It is coming up to the mileage where I see I need to change the timing belt on my '96 turbo,(66K at the moment) and the indie shop who is going to do the work have suggested that it would be a good idea to have the water pump renewed at the same time, which looks like adding another $150 approx. to the cost. Would appreciate the comments of the experts, do they think this is a good idea?
Many thanks,
The Bear

unless there is coolant leaking from waterpump seals behind the timing belt, don't mess with it. I changed my timing belt myself last year at 70K miles and my water pump looked great, you know the old saying if it aint broke don't fix it?

i have close to 120K miles on my car with original waterpump and no problems (knock on wood) so far.

you may want to change the timing belt tensioner, but mine still had a lot of hydraulic pressure in it so i left it alone.

Dan
97 850 GLT Turbo

The general concensus is that the Volvo water pump is built well, and will last >>70k. My car was an exception, however! My pump started leaking about 5k after I replaced the timing belt. If you want to go with the odds, then don't replace it. Just keep in mind that life is statistical.

Gerald C

I just put my 97 850 in an independent shop for a "Coolant Leak" that I couldn't find the source of. It turned out that the it was the water pump. The car had 68K on it and was due for a timing belt replacement anyway. Since it was leaking, the logical thing was to replace everything at once. I agree with everyone else here, if its not leaking, why replace it. Save your money and use it on for something else.



Take care

Don

I've been on this board for a couple of years now and I have yet to read a single post concerning a water pump failure. The only time I read about water pumps is when someone asks this eact question.

Don't bother. Save your money.

The water pumps have been (rarely) known to seize and shred the timing belt. Hard to believe there wouldn't be some warning before that, although anything is possible. Unless it's leaking or loose, I'm not planning on replacing my water pump....the one thing that you mightconsider doing (in fact, I plan for my next timing belt change) is the timing belt tensioner.

-Punxsutaney Phil

Does your water pump leaking? making noise? if not, dont replace it...
At 66K, your brick is almost " brand new " !!
--
Dennis

I hear volvo makes a very good water pump and that you'd be wasting your money on replacing it. Most other cars should get it replaced at timing belt change but not the volvo.