I changed my timing belt at 105,000 miles. I never really was able to find the crankshaft mark. In fact, on the Volvospeed page, where he says " Finding the little cut out in the valley of the crankshaft gear is difficult.", I can't see what mark he is talking about, despite the closeup.

On my car, one of the crank teeth has a little notch on the engine side of the tooth, but it is on the tooth itself, not in the valley between the teeth. The way my car is currently set up, when the cam timing marks are in position, that notch on the crank tooth is half a tooth past the mark on the block. (Meaning that the next valley past that tooth is lined up with the mark on the block).

I have driven the car 2,000 miles since then, and it runs fine, but my gas mileage seems to have dropped slightly. Does it sound like my cam timing is retarded by one tooth?

I had the same problem. Following the Vadis instructions/pics and the Volvospeed instructions/pics I was unable to find the mark on the crank pullery/gear. I am convinced there was not one to be found.

Then I checked in with my Haynes manual again and saw that the picture in that book showed the mark not 'in a valley in the crank pulley t-belt gear' but rather on the 'hub' that the s-belt crank pulley is mounted on. Since the s-belt crank pulley is shaped like a bowl (and mounts at the 'front' and curves 'back' towards the engine around the hub it's mounted to) it almost entirely covers this part of the 'hub' and thus almost entirely covers the mark.

When I looked for a mark in this location I did find it, but it was damn hard to see. I had to get the light in just the right spot so it would throw the light way down there and get in behind the crank pulled as I described, but yet still be able to see past the trouble-light housing.... it took some finangling. I had to position my head with my forehead on top of the t-belt cover above the cams and my eyes as close to the t-belt cover as possible without letting the t-belt cover obscure my view of the crank pulley. Luckily I had a friend with me who turned the engine for me. It would have been a pretty arduous process if I would have had to turn the engine as well as all that wrestling/repositioning.

If I ever think to do it I will maybe scan that picture and post it up here so you can better see what I mean.

PS - it would be a cinch to see it if the crank pulley was removed, which I suspect is part of the official volvo procedure.
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1998 V70 AWD Turbo 195k+

I just saw a post on MVS that shows a good pic of where the mark is:
http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=21020

search the page for "Top Dead Center" to find the pic.
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1998 V70 AWD Turbo 195k+

It is actually quite easy to remove the crank pulley. The outer pulley is a bolt-on, not a press fit. I removed the nut, and started using a puller, bolt down to the holes where the 4 bolts go, and realized that I was pulling the timing belt sprocket off the crank. When I unbolted the puller, the pulley just came right off, and I tapped the sprocket back into place.

From the look of the Haynes manual, it is possible that the roll pin, which locates the pulley on the sprocket, and is easily visible, may lineup with the timing mark. I'll have to check.

You did it correctly, not to worry. The mark is in a bad location and not visible to most humans.

As for your MPG drop, check your brakes first. Don't want to have a stuck caliper somewhere.

Klaus
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I am not a mechanic, so can you trust what I type?