Engine: 2.0 Carb B200K/B200F: Cam/timing belt replacement

[JJKM]

Hi all,

Owned my 1991 Volvo 240 for about 6 months now and as much as I love it, I have no service history and know very little about the car... It was rather an accident that I bought it but have decided to keep it.

Not knowing when the cambelt was last changed, I feel it probably should be. Does anyone have any help or advice? Having not done one on these before, is it a job to be attempted or left to someone who knows better? I am an experienced tinkerer and have done major jobs, but don't want to **** something like this up.

Thanks in advance.

Also, does anyone know if these are a little oil hungry? It has done 222,000 and although having some small oil drips, it doesn't seem enough to get through the oil that it does? It's not an issues as it runs well but in 20,000 miles it has probably used close to 2 litres...

[NI_Volvo_Nut]

Oil wise, I think my 740 would be similar but it only does 6k/year so its hard to say, as for the timing belt, I do mine every 3 to 4 years just because the car spends 6mths at a time off the road during the winter, over kill I know but for the sake of £20, why not. Last time I done it, it took less than an hour, just mark everything and you'll be fine. Remember to do 2 full turns by hand after fitting before touching the key again!!

[Clifford Pope]

Oil - clean out all the breather hoses, flame trap, black oil separator box, brass nipple connector on the inlet manifold.
Pressure in the crankcase forces oil out through the crankshaft and camshaft seals.

[wooble]

As clifford says, cleaning he breather system fully will reduce oil leaks and consumption, but 1 litre of oil per 10,000 miles is within acceptable limits. most burn less, but it depends what kind of life it's had.

Doing the cambelt is a wise precaution and fairly easy, ther's a guide in the 'how to' section of this forum. the only remotely tricky bit is removing the crank pulley bolt. also many forget to re-tension the cambelt after a few weeks, which can lead to it wearing prematurely.