How long does it take to replace the timing belt on a 1987 Volvo

This is my first time never done this before..

I do have a haynes book with me...

any tip??? any thing I should know before I get into ???

Thanks for all your help and support

Happy new year...

It take about a hour and a half for me. I remove the four nuts from the pulley and get the fan and shroud out of the way.

Then the v belts from the other equipment. Remove the plastic cover and roll the engine around with a socket wrench on the bottom pulley in the direction of the way the engine runs until all the marks on the pulleys line up on the block.

Loosen the tensioner and push it back. Put a allen wrench in the hole of the shaft that holds it back and remove it. Slip off the belt. Clean the tensioner and the seating surfaces where it fits.

Lining up the marks on the belt to all the cam and distributor marks without moving anything and having no excess slack between (tooth to tooth). You will have to study the crankshaft pulley just a little bit here. The marks on the belt will not fit up exactly. You estimate the fit up by counting the teeth from the belts painted line to the teeth that touch on the pulley. Count from the contact point on the pulley back on the pulley to the line on the block and the pulley notch, as if the belt were laid back into them. Release the tensioner to the belt.

It all about putting it back together. As far as seals go if they don't leak or sweat oil excessivly now, leave it alone. It is usually a slow to start thing that you can plan to fix when needed. Even then, I would make sure that the flame trap is clean and no excessive crankcase pressure was the problem. Then again, unless you have a lots of time and money and want to be busy. The tensioner goes for a long time but, if you heard or start hearing a whinning noise porportionate to engine speed then its a sign of needed replacement. The water pump replacement is a tough one. The gasket to the head is the thing to watch for seepage. If the pump has 100,000mi or more I would give it some thought. To just change a gasket set then have it start making bearing noise 10,000mi later puts a dent in the old back side ,if you know what I mean!

The Haynes book is the best book for the money but I also have the Bently Service books for a better technical reference. Good for fuel injection book too, if your into better printing and follow up learning. VCOA had good pricing at the time I got mine. Shop around.

I did mine for the first time about a year ago and had to do it about 5 times. I must be a moron. The first time took a few hours. I did replace all the seals, but not the water pump. I replaced the water pump once on a '74 140 I owned and never could get it to stop leaking, so I will wait until this water pump goes before I try it. I bought the tool to hold the crank pulley so you can get the crank pulley bolt off. I got it from Beechmont Volvo for around $40 (maybe less but I don't exactly remember). The biggest pain in the butt was holding the cam and intermediate shafts so I could get the nuts off them to remove the pulleys and the seals. I do not have an impact wrench so I used the old timing belt and channel locks to make a homemade strap wrench. It was not fun. I also needed a helper for this part.

When I got it back together it wouldn't run right. So I took it apart again and found that the intermediate shaft had moved a little. It is difficult to see the mark on that shaft and the alignment mark on the block or case. After getting it back together it ran, but leaked oil. I didn't have the crank seal in properly. It doesn't seat against anything, so you have to be careful not to put it in too far. Mine was crooked, I had a feeling it wasn't going to work and it didn't. So I bought another one and went to the hardware store and got a PVC pipe cap end (I think it was 2") to help me hammer it in straight. It worked. I used Redline pre assembly lube or something like that on the seals. It is a paste type lube in a jar used for assembling engines. I used it on the '74 B20F engine I rebuilt. It actually ran after I got done with it.

I got to where I could get the car apart in about 20 minutes.

Good luck!

1. Make sure you use quality parts. I get mine from a Volvo dealer or IPD.

2. Make sure you have all the necesary tools before you start.

3. Removing the radiator will give you more room to work and preclude the possibility of puncturing it with a slipped wrench, etc.

4. You might as well replace the timing belt tensioner and the cam seal, intermediate shaft seal, and crank front seal while you have it apart. It's also a good time to replace the radiator hoses and the P/S, alternator, and A/C belts if they're old. If the rubber mounting bushings in you alternator and power steering pump are all soft, replace them too. They're not expensive. Replacing all of these parts at the same time will eliminate the need to do them later. A broken belt or blown radiator hose is not fun when it happens in the middle of nowhere.

