I am in the process of doing my first timing belt change on this car.
It has 103K miles. The timing belt has 23K miles and is 2 years old.
The tensioner and idler pulleys don't look as if they have ever been replaced.
The tensioner pulley spins well, but the seals are brittle. The idler puller
has good seals, but is sluggish and I can hear the bearings move when I shake it.

The timing belt appears the best of these parts. I can see no cracks or weathering. It looks almost as new as the one that I am replacing it with.

Is there any way to lubricate the bearings?
Do I need to replace the belt if it shows no wear?

The new parts have been installed.
There is a very slight seepage at the
lower left corner of the water pump.
The water pump is a HEPU. I installed it
without using sealant on the gasket.

The original pump is a Volvo and still looks
like new.

Do I need to worry about the seepage, or should I just
monitor the coolant level?

Looks can be deceiving. Every one I've replaced has looked new also.

Regarding the leak/seepage you have observed, what kind of quantity are you seeing? You can get a good idea by dropping down the plastic cover under the engine and looking at how much has collected in the back part of the cover. If you see much in that thing after a couple of days of driving, that amount of leakage could be a problem.

One thing that I have used on both of our 960's is "Bar's Leaks". I put one of the larger sized bottles in each of the cars. The stuff I used is that dark brown stuff that come in a silver bottle. It does well at sealing small leaks and I have never experienced any adverse affects from using it before.

To keep it from gunking up the oveflow tank, I drain & collect about 1/2 gallon of coolant first to fully empty the overflow tank, then shake & pour in the Bar's Leaks so as to get it to go pretty much right hole in the overflow tank & down the hose to the block. Then I use the collected coolant to 'wash it down'.

Leaks of any amount are not very good as the slow seeping flow tends to cause some corrosion/pitting.

Congratulations on a successful timing belt change.

Its hard working without a service manual.
B6304 green manual

Aligning camshaft timing marks page 8. Water pump bolts page 14. Torque specs at the very end.
Dealer service manual PDF

Good luck
Justin

brickboard won't let the hotlink work. You need to cut and paste the link below.

https://blarf.homeip.net/greenbook/album/TP2103201?page=7

Replace the idler on the tensioner, the idler on the intake side and the timing belt. You will be good to go for another 30,000 miles. Pauli

After doing more research on the subject, it appears that the dealer should have
replaced the tensioner and pulleys at 90,000 miles when they replaced the timing belt at purchase.

The tensioner is looking a little wet around the seal. It currently has pressure, but for how long?

The car now has 113,000 miles. I know that only the timing belt has been replaced before.

I just ordered the tensioner, tensioner pulley, idler pulley and water pump from FCP Groton.

When the crankshaft notch is lined up with the TDC mark, the camshafts have white paint marks aligned at the notches as indicated in figure 6 of the Caunters 2.9L six cyl.pdf document. The left pulley M is 5 teeth counter clockwise from the notch. The right pulley M is 12 teeth clockwise from the notch. Is this left over from the last belt change?
Can I safely use these marks or do I need to align the M markings on the camshaft pulleys?

Look carefully at the paint marks. There should be some very small, thin etched lines in the front of the pulleys at the perimeter of the front face. These may be under the paint marks. These very fine etched lines are the factory marks. They are a little hard to see. I like to make them a little deeper with a needle file while I'm there. Then they are easy to see.

The mark on the crank is even harder to see. It is a very small notch at the back side of the crank pulley just behind the ribbed area that the belt rides on. You will need a flashlight to see this one as well as the raised line on the inner plastic piece of the shroud around the timing belt that the crank notch lines up with.

It is possible that you are seeing paint lines that another mechanic has made in a position other than the 'standard' timing position. I've seen this before. As long as you don't move anything, you could do the job at any position. In order to find out if this is the case, you have to find the crank mark. That is always the spot to get set first. The you can figure out if somebody has moved those pulleys around.

Don't forget to do two full revolutions at the crank by hand and re-check the marks BEFORE you start the car. It helps to have the plugs out, but don't let anything fall into those plug holes. Use the plastic cover over the holes to prevent this.

