Called the local Indy shop today to check on the price for getting the front crankshaft seal on my kid's 244 replaced. This seems to be the source of the oil leak on this car. They told me that while they were doing that, I should get all three seals and the timing belt replaced. The car has about 150K (Odometer broken) and I know nothing of the service history.

They quoted me $220 for the work. They are, by all accounts, the best Volvo shop in Northern San Diego County.

I'm thinking of trying to tackle this job myself. Per the Haynes manual, it doesn't look too hard. Probably not as bad as the rear rollup windows on my 61 Impala bubbletop.

Two questions. What are the other two seals? Are there any nasty parts of this job I may not be aware of?
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Blane Gardner Couple of Volvos, Couple of Toyota Vans, and an Old Chebby

Blane......this is so easy, an ELT or SINS tech can do it......good advice given so far....also check the 700/900 faq...a B230 is a B230....
Make sure to get your kid involved....I had my 19 y/o help (?) me with this and
a few other items....she learned a lot and got some confidence in her abilities.
Plenty of places to get the parts online..cheap.......Have fun. J.

Peter's advice is comprehensive and accurate. Esp the impact wrench part if you're going to cheat for time. I've never had a problem with one, and even the dealers are using them on B230 engines. You're not supposed to, though.

If you have an auto trans, you can blast the nut off with a breaker bar, using the starter of the car (briefly!). Don Foster sent me some good information about that method a long time ago, and I used it several times. Works like a charm.

The seals are simple. The crank seal is kind of a pain to put in, so here's a tip: Clean out the seal housing with brake cleaner or something like that. Just wipe it in there; don't spray it (obviously). If the outer seating part of the seal is dry, and the bore is relatively grease-free, you can gently tap the thing in around the circumference, and it will seat perfectly every time.

I'm sure you can do it--but this is a little piece of advice after trying it way too many times with the outer lip smeared with RTV sealant. It does seal well, but it also slides all over the place if you're trying to seat the seal.

The intermediate shaft seal is a breeze. In and out. Same size as cam seal.

Both the intermediate shaft seal and the cam pulleys have to come off. I use a rubber-coated strap wrench to take them off (when an impact is impractical or unavailable). You could probably devise another method, however that one seems to be a good answer. It's a good piece, and I payed up for it. Never failed me yet.

Like Peter said, do the pump if it's a leaker or if there's play in the bearing. If the tensioner is a noisemaker, you should dump that one too... although they can go on for a while like that.

Because I'm kind of a screw-up on seal jobs, I try to have a spare crank and intermediate (or camshaft) seal lying around in case I really make a mess of one of them. That's the worst feeling you've ever experienced, not having a spare of one of the cheapest parts.

All of that said, I love doing the B230 timing belts. The other day some guy showed up at 10:30 wanting a timing belt. He had an appointment at 12:30. At 11:45 he was out the door, and that was a Turbo automatic. It's fun and easy. The only thing is getting those bolts and pulleys off. Very possible, but if anything is going to hold you up, it'll be that. Also sometimes getting the accessory belts (esp A/C) off is a pain. You can run the A/C belt off with a big screwdriver and turning the engine over with a breaker bar. That does the trick. The others should loosen easily.

Have fun.

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chris herbst, five volvos.

chris,

read your posts often, thanks for all the help. did my own tb last weekend on a 91 240. used impact wrench, crank pulley nut came off in a micro second. when i went to put it on, it dawned on my, how am i gonna torque it without someway to hold the crank...any ideas or suggestions?

btw, i finally just hit it with the impact wrench and as soon as the crank started to turn (another micro sec), i stopped. it seemed tight when i turned the engine with a breaker bar. i drove 500 miles with it this weekend, so i am confident it isn't coming off. But, i always feel better if i torque to spec.

See the posting on Feb12th : "What is the Rope Trick"

Several of us put our 2c in.

To summarise: It's not hard and you can choose the rope trick or use the starter to loosen the balancer bolt.

Good Luck,
MORMIT
1985 245DL 230,000mi "Inga"
2002 S40 2,000mi "Sigfreid"

No part of this job is out of your reach. The hardest part is getting the main crankshaft bolt off. Some use the rope trick, others are fortinate enough to have manual transmissions. I am just daring and use an impact wrench. The timming belt is easy, Generally people reccomend replacing the tensioner at your mileage, and if the water pump is at all quesionable, do that too. Before you start any of this, however, make sure the flame trap isn't the source of your problems. Good luck.


Peter

I also getting ready to do mine (belt only) on my 1985 240 220k mile as it has been 5 years and about 60k miles and my other belts are in dire need of changing. The last time I did it a little piece of the key which holds the crank pulley at TCD broke. I wound up setting TDC with a dial indicator in the spark plug hole and making a new TDC mark on the pulley. Did anyon else ever have this problem?

What is the difference with manual or automatic in changing timing belt, why is it lucky if you have manual transmission.

The reason a manual tranny car is easier is that by putting the car in gear with the parking brake set, you "freeze" the engine. There must be a problem with the engine rotating when you are trying to get the bolt on the crankshaft pully loose on the cars with an auto transmission.
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Blane Gardner Couple of Volvos, Couple of Toyota Vans, and an Old Chebby