cam belt time

i'm about to have my cam belt changed and have ordered the volvo part number 274338 this is for a 98 c70 t5, i have no tensioners and have asked my local mech to fit it at a cost of 70 pounds for 2-2.5 hours labour, will it be ok to fit just the belt and re-use tensioners? and how do you know if your car has hydralic tensioners or mechanical? the car has only covered 64k but is old and over due a change, i also wondered if there would be any benefit in me replacing HT leads, it doesnt seem to be a service item that needs replacing but only checking in the service list? it has no problem starting or anything but i dont know how long ht's last. well thats for any advice; by the way if anyone is looking at parts from parts-monster who sell on ebay be careful as they are not 'oem quality replacments' they are cheap badly made copies that are nothing like the origional volvo parts.

If it comes in the kit (unless you just orded the belt) you might aswell fit it while your in there with the belt off (I'll be doing mine soon and I will get a full kit). HT leads are an unknown quantity if your not sure or they're getting on, change them or keep a set in the car just in case (don't know if you do long journeys?) I'm with you on OEM, I don't think they should use that description unless its TRUE!

just seems to be an internet company thing, they say one thing then you recieve any old part that they could find! I did just order the belt because it was less than half the price of the kit and i knew the service manager at a volvo dealer for a while who often used to say that you keep origional parts and keep parts longer than they say, so i took a chance on it. Now i'm worried because i dont really know how the parts work and how much stress is on them etc, my fault!

Is your car a '98 C70 T5? Just wanted to clarify as you selected an 850 engine for the thread title and the belt you have ordered wouldn't be suitable as it's for the mechanical tensioner setup and I believe all 850's had a hydraulic tensioner. Engine number up to 1266127 used a hydraulic tensioner and 1266128 onward used the mechanical one.

ah, yes it is a 98 c70, dont know how i managed that, May 1998 C70 T5 auto.

Cool. Well in that case just check the engine no. to confirm you have the right belt :thumbs_up:

well i dont know where the engine number is found to be honest but the volvo dealer confirmed it as the belt i need, but then they know next to nothing these days, so you think the tensioners will be ok to use then?

The engine number should be on a white sticker on the cam belt cover. I'd replace the tensioner.

When Volvo`s changed my belt, i was told by them that the tensioner does not need to be replaced as part of the job and that i would just be wasting my money , the reason for this is that it had a hydraulic tensioner thats is serviceable/ re-oiled or something? and that these tensioner`s if maintained could easily go on for 400k plus, in fact the service guy said in all the time he has worked for Volvo 25years he has never known one to fail and he`s worked on some mega mileage engines in his time. PS the above are the words of a Volvo service department not mine ;-)

Argh!