Thank you for the reply.
I read the recent post about a 960 with no timing marks
and saw a similar comment about looking under the white
paint. I looked at the pulleys and the exhaust side
had a very clear mark. The intake side pulley had one
also, just not as distinct. I have verified that the
timing marks on the pulleys are aligned correctly, as well as the
mark on the crankshaft pulley.

The car has been sitting since I noticed the bad condition of the idler pulley bearings. Tomorrow I am going to remove the water pump, while waiting on the
parts to arrive.

Do you have any suggestions or cautions about replacing the water pump?

The only semi-hard part about the water pump is the removal of the old gasket material from the front of the block.

It's mounted low and visibility is somewhat limited. I've had the best success at this in removing all the stuff in the timing belt area that I could, i.e. the idler pulley; the tensioner pulley; tensioner, etc. Then remove one or two bolts fixing the inner plastic cover to the block.

You won't be able to remove the inner plastic cover, but you will be able to pull it away from the block enough to see the front face of the block behind it.

You can then use your skill in the art of using a single edged razor blade very carefully to skin that gasket material off the front of the block.

The hard part is in the region of the dowel pins that align with the pump. It is important to be as exacting as you can because you don't want to have any leaks down there. The gasket shouldn't be glued on, so hopefully you can get it to come off in larger pieces. That's where the skill with the razor blade comes in. You try to lever/shear it at the interface and try not to break into too many pieces if you can avoid it and do NOT gouge the face of the block. If you have some troublesome residue, I've had some success with taking a piece of hardwood like maple and getting a nice sharp corner on a piece and used that to push/chisel/burnish little bits of residue off. It's safe in that it won't gouge the aluminum.

I really like the Volvo gasket material. It's quite soft and somewhat supple for a gasket. It seems like it has good sealing power. Even if you got an aftermarket pump, you can get the Volvo gasket if you want. It's about $1.50. the bolts also need sealing compound on the threads. If you got the Volvo pump, it comes with new bolts and the gasket.

Everything else is reasonably straightforward. Just don't overtorque the screws.

One other trick I was shown on getting the belt on to avoid getting off by a tooth is to put the tensioner in, but don't pull the pin. Wrap the belt around all the pulleys except the top Intake & Exhaust pulleys. Get the belt wrap/routing like it's supposed to be, then ease it over the top Intake & Exhaust pulleys while making sure that the pulling side of the belt on the right is tight. The belt will be tight, but there is just enough slack to get the belt over the pulleys. Then put a piece of cardboard or something against the back of the radiator while you pull the tensioner pin (it helps to prevent knocking a hole in the radiator).

Do your two full revolutions at the crank by hand & re-check the timing marks just to make sure. Then you're ready to start the motor & pat yourself on the back for your accomplishments.

I drained the coolant system and removed the
six bolts from the water pump.

It is still on very securely.

What is the standard procedure to remove and
replace the water pump?

Are any sealants required?

There are seven screws on the water pump. Get your flashlight and mirror and you'll find the remaining screw.

My previous post was incorrect. I did remove seven bolts.
I used a photo of the pump on FCPGroton as a guide.

The pump is still on there like it was cemented in place.

How do you usually pry it off?

You might have to give it a knock or two on the pulley to crack it loose. It should not have any gasket sealing compound or anything on either side of the gasket.

Something like a 1-2 foot piece of 2x4 might work well. Maybe support the pulley with your hand while you deliver a stiff rap or two end on with the wood.

It's still got a couple of guide pins thru the water pump housing so it will have to lever away from the block; it won't slide off.

I would avoid prying against the block if possible.

I appreciate all of the suggestions.
I am going to replace the tensioner and idler pulleys.
I can't afford to replace the water pump and tensioner
right now.

The parts might last 100,000 miles, but I am not sure that I
want to keep the car that long.

One question that hasn't been answered is "How can you tell when a timing belt needs to be replaced by looking at it?".

