In May 2013, bought a 2005 s40i manual trans with 175K miles for my teen. Yes, high, but body in great shape, no rust, all highway, one owner, able to get maintenance records from dealer that serviced the car like clockwork. Since purchasing, put new summer, new winter tires on it as well as front pads and rotors, rear pads. I took out a chunk of the oil pan, so new pan and cheapo plastic guard from Ebay. Son said car had started making noise going into 3rd, squealing, so I figured a clutch was in my near future. I drove it one day to test it out, I didn't hear squealing, but the gear shift rattled like mad, it was more thumping and the shifter shook violently. But, before I got it in...

Son is driving home, said car was making noise, got a battery warning, then a power failure warning and then lost everything and the engine stopped. It was close to our house, by the time we got there he had no flashers - totally dead, wouldn't jump. Goes to our local mechanic, I'm thinking alternator, he said belt and replaced. His take was that son hit something under the car forcing the plastic guard to shear off the belt. Son says he didn't hit anything. I checked where he parks at school, gym, work to see if there were berms he may have run up against - nothing. A few days later, the panel under the car comes loose, hubby looks under and thinks it sagging as well as being unattached, bring it back and they use zip ties to hold it up.

10 days later, son goes to gym, heads to work, same warnings. Is able to repeatedly pull over, shut car down, restart and make it to work. I trade my truck for his car and attempt to get it home - power failure. I hear a whirring from the alternator. It's towed to local mechanic who blames son for shearing off another belt.

Little driving was done over the next 10 days, mainly in and out of the garage, but he was using my truck for school and work. Up to the gym he goes, heads home, 3 or 4 miles down the freeway, same thing but this time he says it is really fast, gets the car off the freeway, when I get there it still has flashers thank goodness because it was one dark night! Nothing on the road I drove where he travelled that he may have hit. Gets towed again, mechanic says broken belt, broken timing belt, failed compression test, engine damage - 4100 to replace engine, engine mount, and clutch. Engine mount failed, dry as a bone and either broken or broke in half when mechanic touched it. Engine was off by 'maybe a half inch to an inch'.

2 things - I think they missed a sagging engine because it is so easy to blame a teen, but nothing I can prove. 4100 gets me an engine with 66K and a new clutch, but I still have a transmission with now 192K on it. I replace everything, I think I am spending way more than the value of the car. Even if I do replace all, what other things may go with 192K on them? Scrap yard will give me 350 - robbery. However, am I just throwing money away to repair?

Bought the Volvo for safety for my teen, but what a money pit, and stranded with a dead car fails my safety test! Thank you to any who make it this far and care to respond. Looking for straight forward opinions as I truly do not know what to do.

 

Sorry to hear about your problems. My 2005 T5 has been totally reliable. Wife drives the tires off it everyday. Being an old car means it needs TLC though. As soon as you mentioned the shaking shift lever I'm thinking motor mount as I too had to replace mine.

I have to ask, was the timing belt replaced previously? There is really no reason for it to fail otherwise.

Whether to spend the money or not is a tough call since replacing the car with a newer one will cost even more.

 

I pulled the repair records. Timing belt was replaced in 2010 at 120K.

Other repairs in the life of the vehicle:
- Mass air sensor 2008
- Left rear failed bearing 2008
- front strut mounts 2009
- cat 2009
- a/c compressor 2011

Teen is currently 17, turns 18 next year and off to college without a vehicle. Next one down the pipeline turns 16 in February. After the stranding of my oldest, I want something a bit newer for her. My daughter on the side of a freeway is worse to me than even my son was. However, he won't be taking a vehicle with him as a freshman or until he can handle his own insurance away from my liability. Fixing is cheaper than replacing, but fixing can be more expensive if other stuff starts failing - no guarantees either way. Does have a sagging headliner - would like to try to glue it up. Or I put the money into a car for her and let him use mine to and from work next summer while I bum rides from them.

 

If I were in your shoes... no way I would put 4100 into a old Volvo with 192k on the tranny. Especially since it will be driven mostly by teenagers who are not known to be easy on stick shifts. Unless you can do most of the work yourself, and it sounds like you cannot, owning a high mileage volvo will cost you.

