850 140k Major Maintenance

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 14 Jan 2010, 15:11

The water pump is a subject of great debate. Many say don't worry about it unless it is leaking out of the weep hole while others are insistent that it be changed at the 140k intervals. Given the condition of one that did not leak at 140k but it was internally destroying itself on one of my cars I fall into the latter camp.

There can be two consequences if the pump fails, one is bad and the other is really bad. If the pump fails like a water pump normally fails it will simply begin to leak coolant. Normally it starts off slowly and you can identify the problem and repair it as necessary. In some conditions it can leak rapidly and lead to an overheating condition.

The really bad failure is when it locks up and strips the teeth off of the timing belt and it almost instantly starts destroying valves on the engine.

Aftermarket water pumps are actually OK. I have HEPU water pumps on two of mine. The rest of the stuff should be OEM and I am to the point where it should come out of an actual Volvo box. There is a real counterfeiting problem in the auto parts industry and just because it is listed as being an OEM supplier like Aisin or INA doesn't necessarily mean that it really is. Never use anything Scan Tech or "Aftermarket" other than the belt itself on the timing belt system. Continental timing belts are fine as are Dayco belts.

On the last belt I changed (for this writeup) I bought all of the parts from Darrell Waltrip Volvo, including the OEM water pump, for around $282.00 including freight.

The parts were:

Timing belt (Kit) which included the tensioner spacer and the Byte Exchange sticker.
Water Pump
Tensioner
Tensioner Roller
Idler Roller

Parts at Darrell Waltrip Volvo can be reached at (800) 689-0021. Ask for Jamie or Don.

...Lee

mindshadow · Post by **mindshadow** » 14 Jan 2010, 17:28

I just spoke with my local Volvo dealership and they're offering to do everything except the water pump for $380. Sounds like a decent-enough deal, I might just let them do it for that price.

diyer97 · Post by **diyer97** » 14 Jan 2010, 20:38

mindshadow wrote:I just spoke with my local Volvo dealership and they're offering to do everything except the water pump for $380. Sounds like a decent-enough deal, I might just let them do it for that price.

This quote sounded too good with a dealer. My mechanic,not a Volvo certified tech,(his shop
does all domestic & foreign including Volvo) quoted me from $550-$600 for
the belts (T-belt & S-belt),idler,water pump...I believed some online site selling a T-belt package parts that's already close to $300 so I wonder ??
I'm still pondering over the ideas of replacing the T-belt system myself but at the same time I want to do it to gain some experience and save some $$ in tough time.

mindshadow · Post by **mindshadow** » 14 Jan 2010, 20:52

diyer97 wrote:
mindshadow wrote:I just spoke with my local Volvo dealership and they're offering to do everything except the water pump for $380. Sounds like a decent-enough deal, I might just let them do it for that price.
This quote sounded too good with a dealer. My mechanic,not a Volvo certified tech,(his shop
does all domestic & foreign including Volvo) quoted me from $550-$600 for
the belts (T-belt & S-belt),idler,water pump...I believed some online site selling a T-belt package parts that's already close to $300 so I wonder ??
I'm still pondering over the ideas of replacing the T-belt system myself but at the same time I want to do it to gain some experience and save some $$ in tough time.

Yeah, I thought that was odd. First time around he quoted me $600 several months ago. I called today to see if they changed the water pump also and mentioned it was a $600 job and he said "Oh, I can do better than that.. how about $380?" but they don't change the water pump. I asked about that and he said he's never seen one seize up. But I confirmed they did the belt, tensioner, and idle roller. I might take them up on the offer.

Mr Vince · Post by **Mr Vince** » 22 Jan 2010, 00:13

okay I have a 1999 S 70 non turbo basic model can some one please tell the the procedure on changing the timing belt ? it apparently has the "C V V T" cam variable valve timing. the engine looks similar to my 850.any ways any help would be appreciated.
thanx Vince

PaulSimonon · Post by **PaulSimonon** » 14 Feb 2010, 20:11

I did this job yesterday using this guide as one of my resources, it proved to be a great help.

