Timing Belt
 

Hello,

Picked up my 17 year old V40 the other day. It’s a 1.8 petrol engine and has covered 85k miles. No proof that the Cambelt has been done.

I am debating DIYing it. Please can anyone let me know how hard these are to do?

I can get a continental belt/tensioner and guide for about £30. Please can anyone let me know if you recommend doing the water pump at the same time due to the age of this car.

Local Indy has quoted £349 to do this job.

Thanks

You'll find a lot of info on here about doing the job & here's a link to an article in the section called, articles (well that's kinda obvious!) that's got a lot of useful info for you if you're new to the V/S40 model

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=121836

Much same as 850 engine very east to do you don't need to take crank pulley off its twists and slides out,just set it up on tdc then use tip ex to mark cam pulleys

There not prone for water pumps leaking or wear its up to you

Regards

For the sake of a few quid more I'd change the water pump as well. Mine started to drip 18months after the previous owner did the belt.
Fancy tools will lock it all up but wedged screwdrivers do the job!! Do use the Tipex.
PS is your VVT noisy?

Please tell me there is another write up floating around.....

That is very hard to make sense of

S40 timing belt
 

And I think the referenced guide is for a diesel model. The Haynes manual has a guide but I,ve not tried it on the s40 yet ….but the belt is about 10 years old so I should get round to it. I got quoted about £350

It gets tricky when the car is not worth much....

Me, personally, I'd not change the pump unless I was both rich, in love with the car, and expecting to continue using it for several years. After all, if it ain't broke don't try to fix it. And if it does start leaking later then change it. You can take preventative maintainance too far, I mean why not change the oil seals while you're in there. And the engine mount too, since that's got to come off. Aux belt? Tensioner? Where d'ya stop? But it has to be your call.

Bit of a trek from Nottingham, but if you want a cheaper option then I'll do it for £100. And if you want to watch and have stuff explained, that's fine.

Not sure about Volvo but I know that some marques have reported seizing water pumps stripping the belt. To me it's belt n braces. Other opinions are available!

Yeah. That would be nasty, wouldn't it? You'd think they'd drive them off their own belt or something. I've always wondered why they don't stick a giant cog between them and do away with the belt idea entirely.

£30 sounds a bit cheap for a continental timing belt kit !
It's not uncommon to find counterfeit belt kits pretending to be high quality major brands, so make sure it's coming from a reputable source.
As for the water pump, if it's the original volvo water pump, it is likely to last for quite a bit longer, so if it still feels smooth to rotate & has no play in the bearings, i would leave it alone !