My 95 855 has a sticker that says the timing belt should be replaced at 70 K. I'm currently at 108K and dont have much power. So I figure the belt is probably stretched out pretty good. I'm trying to see if its worth sending it in or doing it myself.

I've done timing belts in other cars but was wondering if anyone has done one themselves, how long it took or can recommend instructions or what repair manuals you would recommend. (I hate Hayes manuals I had one for a Subaru and it use to always say. "a special tool is needed bring it to the shop"

Yes it can be done at home but from the Haynes manual it looks like you'll need to fabricate a camshaft holding tool and two upper cover pull down tools. You'll also need The Volvo sealing compound and a roller brush which are available at a dealership.

I'd strongly recommend buying at least the Haynes manual for general information, looking at the Bay 13 procedures for particulars and doing it SOON!

A broken belt means $$$$ as these are interference engines.
--
Erwin in Memphis, '95855t, '86 Guzzi LeMans, '76 Montesa 348 Cota

It is very forward go to www.volvospeed.com look under timing belt replacement it have all the pictures and step by step unstruction...


yes you can do it...

you're on borrowed time and it's na interference engine.

should you chose to have it done, it's probably a 350-400 job

I replaced my timing belt about 2 weeks ago at 73,000 miles (96 850 NA). This was the first timing belt I ever replaced, and I thought it was easy, because I followed the directions from bay13 (www.volvospeed.com). It took me about 3 1/2 hours total, because I was slow and careful, and referred back to the directions frequently. I could probably do it in about 2 hours now.

Get the belt from the dealer to make sure you have the correct one. As this is an interference engine, it's not worth the risk of putting a non-oem belt in to save $10.

Good lighting is critical - the timing marks are there, just very fine and they can be hard to see.

Good luck!

-Joe

Did you need any special tools? if so what were they?

did you use the Vovlo sealant that bay 13 talks about?

I need t ochange mine and hate to pay 300 labor to have it done.

Dan

Dan,

Sorry for the delay - I was out of town.

No, the closest thing to a special tool I used was a 1"x1"x1/8" square of steel stock I used to release the serpentine belt tensioner. I just put it in the tensioner diagonally and held it with a large adjustable crescent wrench. It was a lot cheaper than the $29.95 tool that IPD sells! :-) I also just used a 9" "C" clamp to compress the hydraulic tensioner for the timing belt, and used a drill bit of the proper size to lock it into place. I compressed it very slowly, and it probably took about 20 minutes. All other tools were basic sockets I've had for 20+ years.

I don't recall seeing anything on the bay13 site regarding a special Volvo sealant applicable to the timing belt change - can you send me some more detail about this?

Bottom line - if you are somewhat comfortable working on your car (have changed brake pads, plugs, transmission fluid/filter), and are somewhat detail oriented, then you should not have any major difficulty changing your timing belt. However, if you do it wrong, you WILL trash your engine. It's not difficult, but if you don't have the confidence, either get a friend to help, or take it to a good shop. If you do this, it really is a good feeling when the engine first starts up - the satisfaction of a job well done.

You may want to replace the serpentine belt at the same time. It has to be removed anyway, and it's probably as old as the timing belt....

Good luck!

-Joe

thanks for the details of the tools needed, i saw on Bay13 something about volvo sealent should be used, but i do not remember the details. i will look again and to repost my findings.

So the bottom line is if I can handle most jobs short of pulling the engine then i should have no problem changing the belt at home.

I will probably take on this job next weekend.

Dan

I didn't use any sealant when I replaced mine. I don't know what that would be used for. I didn't encounter any sealant when I removed everything, so why would I need any to put anything back?

As far as compressing the tensioner, a c clamp will work, but perhaps a bench vise would be safer. And yes, you must do it slowly. I spent about 7 or 8 minutes doing mine, slow turn by slow turn. You don't want to blow those internal seals. :)

On a side note, some volvo designs leave me guessing as to what they were thinking. The timing cover, however, is a WONDERFUL design. You remove one bolt and the entire cover lifts right out. Genius! I build Toyota Camry and Avalon V6 engines and the timing covers on those are NOT intended to be user serviceable. It's a two-section cover. The top section is held on with about 8 tiny bolts. The bottom small section is behind the crank pulley, so you have to remove it before you can even take the cover off and remove the timing belt! What a horrible design.

kevin

Listen, I build v-6 engines for a living, and I have never heard this term before. What the heck is an interference engine?

An interferance engine is one that has valves and pistons that will clash or "interfere" with each other if they get out of sync, for instance if the timimg belt breaks.

A broken timing belt will probably total most 850s
--
2 8s & 2 7s 600,000 miles total

Ah.

:)

kevin