John Ellison

How much should I expect to pay for having the timing belt changed at a main
dealer? Quite frankly I don't trust any of my local independents to do it
right, and the nearest independent Volvo specialist I can find is about 30
miles away.

It seems to be as easy to take it to a main dealer 5 miles down the road...

Thanks

John

Tim.. \(Remove Safetycatch\)

"John Ellison" <mail@tumulusfac.com> wrote in message
news:d0kkrl$gkb$1@news8.svr.pol.co.uk...
> How much should I expect to pay for having the timing belt changed at a
main
> dealer? Quite frankly I don't trust any of my local independents to do it
> right, and the nearest independent Volvo specialist I can find is about 30
> miles away.
>
> It seems to be as easy to take it to a main dealer 5 miles down the
road...

Whats the Mileage- i.e. is this the first or second belt change?

I would strongly recommend you have the water pump, tensioner, and idler
rollers changed at the same time, you may also require a new Aux belt, in
addition to fresh coolant etc.

At a dealer, using their parts its about a £350 job. It was ~£280 for me at
a trusted local garage using OEM parts sourced from EuroCarParts on our 97
S70 at 70k miles.

Tim..

Tim.. \(Remove Safetycatch\)

"John Ellison" <mail@tumulusfac.com> wrote in message
news:d0kkrl$gkb$1@news8.svr.pol.co.uk...
> How much should I expect to pay for having the timing belt changed at a
main
> dealer? Quite frankly I don't trust any of my local independents to do it
> right, and the nearest independent Volvo specialist I can find is about 30
> miles away.
>
> It seems to be as easy to take it to a main dealer 5 miles down the
road...
>
> I forgot to add, the only potential fcuk up a garage can do which is
particular to this engine is re-compressing the tensioner ram.

Later engines went to a conventional spring tensioner in 97/98, but the
earlier ones with the ram must be re-compressed in a vice ****Very****
slowly- otherwise the internal seals can rupture rendering it unable to
correctly tension the belt. ~This is not obvious if the ram has been damaged
and you may have the belt fly off at a later date with a scrap engine being
the result.

You should allow 15-20 mins to do this - i.e. say 1/2 a turn of the vice
handle per minute.

If you do elect to replace the water pump, it takes some time (i.e. labour
££££'s) to properly clean the gasket from the block face before fitting the
new pump.

Tim..