Hi My name is Theman008. For six year I owned a Volvo 240 dl 1986 and I did most of my own maintanence. I had two manuals and lots of time and no money.

Now I have a volvo s60. It's a more complicated system and to be a little honest. I am a little scared to mess with it. I don't want to brake anything.

I am up tp 100,000 miles and with gas prices the way they are I would really like to do the work myself.

I can defiently change spark plugs, oil, airfilters, fuel filters, I can handle that with a jack no problem.

My novice skills ewghh not so great. I declined to do an inner tie rod after looking at vadis. It stated i needed a special volvo tool.

SO,
for my 100,000 I am looking to change my timing belt, transmission fluid, radiator flush.

Does anyone have any advice for me like "yeah man, do the radiatior flush yourself , if you have these tools it's easy. "

And then if you could list the tools and maybe some quick instructions that would be helpful. I have VADIS , but honestly my old 240 manuals are better written. With more pictures too.

Also I am not strong, being a desk jockey, will it be hard to pull timing belt parts off?

First: I have neither done a Volvo radiator or trany flush, nor replaced a Volvo timing belt.

What I have heard: timing belt is something you should get done by a mechanic. It involves a lot of labor with the engine. Radiator flush I have heard pretty much involves draining the fluid then flushing it thoroughly with pretty much a hose and then draining and letting the rest evaporate, then re-filling. Before you do it look up the specific steps, but I plan on doing it myself and have heard it is not too difficult. Transmission flush I have no clue. Good luck!

Thats the problem with these forums. Everyone is giving hear say advice. But few people actually know how to do anything. Maybe it's because 1999 & up crowd can afford to have repairs done.

Well, true. If I can afford an S60, then I can afford to have someone qualified to fix it; alternatively, if I cannot afford to have someone to repair my car correctly, then I evidently can't afford that car.

Not that I am above changing an air filter or cabin filter (I do both, in fact). In a pinch, I suppose I could change the oil. But there is no way, given how delicate and complicated these cars are, that I'm going to change the timing belt as though this was the 1970s car that I had when I was in high school.

Hell, I had a corroded wire on the starter motor which I paid a mechanic $140 to fix. I even told him what was wrong with it. But do you know what would have happened had I tried to fix it? Disaster. Perhaps I wouldn't have disconnected the battery, perhaps I wouldn't have waited long enough after disconnecting the battery, perhaps the earth's magnetic field would have been out of alignment; at any event, it wouldn't have gone well.

All I'm saying is that if you're driving a car that retails for ~$35,000, don't grease-monkey it.

It's a sign of the times. No one can do anything for themselves anymore. The government has to do everything for us. We have become a people who are helpless. Well, Im going to do all three things and without instructions, I will show the government whose boss.

You're funny.

Make sure you show the man who the man really is.

Well good luck, but aren't you actually showing the mechanic who's boss? I don't think you're really screwing the government by fixing your own car....

Ha Ha people are posting , no one is telling me how they did it . HA HA

LOL Vadis sucks.

Try a search. I know it was discussed before, I think it was talked about in this forum. I haven't done it, otherwise I would tell you.

Do a search, Wow that's great advice. Remind me to write that down.

This is what I found.
Most importantly, all late model volvo engines are interference. Meaning if the crankshaft moves it will cause the piston to bend your valves, which will suck. But if you don't change your belt it can lose a tooth and then you are also screwed.

SO either way it is very easy in a volvo to screw yourself. Now the car is to small to screw others. Just in case you were thinking of buying one.

Also you must take off the front passenger wheel and fender lining.

After that something about a nut , pulley removal , belt removal, tensioner temperature gauge.

This is an extremely easy screw up. So I will probaly do it myself . Ha h A.

Such hostility...

You bought an expensive, sophisticated, complicated car for its comfort, amenities, and safety. Treat it like the diamond it is. Alot of cars can give you what you want; few can give you what you need.

Was thinking along the same lines Pentheos .... Doesn't inspire you to go to the bother of posting any helpful advice.

Next time I'll just wing an answer for him :)

+1. just buy the haynes manual or one of the manuals off of ebay and go for it. if people think it is that easy to work on a car that is technologically advanced, such as these are. what, everybody thinks these are small block chevies or a 302 ford? if people can pay for a mechanic, go for it. doesn't make them less of a volvo lover. don't see too many ferrari guys messing with their engines, even the old ones. the days of working on your engine with some paper clips and a raw potato are over. either mess it up with trying to do the work, or just pay for it. or better yet, buy a 72 duster and have fun with vapor lock all over again. :grin: