my 97 960 in good shape. I have in the past replaced the timing belt at the 70m mile change intervals as recomended. I also changed the water pump at the last belt change at 140m miles. I have not changed the belt tensioner or the belt rollers, the car now has 196m miles and running well. I'm leaning towards changing the belt early to take care of these other concerns, the question is , am I playing on borowed time or should I wait till the 210m change interval to take place before changing these old parts out with new pcs?
Poolman

I did the 140K tbelt and at that time did the water pump and the tensioner but not the tensioner pulley or the idler. I am not that worried about them going south, probably will do the next tbelt when it gets near 200k. Probably do the other parts as well (maybe not the tensioner itself though). Also do the serpentine belt at the same time.

Has the radiator been replaced on this car? They tend to go at the filler necks and an overheated 960 is not a happy 960. Have fun.
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97 S90 with 176K miles still going strong

Based on information and experience from folks on this site and other Volvo sites, the recommended exchange interval for the T-belt 'tensioner' is 140K miles on these cars.

I also changed both the 'tensioner pulley' and the 'idler pulleys' as well at the second belt change just to be safe. I rotated the idler pulley while still on the engine and it seems to roll fine, no wobbles or unusual noises but after I took it off and compared it's roll characteristics with the new pulley you could deffinitely 'feel' and 'hear' the play in the pulley (at 153k). That doesn't mean it would fail before the next change but why take a chance.

Bottom line : If your T-belt tensioner and the two T-belt pulleys have more than 140k miles, I would recommend changing them sooner than later.

DEWFPO
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1998 S90 070,050 and 1995 964 153,010

Thanks Dewfpo, I'm thinking the same thing, you say there are two
timing belt pulleys heh. I'm wondering if this is one I should try to tackle or
have it done at the shop?
Thanks again for the reply
Poolman

Hi Poolman,

If you've changed the T-belt yourself, than replacing each pulley is an additional one bolt more to remove. Two bolts total extra to remove. The T-belt idler pulley requires a good quality torx head socket, can't remember the size at the moment, but if you need it I can go check in the garage.

You can certainly do this yourself, the 900 FAQ's has a good write up and I've got a detailed procedure that I wrote up as well if you'd like it.

DEWFPO
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1998 S90 068,300 and 1995 964 152,300

Thanks Dewfpo, I've never changed the timing belt on the car ,always had a shop do it, But I'm thinking I should give it a try this time. I'm getting the parts from Grotten, do they sell quality parts for these cars?
You mentioned that you had written a list on how to do this procedure
sure would like to see that and study a little on what I'm getting into.
Shouldn't be to hard though as long as I'm carefull.
Do the cam pulleys come off while doing this change? That is the thing I'm
most concerned about if the do come off I understand there are three ways they can go back on.
Poolman

Hi Poolman,

When it comes to the timing belt and it's components I only trust Volvo OE parts.

I sent you a PM with the instructions I wrote. Check out the 900FAQ's as well for additional information.

The cam pulleys DO NOT have to come off to change the t-belt and the associated hardware.

Just take your time and be careful. Many Brickboarders have done it.

DEWFPO
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1998 S90 068,300 and 1995 964 152,300