850 Cars: Cambelt Kit

[Chilled Mackers]

Hi all, new to the forum.

I'm struggling to find a 'Cambelt Kit' for my 850 Estate, on an M-plate 5 cyclinder 2.5 20v petrol GLT automatic. Any suggestions? I'd prefer a good brand rather than something trash. I don't have alot of luck in life - so I am expecting all of things to be needed, to change the CamBelt. The Haynes manual shows alot more stuff than what is listed in the EuroCarParts 'kit'. I've heard 'Gates' is a good belt brand - but I have no idea. I normally do Classic Mini's - so this 'Belt' stuff is new to me.

My Dad passed last year (2nd July 2021), it was his car - I can't let it go - so I am hoping to fix it.

It's MOT is Due soon, I've seen a few things that need doing - thought I'd start with a service.

Many thanks, in advance,

Chris

[4x4]

Phone FRF Swansea, ask for parts department and quote C3 for a forum discount 01792 790066

[Bob Meadows]

Gates belts are a recognised quality product if you go that route.
Bob.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Chilled Mackers

Hi all, new to the forum.

I'm struggling to find a 'Cambelt Kit' for my 850 Estate, on an M-plate 5 cyclinder 2.5 20v petrol GLT automatic. Any suggestions? I'd prefer a good brand rather than something trash. I don't have alot of luck in life - so I am expecting all of things to be needed, to change the CamBelt. The Haynes manual shows alot more stuff than what is listed in the EuroCarParts 'kit'. I've heard 'Gates' is a good belt brand - but I have no idea. I normally do Classic Mini's - so this 'Belt' stuff is new to me.

My Dad passed last year (2nd July 2021), it was his car - I can't let it go - so I am hoping to fix it.

It's MOT is Due soon, I've seen a few things that need doing - thought I'd start with a service.

Many thanks, in advance,

Chris

The best is from your volvo dealer see FRF above ,they don't come any better . and you will not need a cambelt tensioner , they are a piece of engineering with a heavy duty properly sealed needle roller bearing , no crimping , no screws no thin metal to fail . They were never a service item on the 850.

[RollingThunder]

Welcome to the forum.

An 850 timing belt isn't the easiest introduction to changing a timing belt, but it is straight forward if you're methodical and have good tools. Remember these are interference engines, so it is IMPERATIVE that you turn the engine over by hand, through at least two full cycles, to make sure that there is no contact between the valves and the pistons after you've fitted the new belt. Take the spark plugs out to make it easier to turn over, and so that you won't have any combustion chamber compression resistance when turning the engine over.

The other issues you may have - apart from keeping it all timed up, are

* removing the aux belt tensioner - weird square drive required, many make own their tool
* removing the torx headed bolt that secures the timing belt tensioner pulley - VERY restricted access and easy to chew up the torx head. Chewing up that bolt will REALLY ruin your day.
* removing and feeding the belt under the crank pulley - just awkward

Most Volvo owners refer to an American guy called RobertDIY on YouTube - he has a lot of very detailed videos which everyone finds useful. I still refer to his videos and I've owned Volvos since 1990

These are his timing belt videos
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpNg...nnel=RobertDIY
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edKD...nnel=RobertDIY

I bought a few tools to make the job easier, and tbh I'd hate to try this job without them now (others may be available lol)

The serpentine belt tool - https://www.ipdusa.com/products/5830...lvo-IPD-105058



And the cam sprocket locking tool - I got mine from iPd but they don't list them anymore



Hope this helps

Oh, btw, if you lose the timing completely, you can get another tool that sets the camshaft timing correctly - it attaches to the gearbox end of the camshafts and aligns them using some notches, so it isn't the end of the world if the cams move, but it will add yet more time to the job. Mentioning which, don't undo the camshaft sprockets unless you intend to change the camshaft oil seals - they have slotted holes. I learned that lesson the hard way and had to buy the aforementioned camshaft aligning tool...

So, to repeat, this isn't the easiest timing belt around. Access is awkward at best. The Torx bolt brings beads of anxious sweat to anyone who has done one of these before. You MUST use a perfect torx bit on this or else you'll have many many hours of fun trying to extract it. And use a camshaft locking tool. Some may say it isn't necessary, but correcting accidental rotation properly means using the alignment tool.

Parts to buy? I fit only Volvo timing belts, but at a pinch I'd fit a Gates or Continental one. Nothing else. I also always replace the tensioner (sorry to contradict Clan, but thats what I do), I also replace all the idlers. Occasionally I've had to replace the aux belt tensioner as that was running with a nasty graunch. The idlers I buy as OEM INA branded parts and they've always been ok.

The waterpump is driven by the cambelt and you need to take the cambelt off to replace it, so its something else to consider. I'd check the pump before condemning it - the original ones were made to a much higher quality than OEM ones these days and I'd only replace it if it was actually leaking or sounded rough when rotating the pulley. Its another awkward part to replace as you need to (obviously) ensure the mating surface is spotless - and accessing that face to clean it is another test of patience

I've got a section on my website https://850R.co.uk which shows/lists the OEM manufacturers of some parts - mainly those removed when I did the timing belt on my 850R so it may be useful to you.

Good luck!

edit - just found a pic of the torx headed bolt for you. I rammed a piece of wood behind the bit to make sure the torx bit wouldn't slip and chew up the head I used a spanner to turn the bit - access is too tight to use a rachet with the wood. This is on my 850R

[Chilled Mackers]

Hi all, thank you so much for the detailed and helpful replies.

I managed to clear enough space to get the front of the car in, to change the oil, oil filter, air filter and plugs. I had to weld part of the cat casing, finally found where the fumes were coming into the cabin area! It passed it's MOT yesterday.

