A mechanic once told me that he could hear that my timing
belt (on a Saab) was close to failing.  I don't know if that
is a reliable diagnostic.

No one knows, and you can't really tell without inspecting it, but the
work to inspect it is getting close to just changing it (although you
want to do your pump too).

Maybe it will just jump a tooth and alter your timing.  Or maybe it will
grind pieces of your valve train to mush.  Or maybe it will run for
another 10,000 miles and then break.

Superstition now:
These things run on neglect for a long time, but once the owner is aware
of the risks and the necessities, they will break in the worst possible
way :-)

No.

You _might_ feel the teeth on it. If they're noticeably rounded, then
it's an old one.

Heavy-footed use of the clutch (drag starts) and sudden rpm shifts will
certainly encourage it to fail earlier.

It's also not that hard to chaneg it yourself (assuming a 4-pot B200 or
similar)

No, there are no good warning indicators except for time and mileage.

If that is the original belt on your 960 then you are flirting with
disaster every time you use the vehicle.

John

_____
This engine should be on the home stretch with its second belt (a new
one is needed every 50,000 miles or 5 years whichever comes first).  A
new (third belt in your case) is indeed required.  I recently changed a
similar belt on a Volvo B230 engine (in a 240 model car) and it had run
63,000 miles on that particular belt.  The belt itself looked just fine.
 The bearing in the tensioner pulley had become rough, while the
surface of the pulley was clean.

The belt and tensioner pulley design in your engine is almost identical
to the B230's setup.  I would expect to pay around C$200 to C$300 for a
belt and pulley change.  Some mechanics recommend a pulley change every
other belt.  My experience suggests that tensioner pulleys last well
over 150,000 miles, meaning a new pulley every third belt change.

Consider changing your own belt.  It is not that difficult.  It would
take you a typical Saturday afternoon.  Cost of parts is about C$60.

Cost me $100.00 AU Dollars on my 740 turbo that's about $75.00 US Dollars
from my local Volvo specialist .Mind you NOT THE DEALER those guys scare me
.

The only way to tell the belt is going out is when it snaps and destroys
the engine. Get it changed now, if you don't you'll be kicking yourself.

You can't look at a belt and tell with any certainty whether it is
ready to break.  Short of the obvious like a belt that has split open,
etc.  Just rely on the number of miles driven and swap the belt
according to manufacturer recommendations.

Yes, you can probably save some money by driving beyond the recommended
change limit, but why put yourself through all that worry about whether
it will snap 200 miles from the closest gas station and possibly
destroy the motor in the process.