and another set of eyes set on the rear of the cams for this!! I will try loosening the tensioner and see what happens. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

[Ozark Lee]

You need to get the belt tighter from the crankshaft sprocket, across the idler, and onto the intake pulley. If that part of the path isn't taught, the slack gets taken up by moving the exhaust cam back a tooth when you release the tensioner.

...Lee

[5rivers]

Greetings!
Back again with good news! The timing belt is on!! )
I ended up taking the tensioner off entirely, lining up the timing marks on each sprocket, checking the rear cams (they had not moved!!) so those were lined up properly, double checked the oil pump mark with the two little notches on the crankshaft, and pulling out one of my woodworking bar clamps. I positioned the end of the clamp underneath the idler pulley, the top part on the intake sprocket with a piece of wood to ease the tension on the sprocket. I was able to almost position the tensioner back in place but the bottom part of the bar clamp was in the way. So, I pulled out a different end clamp that was slightly smaller and positioned that end in the middle of idler pulley with the top part against the intake sprocket with a piece of wood between it and the bar clamp tightening end. That proved to be the solution. I was able to lift the idler pulley gently and high enough so the top of the tensioner and that little bar in the middle (of the tensioner) to clear the little nipple on the bottom part of the idler pulley. Held the tensioner in place with one hand while I loosened the bar clamp with the other. I then reinstalled the serpentine belt which I took off to gain some room to move my hands in and out. So, it's on! Hip-hip-hooray! I am going to wait a day before I take out the pin on the top of the tensioner so I can bask in my achievement this morning!

[erikv11]

Sounds like you out-smarted the hangups, well done.

Any time I work on timing parts or water pump, I fully remove the serp belt and the serp belt tensioner (only two small bolts, easy to access), makes getting my hands in there much easier.

[abscate]

Rain originally scheduled for SYR area tomorrow cancelled so that we can see 5rivers running before weekend.

[5rivers]

Greetings!
Well, after basking in my success with the timing belt, I finally pulled the pin from the tensioner and rotated the crankshaft two full revolutions. Low and behold the marks on the two sprockets/pulleys are exactly where they started before the two revolutions - in time! The same can be said for the alignment of the rear cams. With all that completed, I installed the crankshaft sensor, the camshaft sensor, the rotor, the hoses coming off the top of the breather, the intake manifold, and the starter!

There does not seem to be enough room to insert the spacer on top of the tensioner. And I don't want to force it in. What would this suggest?

I have not been able to secure a throttle body gasket (yet) and wondered if the gasket material used on the cam cover can be used as a gasket on the throttle body OR if there is a different kind of Permatex product suitable for the TB. Appreciate your suggestions on this!

Still need to work some on the exhaust manifold, in particular the little nubs that the heat shield attaches to. Then I can continue the installation process.