It seems that every month something new needs to be fixed or replaced.

The known problems right now are:
window riser mechanism not centered in track(if you lower it too much the machanism goes beyond the track and might have to be manually put back in place)

passenger seat controls not working

seats not heating

intermittent coolant leak

defroster vacuum servo causing a/c to cut out during acceleration

ignition buzzer always on when drivers door opened

front door speaker grills won't stay on

drivers seat lumbar knob broken


When I was much younger, Volvo had a reputation for safety and longevity.
I suppose that didn't include reliability and low maintenance.
I like the way that it drives. My wife feels safe in it.
I like the low trunk opening. I am thinking that a 940 would be a better choice. I would like one with a/c, heater, ps, pb, radio, no electrical frills.

What is the best Volvo for safety, reliability, longevity, low maintenance, economy?

There isn't any reliable visual test for a timing belt to assess it's reliability. That's why they specify its safe service period in terms of mileage. Because of the design of the B6304 & 5 cyl variants, it does not pay to guess about this matter. The belt is cheap and pretty easy to change in the rear wheel drive car you're dealing with anyway, so if you don't KNOW it has been changed, then change it.

FCP Groton is a good source for the parts you need. They do sell some aftermarket pulleys that are somewhat cheaper; like ~$50 each vs $75-$80 for the OEM parts. Be aware that if the tensioner shows ANY sign of oil leakage out of the top where the seal is, then you really must replace it. That's ~$110 and I wouldn't trust an afermarket part on that excepting the Febi-Bilstein part, but it costs about what I cited.

I haven't trusted aftermarket water pumps either on this, but I think the Volvo part is only ~$100, which is pretty reasonable for a part that reliably lasts 100k+ miles.

By the way, there is an easy fix to mitigate the A/C syndrome you cited under acceleration. It's as easy as plugging a vacuum hose under the dash on the driver's side.

The car you have has a pretty rugged transmission and rear axle design and has a pretty mechanic-friendly engine layout. The suspension is not very complicated. One has to get more creative with the plastic parts that crack/break. I've had pretty good success with an epoxy/fiberglass mesh reinforcement technique that can be done on the back side of panels in the vicinity of cracks.

For a car to be reliable and have a low cost of ownership, it needs to be simple; very simple. They don't make cars like that anymore, so if you get an old early 60's Mercedes, you'll have a simple car, but it will be 40 years old! It'll still be an adventure.

Thank you for the information.

Your comment about the a/c and vacuum line seem
vaguely familiar. I have done several searches and
looked at the FAQs without success.

Would you provide more information about this in a new topic?

Thank you.

"One question that hasn't been answered is "How can you tell when a timing belt needs to be replaced by looking at it?"."

The reason the question hasn't been answered is because there is no answer. You cannot accurately gauge the remaining lifetime of a timing belt by looking at it.

John

Thank you, John. That is what I told my wife.

While you're there, replace the water pump & tensioner as well.

This whole set of parts will run you $400+ but is cheap insurance against the $2000-$3000 it will cost you if any of them fail. The new parts will be good for another 100k miles.

Throw in a new thermostat as well and new Volvo coolant. That'll only set you back ~$25-$30 and is as easily done at that time.

Just about any sealed bearing can be greased with a grease needle attached to a greasegun, work the needle in around the seal edge.......but considering the disasterous effect of the idler pullies seizing up, this is no place to cheap out, buy new ones ( the grease needle bit works great for driveshaft center support bearings though :-)
--
-------Robert, '93 940t, '90 240 wagon, '84 240 diesel (she's sick) , '80 245 diesel, '86 740 GLE turbo diesel, '92 Ford F350 diesel dually

Given the cost of a new belt versus the cost of a new engine, it would seem that a new belt is a very, very good idea. Replace all the moving parts (rollers, pulleys, etc.) with new units: they are not maintainable.

No, they are sealed and it would probably be best if you just went ahead and replaced them. The early serpentine belt tensioners can be lubed but the timing belt idler and tensioner stuff is sealed.

Mark