850 timing parts manufacturers?

johnnyfd · Post by **johnnyfd** » 08 Apr 2025, 12:44

Does anyone have experiences lately with which manufacturers are being used by which companies and which manufacturers Volvo is using for their timing parts? I know who Volvo and other companies were using about 10 or 15 years ago, but I suspect there have been many changes considering how disrupted manufacturing has become in the last few years. I'd also like to know any recent experiences with quality or noticeable lack thereof. I don't think I need any information about water pumps because that seems to have already been clarified for me.
I find it difficult to get clear information about who's manufacturing what from online parts sellers. As an example: FCP does not guarantee that a part will be sourced from the country that they currently have listed. They're "genuine Volvo" timing belt kit just lists Slovakia as country of origin, the idler roller does not appear to have the INA insignia on it like it used to and where the genuine Volvo timing belt is sold separately it lists the country of origin as Germany.

454cid · Post by **454cid** » 08 Apr 2025, 23:33

Two-ish years ago, I bought the Aisin kit for my 96. It was all INA parts, plus an Aisin pump, and the one surprise was a US made Gates belt.

One of the new INA pulleys didn't exactly match the old INA part, but I didn't see any obvious quality problems with it. The belt would drift slightly, but I've never gone back to look at it, and I've had no issues. I'd buy the kit again. It seemed to be as Volvo as the original Volvo parts, to me.

V50M66 · Post by **V50M66** » 09 Apr 2025, 08:07

INA for all tensioners and idlers, Aisin for the water pump and hydraulic tensioner (-98), belt most likely Continental

Post by **Sveedy** » 09 Apr 2025, 13:45

I just bought all of this stuff in the last week or two. INA for pulley and tensioner, Aisin for the pump, and Volvo for the belt.
I couldn't see spending the additional money for new water pump bolts. They certainly aren't under much torque, and I'm confident that I can seal them adequately.

johnnyfd · Post by **johnnyfd** » 09 Apr 2025, 14:05

From all the looking into this I've done (too much) I agree that those manufacturers seem to be the most reliable for those parts, but that's not really what I'm asking. As a more specific example of what I've tried to get at: I would like to buy the parts from FCP because they generally seem to have what I want and are fairly close to me, but they don't have a tensioner bearing sold individually as INA. They do have one listed as genuine Volvo but this brings me back to my question which manufacturer are they using currently. They used to use INA, but Volvo has been switching to a lot of Chinese manufacturers for their parts(they are now a Chinese company after all) so I'm asking for recent purchase experiences. Same with the Asin tensioner. FCP does not list a tensioner sold separately by this manufacturer. Only a genuine Volvo which used to be Aisin. What about now?
FCP will not give definite answers to these questions.
IPD has some listings that can help the situation but they are out of stock and on the other side of the country! It might take 2 weeks or more to get a part and I need the part much sooner than that. I really hope someone can help me figure this out because my belt does not look like it's going to hold out much longer and it's scary!
I don't know who makes the Volvo branded belt either so I decided to just go with the Continental branded one because I trust them.

Post by **misha** » 09 Apr 2025, 15:01

Whatever you decide about timing belt...just make sure it's fresh.
Date of production is printed on both...Volvo & Continental belt.

johnnyfd · Post by **johnnyfd** » 09 Apr 2025, 15:12

Good tip Misha!
I hadn't thought of that, but in hindsight I should have considering all rubber (even fiber reinforced) has a lifespan and that is the alternate part of the timing belt's change interval.
What is acceptable freshness? Up to one year? 2 years?

Post by **abscate** » 09 Apr 2025, 19:30

The average driver drives 12,000 miles a year. That means in 8 years you hit the 105k timing belt service interval. There is also a 12 year cap on thst intervsl, so a 1-4 year old belt for the average driver will be replaced on the same interval on time

I’m convinced the belts fail on use , not in time , based on several experiences of belts running 150-180k miles over long periods, like 14-15 years

johnnyfd · Post by **johnnyfd** » 09 Apr 2025, 20:52

Aren't the later 850s on a 70,000 mile 7-year interval with a time "cap" of 10 years?
My current genuine Volvo belt has about 70,000 miles and is about 10.5 years old and it's backside has hairline cracks where it goes around pulleys. I think it's running and thermal stresses have been fairly normal although I was sort of a lead foot for a while and the timing cover does have a gap in it on the turbo side which I plan to take care of when I put the new parts in. The front cover is slightly warped and I already have the replacement.

aeg · Post by **aeg** » 09 Apr 2025, 23:33

So it sounds like your goal isn't to find the OEM parts that match the Volvo blue box parts... You want to find Volvo blue box parts that match the OEM parts!

Looks like this guy has the INA tensioner pulley: https://www.ebay.com/itm/387714570129

I've never dealt with that seller, caveat emptor.

FCP's FEB-22143 tensioner is described as "Aisin OE Volvo part in Febi Packaging".