Hey guys,

I'm leery of the rope method, and I'd like my first timing belt change to be straight-forward - so I'm looking for a counterhold tool in the Western North Carolina area, to buy or to borrow.

Thanks,

Ari

it`s real easy if you own a manualtransisaion, just put it in high gear and pull the handbreak.
Im not that good on automatics but doesn`t it work by putting it in P or does that only lock the gearbox?
Any how, if you borrow a neighbour and the ask him to lie down under the car with a big screwdriver in the flywheel.
you can counterhold it there but of course you need help you can`t be under and infront of the car on the same time :-)

Claes

The auto trans model only locks the driveshaft in park (the parking pin) - the engine can rev freely (and unfortunately for ZF trans owners).

Can't you break the flywheel doing that?!? And anyways, my neighbor would only do that if I paid him $45. :)

No worries, as soon as I get my next paycheck, I'm nabbing the CH tool.

Ari

head must be empty today of course you can rev the engine while in park.
--
V70 2,5T -98

IMHO You should be leery of the rope trick as it will put counter force on parts it shouldn't.
That said I did not buy a special tool and just used a 1/2" solid socket driver supported/resting on someting solid underneath the car. No spark plugs and crank the starter for a mili-second. That was all she needed to come loose. I worked on this crank/sheave bolt 2 nights and a weekend with pipe extensions, heating, cooling, 110 psi impact wrench I tried everything to no avail, B-4 doing the above trick in 30 seconds.
I torqued in back on to spec with a "click" torque-wrench against the engine compression.
Worked great and didn't have to buy rope.
Good luck.
--
EJO now a 1993 944T 207K; ex '65 123S; ex '75 245; and ex '81 242GT; also 2001 Kia Sportage, Chrysler 2002 T&C and 2006 MINI Cooper

"I torqued in back on to spec with a "click" torque-wrench against the engine compression."

What torque spec was that? If it was for a B230, the spec is 44 ft lbs plus an additional 60° rotation. Compression won't come close to stopping crank rotation at that torque, short of blocking the car in gear against a strong tree or building.

I would say that if you can afford to, buy the tool. It is great to own, and it makes the issue of torquing/untorquing the crank bolt almost a non-issue.
However, the "rope trick" does work, and is indeed an economical solution to the problem, if thats what is needed.

I maintain 3 b230s. wouldnt give up my counterhold tool for love or money. (Well, maybe money,enough so I could buy another).

Lawrence

I have one you can borrow in Raleigh.

Honestly, you should consider buying one. It makes the job a bit easier. They cost less than a belt change at the mechanic, and you can always sell it on ebay or craigslist or the classifieds here, if you decide not to keep it for future (or current) Volvos.

I, too, was leery of the rope trick as a counterhold measure, so I bought the counterhold tool from eEuroparts.com, who had the cheapest deal at the time.
But when I replaced my valve seals and I needed to make sure the intake valves didn't fall into the engine when I removed the spring, I used the rope trick to secure the valves. I bought 10 ft of 1/4" braided poly-nylon rope at Home Depot for $1.70. I was amazed at how easy it was to insert the rope into the spark plug hole and feed about 3 or 4 feet into the chamber. When I turned the crank to bring the piston up it locked solid. I was impressed. I'm not sorry I bought the tool, but I wouldn't hesitate for a moment to do the rope trick.

The only ones who are leery of it are those who have not tried it.

SH

"The only ones who are leery of it are those who have not tried it."

That's what crack dealers probably say.
Holding up a valve is not the same as
torquing a large bolt.

If it makes you feel better, cylinders 1 & 4 and 2 & 3 top out at the same time -- so you could spread out the load to two cylinders if you were so inclined.

(Here's an image if you wish: http://www.samsteffansson.se/products/images/Begagnat/Vev%2086.jpg)

(Purhaps not a bad idea, and certainly couldn't hurt.) It seems the 1 & 4 combination would be more prudent than the 2 & 3. Personally, I'm quite comfortable using the rope "trick" even with just one cylinder. It has worked fine for (thousands of?) people on this site and elsewhere for a looong time.

Just my 2 cents. After adjusting for inflation... still arguably worth that.





--
Jeff Pierce (Post back with your results... it's what makes this forum work.)

I'm not sure that spreading out the load between two cylinders is a good idea. At TDC after the compression stroke in cylinder 1, both valves are closed to compress the charge. At the same time, cylinder 4 is at TDC between exhaust and intake strokes. One or both valves should be open at this point. What always made the rope trick ok in my mind was that the piston was pushing up against the head and two seated valves. A valve that is open has the possibility of bending its stem. This may just be paranoia.

...But I do happily use the rope trick in Cyl 1 on both the 740 and 240.

I'm not sure I'm crazy about the crack dealer analogy :>(, but I will concede that the rope trick applied to holding up a valve is indeed a much lower stress application than torquing a large bolt. I will also concede that the rope trick makes one piston and connecting rod do all the counterholding, which is probably more pressure than that same piston gets in normal operation. Although I've never heard of anyone causing engine damage due to using the rope trick as a counterhold, and many of the other "methods" like using an impact driver or the starter have been known to cause damage. I will also concede that using the "official" counterhold tool is the very safest way to remove and torque the crankshaft bolt on a Volvo. That's why I bought the tool myself.

The fact is that the counterhold tool isn't cheap, and neither are the seal installer tools, the special valve follower compressor tool for replacing shims without removing the camshaft, and other Volvo specialty tools that make certain repairs possible. The B230F/T head-on-block valve spring compressor and valve stem seal replacement tool that I made is just plain not available as a commercial tool -- you have to make one yourself or borrow/rent mine. Almost all these special tools are very occasional use items. It really does make me wish that there was some systemized way of loaning/renting tools to Brickboard members. I don't belong to a Volvo club, but I'm guessing that some of them have a tool exchange of some kind.

It's nice to own your own crank counterhold tool in case of an emergency repair, but adjusting the valve clearance, and replacing the intake valve seals (without removing the head) which require the truly special tools to accomplish can be scheduled ahead of time and the special tool can be priority mailed to the weekend mechanic with a return priority mail box inside. Although my general impression of the folks on Brickboard is that they are terrific, honest people, there would still have to be some financial incentive to not keep the tool too long including forever, but it would be a nice service to have if there were a way to figure it out.

SH

In addition to my Brick, I own a Mercedes... and as such, belong to a Mercedes forum (MercedesShop.com). This forum has a well established tool rental/loaner system -- including it's own separate forum category. Here's a link:

http://www.mercedesshop.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=126728

If someone were so inclined, he/she could do something similar here. But it would require some time and effort.

jp

Hi Steve,

"Neither a borrower nor lender be" Ben Franklin

There's sage advice, but one is entitled to bend the rules.
A healthy deposit $=< than the cost of the tool should help to
diminish your disappointment in human nature.

I read about all of the people happy with the rope trick
and opted for the tool. I'm guessing that the rope trick
isn't good for connecting rod bearings/wrist pin clearances/valves/etc
and maybe might increase your chances of contracting "piston slap".

Bill

By coincidence I just this morning posted an outline of what I think it would require to start a "Volvo Tool Club". It is in the Toolbox area.


--
Mr. Shannon DeWolfe -- (I've taken to using Mr. because my name tends to mislead folks on the WWW. I am a 52 year old fat man ;-) -- KD5QBL