Back once again

[Erol]

Hi guy's,
Newbie to the V50 but not to Volvo's.

I have just picked up a 2007 V50 2.0 D Sport with 141,000 miles

The car in general is very tidy baring in mind the mileage and age.

There are a few bits which need attention sooner rather than later,

Cambelt I believe is due in 3000 miles,
Stereo and display only seem to work when warmed up,

Is there a good place to buy the cambelt kit from?
Also, is there anything else that needs to be changed when doing the cambelt?

Is there an upgrade for the stereo?
Can the screen be changed by itself?

Any help and advice is greatly needed.

Many thanks,
Erol

[iainmd]

Hi and welcome back ;-)

The stereo is a difficult one in a V50. The whole system is linked by a fibre optic MOST system. The first thing to do would be to get the car plugged into a VIDA diagnostic kit and see what, if any, codes are logged in relation to the stereo's fault. The "Infotainment" system consists of a number of components spread around the car in a fibre ring so any one component being faulty could be the culprit.

What symptoms do you see? Does the screen work straight away for car info and aircon but not stereo functions or does the whole screen not ****ion for a while?

In terms of the cambelt, Volvo do a kit for that and you can get a discount if you order via FRF Volvo in Wales quoting the club discount code.

Iain

[Welton]

Normally good practice to change the water pump when doing a cambelt for what little extra it would cost.

[FunkyMelon]

Originally Posted by Welton

Normally good practice to change the water pump when doing a cambelt for what little extra it would cost.

Not on Volvo's - I've never been advised by Volvo to change the water pumps, every time I've asked but they just don't go wrong, it's a waste of money

[Sysyphus]

Originally Posted by FunkyMelon

Not on Volvo's - I've never been advised by Volvo to change the water pumps, every time I've asked but they just don't go wrong, it's a waste of money

Been told much the same thing by three out of the five places I’ve asked to price my C70 timing belt... two dealers just said “oh and five hundred more for the water pump”... one dealer and two independents said words to the effect that they would take a look at the water pump while they were in there but expected it to be fine until at least the second belt change.

The radio is indeed an odd beast... if it’s just the display itself that isn’t working you would be able to replace it with the LCD screen from another module from a scrapper... search for the install instructions for the BluePower 990 to see how it comes apart... if it’s the module itself then it’s a trip to the dealers for re-programming: the module is key-coded to the cars CEM, so just replacing with another unit isn’t going to work, unfortunately.

[iainmd]

Originally Posted by FunkyMelon

Not on Volvo's - I've never been advised by Volvo to change the water pumps, every time I've asked but they just don't go wrong, it's a waste of money

Indeed. Volvo ones use a metal impeller rather than plastic so last a hell of a long time. Inspect at timing belt replacement but only replace if it looks knackered.

[LizardOfBodom]

Originally Posted by iainmd

Indeed. Volvo ones use a metal impeller rather than plastic so last a hell of a long time. Inspect at timing belt replacement but only replace if it looks knackered.

Previous owner of my car had WP changed by Volvo dealership at 90k miles. The same very pump started leaking on me 30k miles later. Its still unclear is it because the OEM part was faulty from factory, or timing belt was too tight (leak was from the pulley seal) but the moral from this story is:
even OEM volvo pupms can give up prematurely so whether you change it "just in case" or leave it as "current one is still ok" its still a lottery.
I agree though that most advices I heard is to NOT replace pump on first tb change.

[Erol]

Originally Posted by iainmd

Hi and welcome back ;-)

The stereo is a difficult one in a V50. The whole system is linked by a fibre optic MOST system. The first thing to do would be to get the car plugged into a VIDA diagnostic kit and see what, if any, codes are logged in relation to the stereo's fault. The "Infotainment" system consists of a number of components spread around the car in a fibre ring so any one component being faulty could be the culprit.

What symptoms do you see? Does the screen work straight away for car info and aircon but not stereo functions or does the whole screen not ****ion for a while?

In terms of the cambelt, Volvo do a kit for that and you can get a discount if you order via FRF Volvo in Wales quoting the club discount code.

Iain

Hi Iain,

I'll try and book the car in to a local Volvo garage to get a VIDA read out.

The symptoms I get are, the screen comes on straight away for car info and aircon function but not the time. The screen is Black with Green digits at this stage.
If I try to turn on the stereo, there is no sound, the Green screen with picture of V50 comes up and then its the Black screen again with some random lines across the screen.

Then after about 20 mins or so, the screen changes to Green and the stereo starts working, and if I turn it off the time shows on the middle of the screen also.

I will try and look up the FRF code and give them a ring.

Thanks,
Erol

[Erol]

Thanks guys,

I'll get the WP checked and take it from there.

Does anyone know if there is a guide for changing the timing belt?

I also read that its a good idea to change the Aux belt and tensioner whilst at it. Is this right?

[iainmd]

Originally Posted by Erol

The symptoms I get are, the screen comes on straight away for car info and aircon function but not the time. The screen is Black with Green digits at this stage.
If I try to turn on the stereo, there is no sound, the Green screen with picture of V50 comes up and then its the Black screen again with some random lines across the screen.

Then after about 20 mins or so, the screen changes to Green and the stereo starts working, and if I turn it off the time shows on the middle of the screen also.

Hi, I've no idea if it will help but I have a spare ICM in the garage (that's the bit with the LCD display). You would need to open up both units (easy with a screwdriver) and swap the actual LCD over as the one I have has a few dead pixels. I bought this one when my own unit got dead pixels so I swapped the LCDs over from this unit I bought to my own one. Swapping the LCD is pretty easy, you just disconnect and reconnect a ribbon cable one the unit is open.

I'm happy to post it to you if you want to try the swap yourself? I don't know if the ICM is coded to the car but have read of some people having success swapping ICMs without requiring any coding.

Pics (very bad blurred ones) here and here.

I was about to take it to the tip today when I remembered your post.