I guess your E-mail address has changed. I tried sending this to you as a WORD document.

Timing Belt Helpful Hints.

Just did my Belt over the weekend. My 5th time on this car. You gotta love Volvo for making it as easy as it is to change as compared to other manufacturers.

Anyway. a couple of notes.
I put the front tires up on 4 x 4's so I can get enough of my body under there to take off the Belly Pan and get at the Pivoting Bolts on the AC and Alternator.
The Crank Pulley: there are a few methods.** 'The Rope Trick',*** 'The Starter method' which was my weapon of choice and of course Impact gun. Which is now my way of doing it. After 20+ years of doing my own maintenance I bit the bullet and got some Air tools.

Taking out the Spark plugs makes turning the engine over to line up the Marks much easier.

This is a good time to use a little soap and water to the Plastic Timing covers while they are out of the car.

After lining up the marks and replacing the Belt, put the Lower Timing Belt Cover on and Crank Pulley and put the crank bolt in, use a socket and ratchet to turn the engine just slightly before tightening the Tensioner Bolt. Just a slight bit because the Belt will start to walk off the Tensioner. I've notice this helps a lot in ‘setting’ everything. Tighten Tensioner and use the Socket and Ratchet to turn the Crank at least one full revolution. Line the crank up to the Zero timing mark, take the bolt out and take off the lower cover just to eyeball that the intermediate gear is lined up properly along with the Cam gear. Now you can feel secure that all is well. Because of the way the Tensioner works, I have had problems where it would pull in such a way that the Cam gear would be off a tooth after releasing the Tensioner. So it's worth the extra 2 minutes to feel good that all is OK. Button up the Timing area.

While the Fan and Shroud are out of the way, take a Garden hose and blast your Radiator from the Engine compartment outward. You will be amazed how much dirt and crap will end up in the driveway by blowing the dirt back in the direction it got stuck to the fins. The only problem is that I slide under the car to get at the AC and Alternator pivoting bolts so I get a bit wet.

Put the Shroud and fan on. Drive the car for about ten miles then unplug the Grommet on the upper Timing Cover and loosen the Tensioner about 1 full turn. Then retighten. This will take out any additional stretching from the new belt.

Remember to tighten the Tensioner. It is not designed to stay loose and have Spring Tension. If you keep it loose the Belt will Walk off the Tensioner and the Gears. (I think someone had that problem recently).

These are things I do.. Maybe it might help someone who's doing the Belt for the first time.

**ROPE TRICK: This is where you put a few feet of Clothes Line down the #1 Cylinder. As you try to loosen the Crank Bolt, the Cylinder comes up and squeezes the rope between the Piston and Cylinder Head. This ‘Locks up the engine so you can loosen that bolt.

***The Starter Method: This is where you put a socket and Breaker Bar on the Crank Bolt and get in the car and Tap the Ignition key for a split second. This loosens the Bolt up.




--
'75 Jeep CJ5 345Hp ChevyPwrd, two motorcycles, '85 Pickup: The '89 Volvo is the newest vehicle I own. it wasn't Volvos safety , it was Longevity that sold me

I did a timing belt replacement just last weekend. To the comments of everybody else, I would add the following suggestions:

- The Continental belt definitely has alignment marks. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but the TRW belt may be unmarked. The marks help! Use a dab of white-out correction fluid to mark the edge of the belt teeth corresponding to the three alignment lines (acknowledgement to a tip from a previous Brickboard poster). This additional reference further simplifies the job.

- Change the belt tensioner if the old one has more than, say, 60k miles on it (I believe the official replacement interval is 100k).

- Clean the sprockets, crank sprocket flange, and covers while you have everything opened. Repair any cover cracks, etc. to help keep the new belt clean.

- The crank pulley bolt is on TIGHT. You may not be able to budge it using a regular 1/2 inch drive ratchet. I had to use an 18" breaker bar to free it. I've also removed a crank pulley using an impact wrench. However, an impact wrench will not help you reinstall the bolt. You may need a breaker bar to tighten it to specs.

- I fabricated my own crank pulley counterhold tool using the reference drawings in the FAQ. It works great and is much stronger than the tools sold by FCPG and IPD. If you can weld, this may be the way to go.

Good luck.

--
'88 244GL, '89 244GL, '90 244DL, '91 244, '92 244

Used the air wrench on mine so can not comment on the rope or the IPD tool..Mine came off with no hitches..
--
Max..1989 244 DL 5 Spd., Bilstein HD, Turbo Swaybars, Poly Bushings all round, Turbo Wheels, Black leather interior, Electric mirrors, LED dash and gauge lights.

It is not difficult or dangerous. You cannot damage your engine if you screw up. And with the instructions on this website you won't screw up. It will take you a good half day for your first time, but it's one of the more enjoyable bits of work because it's relatively free of unexpected hassles.

You don't need any special tool, especially if you think you might be doing this only a few times in your life. Check out the "rope trick" on the FAQ list. If you have a length of clothesline handy, it's free.

here's another drawing/view of timing marks/tensioner & belt.

http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/index.htm?id=866355

it's a post earlier today

regards,
byron

I bought a crankshaft tool from ipd. i just did my t/b last week on my 92 245.

one caution, make sure #1 cylinder it tdc on the compression stroke--from the archives, i think don foster--take #1 spark plug out and put your finger over the hole when you turn the crankshaft and aligning the cam mark to the cover.

i always take the distr cap off to see if it's aligned to #1 (turn crank to #1 cylinder wire on distr cap)

you know you are on compression stroke when you feel pressure on your finger. i was off 180 deg before i read DF's comment. boy, i almost got it wrong.

review 7xx,9xx FAQ in the Features section.

aother site w/ pics but instead of getting the crank nut off with rope, i used a 1/2 drive long torque wrench with the ipd crankshaft tool.
http://www.mikeponte.com/volvo/timing.htm

1st time, take plenty of time. 2nd time will go a lot faster.

2nd timing belt in 6 mo for me.

regards,
byron golden
86 245
92 245

I just replaced the timing belt on my '88 240 sedan. I bought the tool from Groton, would not try the job without it. Worked wonderfully. As far as I know the engine is a "non-interference" engine. You cannot damage anything. If the belt is broken, you should have no worries about moving the pulleys.
It is a very straigthforward job if you follow the instructions from those who have done it many times before. Quadruple check everything!! Read through everything a bunch. Then jump into it. I felt SO good about myself after I had finished the job on my own (with the help of several bricksters).

It is not a hard job. Just take it slow. Quadruple check. Make sure everything works before putting the whole engine back together.


Todd :-)