I bought an S80 (2001) T6 from a "Mechanic" who had done lots work including painful ECM module which he said he sent to "Tel Aviv" to get fixed.

The car's timing belt was worse than yours and it ripped whilst taking it off gently.
The water pump was wobbling around like a manual gearshifter.

I'm surprised it was running, Volvo really use garbage plastics and rubbers. A Japanese car belt would never crack that bad. I always prefer Continental timing belts compared to the stock "factory brand" stuff.

 

I

I'm surprised it was running, Volvo really use garbage plastics and rubbers. A Japanese car belt would never crack that bad. I always prefer Continental timing belts compared to the stock "factory brand" stuff.

Continental makes the Volvo branded timing belts, and are priced considerably less. European plastic does usually suck compared to Japanese. I find Volvo`s rubber parts like coolant hoses to be very long lived up over 15 years

 

A Japanese car belt would never crack like that? You shouldve seen the belt I swapped out on my sisters Toyota a few weeks back. Denso don't seem to be any different to anyone else with their belts.

 

Is this the original belt? If it's a 2.5, then it's got to be an early XC90. These need replaced by either time or miles. Looks like time has not been kind to it. Good thing you caught it.

 

I forgot to mention 2003 xc90 with T6 2.9l

no idea if it's the original or not seems like it.

by the looks of the plugs and this belt they have been there for quite some time !!!

 

According to your other thread, you have a 2003 right? I'd bet that belt is 18 years old.

 

or they bought an ebay special that has been living on a shelf for the 18 years.

 

How long would you say I have if I was not pushing it too hard ??? With this pandemic having a car repaired is a nightmare ...

 

That is past its use by date. If it were my car I wouldn't even start it.

 

I would rent a car before running that timing belt. I did a T6 timing belt at its prescribed interval (100K-ish miles and 7 op 8 years old), and it looked nothing like this. It still looked "new" for all intents and purposes.

That belt has got to be original.

-Ryan

 

Yup, everyone here has the same conclusion. Change now. When you remove the timing belt, take a dozen pictures around there. You need to also see where the oil source is from the oil deposits on the timing gears. It could be from the camshaft seals.

 

That's an interesting take. I thought it looked like little fragments of the belt breaking down, but you could be right, or maybe even we're both right.

 

Buy a lottery ticket; today's your lucky day.

 

lol Thanks Don't want a lottery ticket, want a trophe for worse belt lol

Just called for a quote so far 6 hours job should get final quote on monday

The first guy i called said I don't have the proper tools to handle that car. If you don't have the proper tool don't touch it !!!

 

I've seen much worse. Imagine twice worse as the one in the video

The video is at the junkyard, but I had a guy coming with his T6 XC90 (like yours), the belt was much worse if you can imagine. Actually I put a Dayco belt on my S60, it was looking like yours after 2 years and little miles (glad I had the idea to check it). Be sure to get the quality kit, Continental belt, Aisin water pump

 

Just had a look at the video for the belt !!! wholly crap yes much worse then mine.

Already did water pump on my sebring couple of years ago, was stressful enough, think this one will be paying for it.

Just saw video of Robert DIY says can be done in about 2 - 3 hours ???
In a garage is that the recommended time ??

 

You're going to want a thermostat assembly as well to go with that job if it hasn't been already mentioned. That looks like an original belt to me and I'd be checking the VVT hub or hubs while you're at it. Looks like some oil on the belt.

 

wow, interesting. I wrenched on miatas exclusively for like 15 years. Too many timing belts to remember. I came to the conclusion that the age wear was pretty much not an issue with them. I'd take a 91 apart and there was no cracking like this - they looked pretty much like they had from the factory in Japan.
I did replace several that had snapped (non interference design, so no $$ pistons hitting valves) and they were always because of cam seal or front main seal oil leaks. The belt would look like it had been dunked in dirty oil.

Continental is German I believe, of course we are talking some very considerable years now on these belts.

 

99% off topic

Back around 1990 I bought a brandie new Eagle Talon AWD. 4 cylinder turbocharged 16 valve Mitsubishi interference engine. Within about 6 months there was a recall on the timing belt. I took it in and they replaced it. A few days later the engine ejected the (belt driven) oil pump through the timing cover. Free fix. (Note to self: always make sure to put back the same number of bolts you take out.)

A friend with the same engine had the belt break before he could get in to have it changed. (Around 50K miles.) The inside of his cylinder head looked like a squashed centipede.

After the recall I think the timing belt became part of the 60K service interval.

 

My in law father and son team had a body shop and they would buy Fiat convertibles with broken belts on the 1850cc engines. I would remove the head and it would be sent out for repair. The cars were painted and I would put the repaired head back on with a new belt. Customers got a freshly painted car and an engine with a new timing belt. Somehow those Fiat belts broke long before looking anywhere close to as bad as the belt in the picture here.

 

Had the final quote in CAD
belt pulleys tensioner water pump and seals for cam $911
Just the belt kit $210 and water pump (don't know the brand ) $250 plus coolant

quoted 3.5 hours

Remember everything is in CAD

Already had a look at some videos from a master tech of volvo and some from A1 auto and even when touching the water pump, they don't even lock the cam, they said if you do it right, no need to lock them unless you touch the seal.

 

Had the final quote in CAD
belt pulleys tensioner water pump and seals for cam $911
Just the belt kit $210 and water pump (don't know the brand ) $250 plus coolant

quoted 3.5 hours

Remember everything is in CAD

Already had a look at some videos from a master tech of volvo and some from A1 auto and even when touching the water pump, they don't even lock the cam, they said if you do it right, no need to lock them unless you touch the seal.

My '08 is a T5 with 39k and dealer recommended the timing belt change due to time. Manual says 10 years, so a good recommendation. I'm waiting until next year and not worried about it.
Timing belt, aux belts, and tensioners came in at a cool $1,258.
Car's been paid off for 11 years, so a good dose of preventative maintenance I'm telling myself...

 

Ok finished the timing belt change couple of days ago.

Took couple of pictures of the belt, but about the same all around.

I would like to add that there was no slack to the belt, had a lot of tension, no slopping.

Of course seems worse since I am bending the belt more then usual.

 

I've seen something pretty much identical at the junkyard, and also my Dayco belt was looking slightly better after only 2 years (the Dayco pulleys were also spitting grease from the start). However, I can tell that I've seen another belt on an T6 XC90 sill running which was much worse than that (and the owner didn't even know about it). Not saying one has to wait until it fails, but at least the genuine belt can take quite a few cracks - but the aftermarket ones may be much less forgiving