driving along at highway speeds, all is fine, hear a thump and car no longer running. pull over and see, as suspected, serpentine belt is shredded. get towed and as mechanic is pulling it in and closing for the night he pulls the cover off and sees the timing belt is also broken. what?!? had it replaced only about 10,000 miles ago. anyone have any idea why both belts would break and, the big question, if a timing belt blows in a non turbo 02 v70 (5sp) at 70 mph, is the engine toasted?

thanks and hoping for good news on my valves!
-tim

 

They likely did not both go at the same time. I have seen the serpentine belt come apart and get sucked into the timing belt and damage it.

And yes, if this happened at 70 MPH, those valves are most likely shot. The engine may be fine, but without pulling the head to inspect, you can't tell.

Who replaced the timing belt? I wonder if they put the serpentine belt on incorrectly. If you put it on with part of the belt on the ridge of one of the pulleys, it can shred the belt. Though if it was installed like that, I doubt it would last 10,000 miles (I doubt it would even last 500 miles)