5. Take your time and allot plenty of time for the job. I'm an experienced mechanic, and this job took me about 5 hours the first time, including replacing all of the above parts.

\Good Luck,

Colin

Hi,

Here are a few things that I found made the job easier:

At some tool stores you may find a quarter or 3/8 in. socket drive to fit into the drill like a power screwdriver bit. I bought mine at Wal-Mart. (hey, it was on clearance) If you chuck this into a drill it makes very short work of your alternator belt tension adjustment. It's also makes short work of using big stove pipe hose clamps to clamp the battery to the battery tray. :-> Wal-Mart has a speeder socket drive that looks like a regular socket drive with a T-handle at the end. Turn the handle and spin the socket. This works great on the air conditioner belt tension adjustment.

If you happen to have bought your new belt at Autozone, it was probably made by Kelly and the timing marks on the belt will line up if the print on the belt is upside-down as seen from the front of the engine.

I use a piece of metal braced against the floor and jammed against the metal "blocks" on the torque converter to immobilize the crank shaft so I can get the pulley off. don't forget you'll have to move your brace to the other side to tighten and torque the crank pulley.

And here's the *BIG* tip:

Check your been timing belt tension pulley. It's another $46 new from Voluparts, but if it's bad, your new timing belt will break in a mile.

GRAVY! if you do them all the time they take about 20 minutes for a no turbo. if you milk it, you can make it take two hours.

How many hours of labor would a Volvo shop likely charge to change the t-belt and front seals?

thanks.

Michael wrote:

> How many hours of labor would a Volvo shop likely charge to change

> the t-belt and front seals?

According to the service records, my car's PO paid $122 in labor to replace the t-belt and seals last time. That was just labor. But it was 13 years ago. I'd be curious myself as to what it costs now.

I need to look at the few service records that came with my car to see when my t-belt was last changed, if it has even been done recently. My car has 143,000 miles, so I'm getting ready to have the belt changed at 150K to get it back on schedule (lots of stuff on my car was neglected when I bought it). $122 13 years ago sounds like 3+ hours, give or take. I pay $61/hr, so I guess it'll be about $200 total parts and labor.

thanks.

I just replaced one about a month ago in my 87 240dl with 140000mi.It was my first time and with the use of my Hayes manual ( before I found out about Bentley) it took me @4hrs. but I did spark plugs ,wires, distrbutor & rotor while I was into it. My biggest problem came when I broke the ac belt adjusting bolt and had to drive 20 miles round trip to get a new one. Again I am a newbie at this sort of task, but I enjoyed spending that time with my baby knowing that she will give me another 140000 miles.

Doesn't Volvo recommend changing the timing belt every 50,000 miles? 140,000 miles is too many to plan on w/o a belt replacement.

Yes Les you are correct in the Volvo recommendation of changing the timing belt every @ 50k mi.When I was stating that I could go another 140k mi.I was speaking of the improving the extended life of my car and not the next time that I change my timing belt. I will change my belt again at @ 190k mi. or before.Sorry for the misunderstanding and thanks fot the input.Dan

Dan,

From my experience the timing belt is living on borrowed time when it develops a pattern of cracks on the smooth side.

Just thought I'd check in here having replaced mine for the first time this past weekend. Overall a pretty easy job as long as you make certain to line up all of the timing reference points correctly - otherwise you find that you can do it the second time around even faster!

You can probably get by without removing the radiator, took it out the first time, didn't the second, had no difficulty.

Let me know if you have any problems.

Mrsha, It’s been years since I did a Brick timing belt, Only just got a new old Brick a few weeks ago,if you get what I mean. Don’t know how long it should take but if you follow the Haynes you should be all right just take your time. I think all the pros on this board will say replace all the front seals at this time and I would agree with them. Good luck.

I just did my timing belt and seals, for the first time, last weekend. If I did it over, I would leave the seals be. There's enough to pay attention to the first time around, and they'll probably make it the next 50,000 miles. The whole thing took me a long, long time.