I'd look around the area of the water pump and at the pulleys - all around the front of the engine. If there's any significant sign of oil leakage, plan on replacing the timing belt and the 3 front seals. An oil-soaked belt WILL fail at a much shorter interval, as oil weakens rubber.

The job can be done at home, usually, with normal tools and skill levels. There are some work-around techniques to get the home mechanic through the tougher parts of the job.

If there are NOT oil leaks, and the engine is all nice and clean, you could be lucky and perhaps the belt and seals were serviced recently. The top timing cover should still be removed to make sure the belt is not cracking, and is tensioned correctly.

Any shop should be able to perform this job correctly as well. A Volvo specialty shop should have a couple special tools and expertise needed to make it quick and correct, and make recommendations about other needed service, if they see something while working on the car.

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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: Roterande Fläkt Och Drivremmar!

A couple of 10mm bolts and a phillips head screw hold the top cover on. You won't be able to pull it all the way off, so just pull it back a little and look to see if the belt is showing any cracks, fraying, or other signs of age (oil will shorten the life of the belt). What is the mileage on the car? That might help you approximate the life of the belt if it were changed near the recommended interval. Like my "new" 240 with 142k...I happen to know it got a new belt near 100k, but if I didn't, I could assume it was due at 150k. My other 240 is at 232k, but I did the belt around 150-160k. You can get a lot more than 50k miles out of a belt, but it's only been ~4yr. A friend of mine broke a belt that was 6-7yr old, but had much less than 50k miles (probably only 10-20k).

If in doubt, change it. It's a perfect time to do the front seals, the t-belt tensioner, the water pump, and the v-belts.

Your car has an open diff.
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forums.turbobricks.com
Parting out '84 DL auto, many cheap parts available

Yes Russian Roulette. Take a few hours on the weekend and change it. $18 Belt. The change interval is 50K miles. Getting stuck on the road is never fun.

Open Diffs will give you better tracking the Posi type. Posi's will get you out of snow but if the rear spins, the whole butt of the car is going sideways. There is no 'dead' tire to drag.
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'75 Jeep CJ5 345Hp ChevyPwrd, two motorcycles, '85 Pickup: The '89 Volvo is the newest vehicle I own. it wasn't Volvos safety , it was Longevity that sold me

Hello:

These cars have non-interference engines-- as long as you don't mind paying for a tow when it breaks, you don't have too much to worry about...

The 240's really do track well in snow, but the overwhelming majority don't have limited slip or a locking diff. My '92 245 does much better in snow than my '92 945, which does have a locking diff.

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Herb Goltz, Aurora, Ontario, Canada '92 245 w/130K mi, '92 945T w/200K mi