Hi all, brand new to the board but have used the extremely useful info posted here to guide me in my recent purchase of a v70GLT. Here's my tale of woe: I got the car on Friday, carfax etc all kosher, but time/convenience issues made me buy before having my mechanic check it out (d'oh!). However, the used car dealership gave the 30 day/1k warranty and I also had him put in writing that I was getting it checked by my guy and any problems discovered would be dealer's responsibility. So on monday I take it to my guy and the first thing he asks me is has the timing belt been changed. Of course in my haste to move on what I thought was a great deal I forgot that it's 70k for the 98 t-belt, not 105k (d'oh! d'oh!). So the dealer of course says he doesn't want to replace the belt, because technically the part isn't "inoperable" as laid out in the warranty. I obviously beg to differ, to me, driving a car with an expired t-belt is like drinking expired milk. Maybe you won't get sick... but odds are overwhelming that you will and it ain't gonna be cute when it happens. Anyone else think this qualifies as a warranty issue? Or not? Thanks

These threads explain which models have what kind of tensioners:

http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/chat/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2994

Klaus
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(V♂LV♂s 1975 164, 1995 854T, 1998 V70R)

There is a tensioner change in 1998, around May I think, and if you have the new style T belt it is good for 105K, the old style is good for 70K.
It is a maintenance item, just like an oil change or brake pads. You will have to bite the bullet. Had you known this was an issue, you could have deducted half of the cost from the purchase price (to be fair), but after the sale -- buyer beware.

Klaus
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(V♂LV♂s 1975 164, 1995 854T, 1998 V70R)

The belt itself is like $27 at FCP Groton, I gotta agree it's a maintenance item, not a repair item. You also imply it's a used car dealer, not a Volvo dealer. If it were a Volvo dealer and they sold me the car I'd push it to the max, they SHOULD know.

But a typical used car dealer doesn't know if it's a 30,000 mile belt or a 125,000 mile belt.

-BTC

'98 V70 T5 5-speed, 167k mi, front IPD stabilizer bar, rear factory HD bar, Bilstein HD, Volvo strut tower brace and skidplate, e-codes, V-1, Mobil-1 since new

"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools." -- Douglas Noel Adams (1952-2001)

Sorry but I believe you're going to have to bite the bullet on this one...not really that expensive though. At the first TB change, just the belt needs changing...just check the tensioner, but probably doesn't need replacing until the next time.
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1998 S70 T5 Emarald Green Metallic, 2004 V70 2.5T Ruby Red, Previous Owner of Black '94 850 Turbo Wagon. My cars have been running so well lately they've got me worried.

I tend to agree with the other two guys on this one. It would be one thing if you had something in writing regarding maintenance services but it does not sound like you do. The blanket statement of "anything my technician finds wrong with it" probably will not hold much water. I did a pre-purchase on one yesterday for a private party deal and I found an honest $6,000.00 worth of repairs on a '97 non-turbo 850! You have already figured out your biggest error was in not getting it checked out. If the T-belt is your only issue then it is probably just as well because a used car lot is probably going to have some second rate hack put your belt in.

Mark

Thanks for the advice, I told my guy to go ahead and switch it out and to my surprise, he called about a 1/2 hour later and told me the existing t-belt looked brand new. bullet dodged, right? till this afternoon, when it died on me due to a bad air flow sensor. but i guess there's not much you can do in the way of predicting that. just a bit of bad luck i suppose. hopefully my next post will be in a few weeks when all is well and i'm loving the car. my fingers are crossed...