Some things I did that I found to make it go a lot smoother were unbolting the engine from the mound by the crank and jacking it up, moving the expansion tank on top of the engine, and taking out the drive tensioner. Also, I found that you don't have to entirely remove the spark plug cover and upper timing cover, you can just undo the nearest bolts on the spark plug cover and the two on the upper TB cover and you'll have plenty of room to work with.

brands01 · Post by **brands01** » 19 Feb 2010, 17:35

OK, so the weather here in Nashville finally clears up, so I can do the timing belt. I like to take off the harmonic balancer because it gives more room to play, and its easier to see the the markings on the crank shaft. My cam pulleys are well marked, the previous owner had a seal replaced, so it was easy to line up, except that the crank was one notch past the mark on the block when the cams are lined up properly.

So the question is, do I assume its correct, or do I assume that the cam has been off 1 notch and adjust it before I install the new belt?

I think I'm going to readjust the crank, and cycle the engine by hand more than the 2 revolutions and see if I get any resistance before firing it up. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Post by **Ozark Lee** » 19 Feb 2010, 20:50

We had one forum member that had a similar situation and lined everything back up to the factory marks only to have the car run like crap afterwards. In his case the bolt on the harmonic balancer was quite loose and the balancer itself had moved on the crankshaft. I have never removed the balancer so I have no hands on experience but I thought it was keyed to the crankshaft. I guess if it was loose enough it could shear the woodruff key.

It is not uncommon for the timing belt to be a tooth off after someone wasn't paying attention at the last timing belt change, it will cause no real damage but it will kill performance.

If it were me, in the absence of a problem on the crankshaft pulley, I would line everything up to the factory timing marks and proceed from there. If you had been driving it with the timing a tooth off it might scare you once it is back to correct. They are actually quite peppy when they are running right.

...Lee

brands01 · Post by **brands01** » 20 Feb 2010, 08:51

Yeah, thats what i was thinking. It felt a little sluggish when I first got it running. A little back story, I bought this for my daughter from a kid who thought he had blown the engine, but it still turned over, and would drive for short distances before dying.

To date, have replaced O2 sensor, plugs(the electrodes were literally burned off), front hub, sway bar links, top vibration damper, and the front engine mount. Some was done by a mechanic, just to get it running, but it seemed pretty sluggish, even after the plugs were changed.

After I got it home, the water pump blew. The pump and timing belt and pulleys look fairly new, but I'm replacing them any way since you have to do all the work to get to the pump, and as said many times on the thread, its cheap insurance. When I started to pull things apart, I noticed that the TB tensioner (mechanical), was way too tight, which probably wore out the water pump. I pulled the harmonic balancer because I needed the clearance to get to the front chassis bolt on the engine mount, and its really the only way to see the crankshaft and engine block markings. I am taking pictures and am planning to add a lessons learned post to add to the already rich supply of how to's.

mindshadow · Post by **mindshadow** » 23 Feb 2010, 08:42

diyer97 wrote:
mindshadow wrote:I just spoke with my local Volvo dealership and they're offering to do everything except the water pump for $380. Sounds like a decent-enough deal, I might just let them do it for that price.
This quote sounded too good with a dealer. My mechanic,not a Volvo certified tech,(his shop
does all domestic & foreign including Volvo) quoted me from $550-$600 for
the belts (T-belt & S-belt),idler,water pump...I believed some online site selling a T-belt package parts that's already close to $300 so I wonder ??
I'm still pondering over the ideas of replacing the T-belt system myself but at the same time I want to do it to gain some experience and save some $$ in tough time.

Just an update on this, I got the job done and sure-enough, $375 for them to change the t-belt and the pulley. They said something else was worn (I forgot now and don't feel like grabbing the invoice) so they changed that. Total was about $488 for everything. I was blown away that a dealer would do it for that cheap.

850 140k Major Maintenance

Re: 850 140k Major Maintenance