General: 2003 S80 Cambelt and Alarm

[zhifong]

I just recently bought a second hand 2003 S80 2.5T without any manual, as it has finished 93KM, so I was wondering when do I need to change the cambelt?

And I've heard someone told me that S80 ususally come with Genuine alarm which has immobilizer, so don't need to installed another alarm. Is that true? (This is for insurance purpose, as insurance company require immobilizer alarm installed)

Looking forward to your help and reply, many thanks

[Rover Saloon]

Timing belt may have already been changed. Volvo say 80,000 miles (128,000 km) but it is recommended that this is halved to 40k. If in any doubt at all, change it straight away as a snapped belt usually means end of engine.

The alarm is fitted as standard on most models as far as I know. You should have the tell tale red light in the centre of the dashboard top near the windscreen. Best way to see is to leave a window down, lock the car, wait for a few mins and then lean in/wave your arms inside the car.

As far as I am aware, the Volvo alarm is pretty unreliable and usually pack up after about 5 years. There is a battery in the alarm module which is behind the inner wing liner on the offside, down in the front near the bumper. I recall a post somewhere about how to take this out and repair it. There's stacks of posts on this site about alarm bugs

[Penguinistics]

If you can't find any evidence in the service history that it has been done you may have to assume that it hasn't. It really should have by 90K though, and if you assume that it may have been done as early as 40K then you may be due a change now anyway. FYI, I'd probably do the pulleys, water pump and coolant while you're at it as you have to take the cam belt off to get at most of these (the coolant being a consequence of replacing the water pump - that needs doing at most every 5 years anyway).

I have a 2004 2.5T and it does come with alarm and immobiliser. I know when my cambelt was done but not what the exact mileage was. Mines high mileage like yours so it was done somewhere between 60K and 80K. I'm thinking I'll do it again at 120K.

I'd also recommend that you changed the filters (oil, fuel and air), the spark plugs and the oil as you can never be sure how the car has been handled even by franchised dealers

[zhifong]

Thank you very much for you reply guys, this is my first Volvo, have lots of things to learn....

[V70RMW]

I thought if the cambelt had been changed properly, the sticker that comes with an original volvo belt should be placed on the belt cover detailing the date and mileage of change. I certainly have this on both of my Volvo's - but then both were done at the same excellent independent garage.

[Penguinistics]

You're right, that should be the case. Pretty much any cambelt kit (Contitech, Gales, Volvo own, etc) comes with a sticker in the pack, but that doesn't mean that it gets used. MOT certificates come with a removable sticker that you could put on your windscreen somewhere, but you don't see as many of them as you would expect. An alternative approach is writing the mileage of the change on the cambelt casing in white pen (of some sort) and I've seen that a number of times