However, during the MOT, it was 0.1 over one of the emission tests, so the young lad was reving t*ts out of the engine between the test attempts and it boiled over

The old guy came over, waited for it to cool down a bit - plugged the leads in and did the emission test 'properly' and it passed. My ears arn't tuned to a 5 cylinder, but the old guy had the car @3-3500 rpm for the test (i watched the test screen) - the young lad must of had it at @4500! Not amused.

However, the fan only came on a couple of times, before it boiled over - so the next job on the list is to fault find the cooling system. It's never overheated in the 20 odd years the car has been owned by the family - however, it's also not been revved soooo high, for soooo long, stationary before. But it has highlighted a fault to investigate. Now my paranoia thinks there is also a ticking noise that has started.

I need to clear abit more space, to get the 16 foot long greenhouse of a car into the garage - so I can shut the door behind it! Once done, it's onto CAM belt and cooling. I checked fuses in the fuse box - hoping for something simple, nothing is blown there - the list didn't show a fuse for the radiator fan in the fuse box, so i guess that is hiding somewhere else.

As I stated before, luck is not something I seem to have on the preffered side of the scale - to highlight that further - my Mum's car has 'hopefully' lost a head-gasket - yes i say 'hopefully' as that is a Range Rover P38 - the ones with the dreaded 'dropped liner' or 'cracked block' problems. It never rains, it always pours.

I tried to clear the 'service light' on the Volvo to tell the car i've changed the oil, i followed the haynes manual method, it seems they can't put the whole diagnositc part into one easily followed chapter - is there a pdf of just the diagnostic computer part somewhere for download? Jumping around the book drives me crackers. I do wish there was 1 button (yes i've changed the oil - press this - done) on cars - all the moon walking while tapping my head and rubbing my belly is frustrating.

Thanks again for the replies - I will update once I get the car in and prices for the parts and tools. Just wanted to give an update on the car as i've not sat down in front of the pc for ages.

Thanks again,

Chris.

[4x4]

Originally Posted by Chilled Mackers

- yes i say 'hopefully' as that is a Range Rover P38 - the ones with the dreaded 'dropped liner' or 'cracked block' problems.

The 4.2 litre Range Rovers were prone to slipped liners, mine suffered and I traded it in rather than try to sort it.

Originally Posted by Chilled Mackers

I tried to clear the 'service light' on the Volvo to tell the car i've changed the oil.

1996-1997 cars cannot be reset without the correct electronic tool which is plugged into the OBDII port. Earlier cars can be reset and there are several different methods depending on the year.

Find another MOT station next year, that one sounds like they haven't a clue

[Chilled Mackers]

Hi all,

So the headgasket job has stalled, the bottom of the manifold has a large bulbus joint, secured with two collars and pass through bolts. The pass through bolts are rounded/domed on the engine side and springs/washers/nuts on the bulkhead side. Horrific.

I'm guessing the idea is to use grips on the bolt shafts, between the collars, then hope you can then undo the nuts?

I have no idea how you can get access to do this, underneath has a steering rack and subframe assembly in the way - above has the car in the way.

Videos on the interwebs seem to all have a block style flange connecting the manifold to the exhaust.

There must be a way to do this, there must be - I am too dumb to work it out though - I must have some unicorn of a volvo

Any help wouldbe greatfully recieved,

Chris

[Luxobarge]

A bit confused here, I thought you were doing the HG job on a Rover?

If you're trying to change the HG on the Volvo, why? What makes you think it has gone? It's VERY rare for HG to fail on these so PLEASE make absolutely sure that this is the fault before doing all that work. More common faults are relays failing to put the fan on, faulty fan, radiator faults (very common - oil cooler leaks into coolant), failing coolant reservoirs and so on. Can't remember the last time there was a genuine HG failure on here.

Give us a clear story of where you are with it and what diagnosis you've done, and let's take it from there.

[Chilled Mackers]

The car boiled over at the MOT, after the MOT left it to cool, the coolant was topped up, then the car boiled over when i got home (10 minutes drive). The next day I topped up the coolant and drove for 10-15 minutes (around the village) and it boiled over when i turned the engine off when I got home - erupting from the expansion chamber. The temperature guage didn't go above halfway at any point, either at the MOT or after. The radiator was uniform in temperature, the fan came on a couple times, the coolant was clear, the cabin heater was hot, the oil is clean and no milkshake/emulsion anywhere.

Next day, compression test and #1 was low, #2 was high and #3, #4, #5 were the same.

#1 159lb / #2 178lb / #3 175lb / #4 175lb / #5 175lb

Left it a few days, friend popped round as I was draining the coolant and it changed to:

#1 156lb / #2 160lb / #3 45lb !!! / #4 175lb / #5 175lb

#3 is now crazy low - 45lb. put some oil in through the plug hole and it didn't change much. Nothing stopping the compression tester from sealing (poured some oil around the compression tool fitting/spark plug hole - no bubbles). Bore scope showed water droplets down the cylinder wall of #3. I don't have a super shiny bore-scope so I don't have the 'reverse angled' head option to check the cylinder head/valves. So something isn't right and further investigation would warrant the head coming off?

Skipping the now problematic manifold/exhaust connection - I am now epically struggling to get the upper portion of the cylinder head off. All the bolts are out, tapping it all around with a rubber mallet has got a 1mm gap at the 'front' - I can't get at the bulkhead side to strike it from the 'rear'. I'm starting to think I should remove the sodding engine, just my luck - all the videos on youtube - everything comes apart for them I'm wondering if I can remove some mounts so i can 'lean' the engine forwards to clear the brake servo/master cylinder? I'm absolutely fuming, i've called the designer all sorts of names - but i'm willing to accept i've done something wrong or something is hidden in the haynes manaul.

So, from the Range Rover headgasket going, deciding to use the volvo - I've now got two cars that are little more than garage gnomes.