Timing Belt and Front Seal Questions

[Forrest]

I started replacing the belts and front seals on my 1997 940 CD Estate with B230FK engine this weekend and am after a bit of advice on a few points. Thanks.

I gain then impression from the amount of oil (picture 1) that both the cam and crank seals must be leaking. I’m sure someone previously mentioned in another post to replace the timing cover paper gasket too. However, on mine all the oil lower down is quite gunky. This presumably means any leaks down there are quite slow. Worth messing with?

I thought I had all the parts I needed in stock but I now recall previously giving my spare crank seal to the garage when they were struggling to source one. I also damaged one of my cam/intermediate seals on my first attempt at fitting it so I am now awaiting parts and will hopefully pick this up again next weekend.

So here goes with the questions.

What is the proper way to use Volvo special tool 5025? I made a complete hash of my first attempt and got the seal in crooked and too deep on the shaft. Of course extracting it again ruined it. I then practiced a bit with the damaged seal and decided the best method was to fit it on the lip on the tool first and then screw it into position. Is this how the tool should be used? It seemed to work quite well.

I then repeated this method with my remaining new seal with the result in picture 3. Does this look alright?

According to an IPD YouTube video you should install the seal to just below the bottom of the chamfered part of the hole. Is this right? If so, why is there a lip a bit further into the hole which seems designed to make a natural stopping point for the seal? If one were to ram the seal home until it were flat against this lip you could just turn the nut on the tool until it was tight and the seal would be automatically positioned straight. Why would this be a bad thing to do?

The crank and intermediate seals (picture 4) look like they are installed in the timing cover. Are they?

If so, what is the best method of replacing them if removing the timing cover? To reinstall the timing cover and then install the seals with the drift tools or to fit the seals in the cover before refitting it?

If/when I remove the timing cover will large quantities of oil spill out from behind it? Any other potential reasons why doing so might be a bad idea?

Finally, if I wanted to replace the timing belt tensioner, what do I now do with the thing in picture 5? There doesn’t look to be a particularly safe method of dismantling it. I’m wondering about putting it in a vice or clamp but it doesn’t look like it’s designed for that. Maybe a couple of rods through the holes with a C-clamp either side and gradually unwind it? What about putting it back together again?

Thanks in anticipation of any hints or tips from folk who’ve done this before.

[Laird Scooby]

Others can probably give more detailed advice than i can on changing the seals and use of the special tool but the new tensioner will come similar to the one in your picture complete with a pin to keep it in the retracted position.

Leave your drill bit in place until you have a new tensioner in case you need to refit it but i would suggest using a bolt to hold it in your vice and the old timing belt to pull it so you can get your drill bit back.

[Forrest]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

the new tensioner will come similar to the one in your picture complete with a pin to keep it in the retracted position

That’s what I would have thought, but the one I’ve got didn’t. It’s just the pulley. And the ones available on eBay, Skandix, etc. are similar.

The existing tensioner seems to run smoothly enough but it isn’t the original Volvo one. It’s an SKF one fitted by an independent Volvo garage when the belt was last changed in 2017. I expect it would last another five years but I’d be more confident in a Volvo one.

The FAQ talks about fitting a new pulley, but is amusingly vague about how:

“Assemble as follows. Put spring on bar. Slide the small hole in the bearing plate on top of the bar to compress the spring....tricky so you will have to work out how to compress spring.”

And nothing about how to disassemble one in a controlled manner.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Forrest

That’s what I would have thought, but the one I’ve got didn’t. It’s just the pulley. And the ones available on eBay, Skandix, etc. are similar.

The existing tensioner seems to run smoothly enough but it isn’t the original Volvo one. It’s an SKF one fitted by an independent Volvo garage when the belt was last changed in 2017. I expect it would last another five years but I’d be more confident in a Volvo one.

The FAQ talks about fitting a new pulley, but is amusingly vague about how:

“Assemble as follows. Put spring on bar. Slide the small hole in the bearing plate on top of the bar to compress the spring....tricky so you will have to work out how to compress spring.”

And nothing about how to disassemble one in a controlled manner.

I've obviously been spoiled then!

Only safe thing i can think of at the moment is to use a two legged puller, hook the legs round the tensioner and use a socket or similar on the end of the spring rod so you can wind the lead-screw of the puller in without rotating the spring rod. Something like this but i haven't checked the sizes so don't know if it would be big enough/small enough :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/272647333901

Alternatively build yourself a jig, a bit like a vice with two vertical rods, one to fit through the tensioner locknut stud hole in the main tensioner and the other to fit in the end of the spring rod and making sure the two vertical rods can't twist, use a bolt to shorten the distance between them.

[lynns hubby]

All I do is put the part of the rod from the tensioner that the bolt goes through in a vice, put the spring on, get the part with the bearing on and push against the spring and rod until you expose the locking hole. Put your drill bit, split pin or whatever into the hole and that's it locked. just remember not to put it too far into the hole as it will bottom out on the engine when you come to refit it. The spring really is not that strong and does not require any special tools.
As far as SKF goes they are great quality and would be surprised if they are not what Volvo use as original equipment.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Forrest

That’s what I would have thought, but the one I’ve got didn’t. It’s just the pulley. And the ones available on eBay, Skandix, etc. are similar.

The existing tensioner seems to run smoothly enough but it isn’t the original Volvo one. It’s an SKF one fitted by an independent Volvo garage when the belt was last changed in 2017. I expect it would last another five years but I’d be more confident in a Volvo one.

The FAQ talks about fitting a new pulley, but is amusingly vague about how:

“Assemble as follows. Put spring on bar. Slide the small hole in the bearing plate on top of the bar to compress the spring....tricky so you will have to work out how to compress spring.”

And nothing about how to disassemble one in a controlled manner.

Volvo never changed that tensioner ever no matter what the mileage , they are rock solid engineering as long as they have VOLVO stamped on them...

[baggy798]

Is picture 4 before or after? Where's all the oily gunk?


Picture 3 cam seal looks perfectly fine, and yeah is below the chamfered/bevelled edge. There's a ridge at the back so can't push it back much further anyway.



I removed that housing at the front and replaced the seals after cleaning it thoroughly, it was a lot muckier than this!



I used two F clamps and this metal piece that fits between handbrake shoes I had lying around. Bit precarious and it kept slipping one way or the other, but eventually got it done. A vice would be easier.

[Forrest]

Originally Posted by baggy798

Is picture 4 before or after? Where's all the oily gunk?

It is after cleaning all the oily gunk off the surface with petrol and a paintbrush but before launching into any further dismantling.

Thanks for all the helpful comments. It looks as though it's fairly safe to remove the timing cover so I may do that ahead of my new seals arriving so I can get everything properly cleaned up ready for reassembly.

The luxury of having more than one Volvo is that I can take my time to do these jobs properly. No more working outside in the dark and pouring rain getting the car going enough to get to work in the morning.

BTW, what do folk reckon about replacing the water pump seals again. It's not leaking much, if at all, but I have already had to replace the seals in the last 18 months because the top one disintegrated due to the oil contamination. Those had only lasted about a year. It looks so easy to get to at the moment and a coolant change is a planned part of this current bout of maintenance activity.

[baggy798]

You'll probably notice this but you have to remove the two front sump bolts if you take that cover off as well.

[Forrest]

Thanks. I hadn’t spotted that, but looking again at some pictures of the part online it looks as though those bolts do go through the bottom of it. Is it likely to be possible to remove and refit those bolts without introducing a leak in the sump gasket?