V60 - Timing belt query
 

My car is a March 2014 D2 V60 R Design Manual with 101,000miles on it.
When should the timing belt be changed?
Is there any particular type of belt it needs?
Any advice greatly appreciated….
Thanks

yes , it is on the 87500 mile service or 10 years which ever comes first..

ALWAYS get the genuine volvo parts , they are known to work with no worry . Check the water pump , they often weep slightly rather than fail..

The interval used to be 150,000 miles but volvo revised it about 7 years ago .

Do you know if yours is the 1.6 (115 BHP) or 2.0 (120 BHP VEA) ? I think it will be the former if it's 2014MY.

the vea engines have also been revised to 90,000 mile intervals for the last 4 years

Do you know if there was a reason the service intervals were nearly halved around 4 years after launch of the V60, at a time presumably when some early cars would have been passing the 90,000 mile mark ?

It would suggest there was a number of failures occurring significantly prior to the 150,000 mile mark ?

A question close to my heart, as mine is now on 91k miles with the original cambelt!

I'd be looking to replace that ASAP if it was my car

Yes, I guess that's a fairly common view. However I've seen no forum reports of VEA belt failures, other than where the belt has been replaced! Plenty of comments though where owners have belatedly realised that they're well over the revised replacement threshold (was originally 144k miles), a situation not helped by dealers still getting confused about the interval; at the dealer service in January I was told it was 108k.

The replacement interval was originally set at 144k miles, so I wonder what incidents or assessment led to the significant reduction to 90k?

I think that's a common mistake with dealers as the 5 cylinder is 108k miles, can't help with the rationale behind the 144k down to 90k though sorry

It’s a great pity that dealers are still or have in the past made such mistakes. They are supposed to be the experts, they are the ones with all the diagnostic tools and manufacturers info. One has to ask “why guess”, there’s no shame in admitting you don’t know everything and you may have to consult the paperwork or whatever. What comeback, if any would you have if, having asked the question and received a wrong answer, your car wrecked itself with or due to a snapped belt?

It was initially for Emergency service Vehicles , then went to the rest of the range for simplicity I guess.

Maybe. Makes them look less attractive as a new car though.

Have you ever heard of a failed VEA cambelt?

No the belts are far more robust than the old 5 cylinder as is the tensioner.

Does that imply you've seen belts fail on the 5 cylinder engines Clan?

The cam belts are robust enough , it's the aux belt from 2008 when they reduced the width and thickness... that then wraps around the cam belt gear and that comes off too . Only in very rare cases but can happen , volvo reduced the change frequency to 54000 miles around 2012 after 3 attempts to modify the Aux belt tensioner .

Thanks I have seen a few threads about this. Does it affect all 5 cylinder diesels or only up to a certain age?

All from late 2007 until 2012 when they did the final mod of removing the hydraulic tensioner* and replacing it with the original mechanical one and reduced the change interval to 54000 MILES ( not time )

*= The hydraulic tensioner was a modification done in the factory around late 2010 the mounting holes are not compatible with the previous mechanical tensioner..

You are a legend, many thanks