'06 V70 D5 timing belt - how do you tell it needs changing?

[denecaster]

Yes, I know the usual change is around 95k, but mine has done 86 and occasionally the engine seems to slip right after I've changed gear. Sometimes it takes off like the scalded cat it's designed to be, and sometimes it sort of slips a bit before gradually getting there. It mostly does this from about 3rd up to 5th.

Please tell me it's not the clutch again - I changed that only 20k ago, and I'm not that much of a brute. I tend to behave myself and take it easy, don't drive like a boy racer (cos I'm in my mid-50s, principally), mostly pull away gently, accelerate as smoothly as, and so on.

So given that the first clutch went prematurely (barely 63k, only 4k after I bought the bloody thing), is it possible that the timing belt is starting to slip a bit soon too?

[reggit]

It won't be a cambelt slipping, they don't as a rule or if they do the engine has breathed it's last! They usually get snapped as a result of one of the pulleys failing with an identical result of a knackered engine.

Not sure what you mean by 'it sort of slips', do you mean the revs rise with only a slow increase in speed, or that it is slow to accelerate with no sudden increase in revs?

[oragex]

As above, the timing belt doesn't slip. If it slips, it will be like the Volga owners who asked if their car can take a curve at 120km/h. Answer sure but only once.

To check the belt is to remove the upper cover to expose the belt then give small cranks and check the surface. Smallest crack it means the belt is at the end of it's life. The auxiliary belt tensioner also seems to be an issue on these D5 engines if I read well

So perhaps it's related to the transmission, slave cylinder perhaps?

[denecaster]

Originally Posted by reggit

Not sure what you mean by 'it sort of slips', do you mean the revs rise with only a slow increase in speed, or that it is slow to accelerate with no sudden increase in revs?

Now you mention it, I'm suddenly unsure myself. I'll check it out and get back to you...

Thanks for thinking about it, though.