[GrahamBrown1]

Originally Posted by Bagheera

Part will be OEM but unsure which make. I can find out though.

Yes they've suggested a pressure test. This is the thing though. The car was driven to me by the dealership (2hours) and I took it for a 15 minute spin after receiving it. I didn't drive it that hard, but I didn't encounter any issues and they don't strike me as a dealership who would try that on. They've actually been quite co operative with the other niggles. In a nutshell, I can't be sure the fault didn't exist before the work was done as after the initial drive, I hardly drove it until the cambelt, aux & tensioners were done the following week.

In all honesty, I asked for the water pump to be changed as I've always changed the water pumps when I've done a cambelt myself or had garages do the work. Always seemed to make sense. They are not a Volvo specialist but they are a good independent with a lot of experience in cars and larger commercial vehicles. If it turns out to be an issue from what they've done, they'll put it right. I've used them for years now and have a good relationship.

Do these cars need a Volvo specialist? Have I missed something there perhaps.

Cambelt and water pump on these isn’t a difficult job as far as timming belts go. No real specialist tools required unlike other makes ect. For an experienced garage they can’t really get it wrong. You can’t really fit the water pump wrong it just bolts to the side of the block. You would get an external leak if the gasket wasn’t seated ect but nothing to cause overheating. It wouldn’t be workmanship I’d be questioning as such. If the water pump is good quality which to be honest most garages are using half decent quality bits now really, they can’t afford to be doing jobs twice. That said part failure does happen. You can then only assume the fault was present before.

A pressure test of the system will confirm. It’s not difficult to do. If there is an internal leak it will only be small going by your description. I would pressure the car up and leave it for as long as possible. I would aLso mark the level on the header tank before the test. It would be worth testing the engine both hot and cold. You can also test for combustion gas in the header tank but in my experience these are not always accurate but helps build a picture also.

Obviously I’m assuming your garage would be doing this for you, no one likes a clever sod or a customer telling them how to do there job but that’s what I would do.