replacing timing belt and water pump

Jan 01, 2006 8 Replies

Hi all, My 96 volvo 850 is closed to 90K, and I want to have the timing belt and water pump replaced. I have been to two garages to check the price. One garage, which is specialized working on Volvo cars, give me the price right away, "$750 for the total service". However, when I check the price at the second garage, the price was just $512. There is more than $200 difference!



However, when I was asking the price at the second garage, the mechanic was using some kind of software to enter my car's information, then he gave me that price, which TELLS me that he works for any car's timing belt, or in other words, he may never work on a Volvo and just presume the same routing as how he works on other cars.



Since I know nothing about how these are being replaced, I guess my question is is there any speciality a mechanic needs to know before he works on a Volvo's replacement.



I want to save some money, but on the other hand, I do not want to have some side effect after the replacement, such as a mysterious dashboard light goes on, etc.



Thanks a lot and Happy new Year !


CJI


The second garage , Right now I have two op



Go with the first garage; they clearly know what they're doing on an

850. If you want to worry about saving money, call your local dealer and ask for a quote for the same service. You're already saving a lot of money...

Also, I suspect that the first garage is including replacing the tensioner, and the second is not. That is a good idea, and could easily explain the cost difference. The first garage would know to do this on your car, the second would not.

You're welcome, and Happy New Year to you as well.

Gary

Some experienced Volvo mechanics recommend that two bearings be replaced whenever changing the 850 timing belt. These two bearings are in the timing belt path. The reasoning behind replacement is that these bearings have been known to fail/seize around 100,000 miles. The result is a snapped timing belt, and a ruined engine.

This adds about another $150 - $200, because the bearings are not cheap.

I would stick with a garage which works frequently on modern Volvos. You do not want someone learning on the job on your car. For instance, the hydraulic tensioner needs to be very slowly recompressed if it is not being replace. The uninformed might wail on it and compromise the part.

Also there is the question of what quality of parts are being used. The quality of aftermarket parts varies widely.

John

Some experienced Volvo mechanics recommend that two bearings be replaced whenever changing the 850 timing belt. These two bearings are in the timing belt path. The reasoning behind replacement is that these bearings have been known to fail/seize around 100,000 miles. The result is a snapped timing belt, and a ruined engine.

This adds about another $150 - $200, because the bearings are not cheap.

does this apply to the v70 engine with turbo_

Definately!

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I am finding this thread interesting. My wife's 850 is at the point where she needs a belt. I can see if the wheels are worn to replace them, as wll as doing the water pump, but is it the concensus that the 2 wheels should be changed as a safety measure?

Is the tensioner also to be replaced? She has 140 or 150K Miles, this will be her second belt. I was going to avoid any risk and buy Volvo parts for the belt, is that a good idea for the pump and wheels if I replace them too?

Thanks

--Steve

Some experienced Volvo mechanics recommend that two bearings be replaced whenever changing the 850 timing belt. These two bearings are in the timing belt path. The reasoning behind replacement is that these bearings have been known to fail/seize around 100,000 miles. The result is a snapped timing belt, and a ruined engine.

This adds about another $150 - $200, because the bearings are not cheap. does this apply to the v70 engine with turbo_

Yes.

It's not difficult to replace the timing belt. Buy a workshophandbook like Haynes. Not expensive. They discribe it in detail. It's recommended to change the water pump at 240000km because you have to replace the timing belt again if the pump fails. It's also recommended to replace the timing belt bearings.

V70 lover

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