1998 V70 timing question cams vs crank Topic is solved

dynamaniac · Post by **dynamaniac** » 24 Jun 2017, 20:08

I'm nearly done with a timing belt / water pump replacement for my 1998 Volvo V70 N/A, and I just realized that the crank/oil pump alignment is slightly ahead of my lined-up camshaft marks. With the cam marks aligned with the upper timing cover, the two nicked teeth in the crank line up just beyond the oil pump mark. I've rotated the engine a few times and it still looks like this. (If anything it looks like the trailing nicked tooth is aligned with the oil pump mark). When I first started this job earlier today, I also had noticed that the oil pump/crank were lined up just ahead of the aligned cams, so I don't think anything changed during the job.

[edit] I re-read all the one tooth off posts and have come to better accept my predicament. So now my question is, how should I proceed given that I've already pulled the pin on the tensioner?

Thanks!

Post by **rspi** » 25 Jun 2017, 13:23

The most important mark is the crank. With the crank on it's mark, how far off are the cams? If neither is more than 1/2 tooth off, you're fine. If either is 1+ mark off, I'd pull the tensioner and reset.

As many have said and I've seen myself (actually done myself), the car will run fine one tooth off either cam. Ran our S70 like this for 50,000 miles.

dynamaniac · Post by **dynamaniac** » 25 Jun 2017, 13:44

Thanks, rspi. I'm thinking I should pull the tensioner and try again. I'm attaching an image of the cams' alignment when the crank is centered on the oil pump mark.

Since the crank is ~1 full tooth off the oil pump mark when the cams are aligned, the cams themselves are collectively ~1.5-2 teeth off when the crank is aligned. Le sigh... a lesson in (im)patience with wanting to finish the job.

For future reference, can I rotate the crank with the belt on but the tensioner disengaged to align everything? (That is, when I do release the tensioner, can I reasonably expect the cams and crank to retain their pre-tensioned alignment?)

Post by **erikv11** » 25 Jun 2017, 14:59

Yep, I would pull the tensioner on this one.

If you find it difficult to get the belt tight over the cams, cheat them a 1/2 tooth clockwise just to get the belt on. Then when you pull the pin, everything will be perfect.

I'm not fully understanding your last question, but (a) always keep the crank spot on the mark, never mess with that, you can then do whatever you need with the cams with no trouble and (b) see my comment above - if the belt is tight the cams and crank will remain exactly in phase after you pull the pin, but if there is some slack in the belt they will not.

Post by **kahl** » 25 Jun 2017, 19:15

Plus on what Erikv11 posted. What are you using to lock the cams?

dynamaniac · Post by **dynamaniac** » 29 Jun 2017, 08:15

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I didn't lock the cams, but they did not move during the job (I'm now pretty certain the timing was about a tooth off before I began). I did pull the tensioner and realign the cams to be in sync with the oil pump/crank alignment, and then finished putting things back together, and the car has since been running great. Glad I slowed down to make sure everything was spot on, it gave me a lot more confidence when I finally fired her up