Greetings All,

I am looking for advice on what to do with my current situation. I purchase a 2007 Volvo S40 T5 in September of 2008. The car had 10,000 miles on it at the time. I loved the car and the way that it drove. I drive a ton of miles for work and experienced what I would consider a lot of issues with the car (this is in comparison to my previous Toyota, the only other car I have owned). I preformed the recommended maintenance, got regular oil changes and did what was needed since I depend a ton on my car for work. My last service was in late May at which time I addressed all recommendations by the dealership's service manager. My next service was due at 120k miles and at 119k my car broke down. I heard a thud, all the lights went on, air conditioner turned off, and I coasted to a stop. The car's serpentine belt broke, altered the timing, damaged a valve and probably the head resulting in an 8k-12k repair.

I owe approximately 12,000 still on the car. I am at a loss of what to do as I dont have the cash right now for a repair or to pay off the balance of the car.

What made me even more upset was the service manager said that this has happened to five other people at the dealership this year making it hard for me to understand why a car would even be built this way?

I have called around to other European car repairs and they are all giving me the same estimate saying that you can not put a used engine in this car.

Does anyone out there have any recommendations on what to do? I am getting married this fall and may have not be able to have some of the things I had planned for at my wedding (or even a wedding at all) in order to address this issue. Please help!

Thank you,
Upset in Virginia

 

Are you sure it was the serpentine belt? That shouldn't do anything to timing. They probably said "timing belt," which, even though the manufacturer says to do at 120,000 miles, most any independent Volvo shop will tell you that 75,000 miles is more reasonable, especially on an interference engine.

As for putting a used engine in, there is absolutely NO reason why that can't be done, though finding one for that new of a car might be a bit difficult. Regardless, if you go that route, it'll probably have a lot fewer miles than the current one. Even still, I'd change the timing belt before installing it- it's easier to do with the engine out. The only thing to consider as far as making sure everything works right would be to MAYBE use the original throttle body, as well as the crank and cam sensors from the original engine. Do this, and set the timing belt using the factory tools, and the car won't care that it's had the engine changed. Still, a used engine for this car is going to be expensive- likely in the $3,000 range for the engine, plus whatever the shop will charge for installation. This is a job I'd shop around, though- lots of places will lower their labor rate for major jobs like an engine, since it's a lot of time without a lot of fussing around with paperwork and the like. Especially if you hint that you're not in the best shape financially. Another alternative is a used cylinder head, but many salvage yards won't want to take apart that new of an engine just to sell a head when they can get more for the whole engine if they wait

This is NOT an unusual thing to have happen, by the way. Timing belt failure on most modern engines usually means major damage. Most older Toyotas weren't interference engines, so they usually survive timing belt breakage, but the newer ones are, and most other cars, as well. Carmakers are pushing the envelope when it comes to maintenance intervals, trying to make their cars to need less maintenance... but the timing belt is one place I don't like this trend. There isn't a car in the world I'd take beyond 100,000 miles between timing belts, regardless of what the manufacturer says. I just rebuilt the head on a VW Beetle turbo. The car had 97,000 miles on it, and the timing belt broke. VW's replacement interval is 105,000 miles... but ask any VW or euro mechanic, and they'll tell you that they've never seen one make it that far before the tensioner fails and takes the belt out. Good luck!

 

So, this happened to me on my 2009 with 26,000 miles. It was a salvage vehicle but I was told the only damage was body damage. It was hit previously in the passenger side front. Last month engine made a very odd noise and died. Dealer discovered a couple of ribs (?) on the edge of the serpentine belt shredded off, were then sucked into the timing belt and caused engine to fail. Engine now needs replaced or major repair (not sure exactly what but they mentioned pistons colliding or some such thing)

ANYWAY, the dealer advised that the insurance company should pay because there was no way this could have happened unless I picked up something from the road which damaged the serpentine belt. Insurance company is refusing the claim, says it is just a mechanical failure.

Question is, can this happen from road debris? Or what likely caused it to happen? I don't want to fix it and have it keep happening.
I appreciate any advice I can get
Colleen