I know they are known for being safe(r) in accidents and reliable, they are, and I know I would want the safest car for my daughter too. But I will never own another Volvo unless its a 1988 740 or something like that. My 2003 S40 is turning into a money pit too, and I do all of the work myself. But I drove a '88 740 for years and gave it to a family member with 250k miles on it, and it still ran fine. Never had to do much except change the oil.

I would also recommend a Ford Focus. Decent cars, easy to work on, parts are cheaper. My wife drives a 2002 Hatchback with 190k on it. Very reliable little cars and can be had for cheap from the right seller. Stay away from the dealerships... con artists, all of them. I paid $5400 for it and it only had 50k miles on it. Had a little body damage... I could have cared less. At the time (~5 years ago) that year Focus was going for $10,000 at the dealers, and most had close to 100k miles on them.

 

Here's my straightforward opinion. The problem isn't the car it's the owner. And your mechanic.

First thing you do when you buy a used car with 175K miles is replace the entire timing belt system. Not just the belt, but also the tensioner, roller and water pump. If any one of those components fails it takes out the timing belt. It is very likely none of that was done at the first timing belt change where often only the timing belt itself is changed. Also, if this had been done by someone competent they would have found the broken motor mount.

Now you probably didn't know this but those are the facts.

Your mechanic sucks and has let you down badly as it's possible this entire tale of woe resulted from one broken motor mount. The serpentine belt may have broken due to interference caused by the broken motor mount and the second broken serpentine belt may have derailed the timing belt. Your mechanic is a loser who should have figured this all out with the first broken belt. Blaming your son for a broken serpentine belt is beyond absurd.

You should sell the car on Craig's List now to a shadetree mechanic who will repair it himself. Maybe get $1,000 for it.

 

Since the belt comes with a kit including the idler and tensioner, I haven't heard of anyone just replacing the belt. If something was hit causing the alternator belt to shred, it can get caught in the timing belt and do this. The compressor is the bottom accessory and I have seen many, many people hit it and cause the belt to shred. Sometimes just that belt shreds. But there is usually damage to the pulley. I suspect this was the case here with the initial hit. The shop threw a belt on without checking the pulley, which shredded the new belt.

No way to prove it now though.

 

Maybe this is true for Volvos maintained at your dealership. Most places you ask for a timing belt change, that's all you get, a timing belt.

Anyway, good info on the compressor pulley.

So the OP's car had a broken motor mount with motor an inch low on the accessory side.

Which contributed to the busted oil pan and the damaged compressor pulley.

Which eventually shredded the serpentine belt. Which the mechanic replaced without noticing anything else amiss.

Which resulted in a second shredded serpentine belt. Which derailed the timing belt and trashed the motor.

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.......

 

The damaged engine mount may have been caused by hitting the oil pan. I've seen that dozens of times. If the OP just replaced the pan and didn't notice the mount, that could have been the cause. But I also see people wipe out oil pans and/or compressors all the time with perfectly good engine mounts.

 

Good info again, thanks! So the OP's entire sorry story resulted from the first hit to the bottom of the engine.

 

Yep. No way to prove anything though. Probably best to part it out or scrap it at this point.

 

Thanks to all who responded.... Made the call this morning, painful to make, but I appreciate the responses.

I did take offense last night with the comment that I am responsible for the cause of this. Responsible because I trusted those who were supposed to know better, so yes, I guess it's true.

This car was seen by 2 Volvo dealerships as well as two local mechanics - a total of 4 different places or people in the 17 months we owned it between checking it out before purchasing and the repairs and maintenance that were done. I am not a mechanic, I put my trust in those I pay. Doesn't help me at all, but the mechanic who changed the serpentine belt without looking further was let go by my local shop. They won't admit fault, of course, but did spend a number of hours checking out the car and towing it on their dime, I will get a pittance for the vehicle when I sign over the title...

ES6T, I have no idea if anyone even looked at the engine mount when the oil pan was taken out. The pan was taken out months ago and the car was serviced since then prior to the belt issues popping up. I know the pan was replaced, but whatever else they did who knows. Apparently, not enough and what a shame that incompetence led to the loss of a vehicle.

Chalk it up to a very expensive learning experience. Hopefully one I never have to repeat, but live, learn and move on. I've learned a tad more about engines.

Thank you again for your time in responding!

 

We bought our son a 2000 Volvo S40 for his first car. Clean in and out. Had the normal oil change, tune up......and it was running great. It just showed the misfire code, changed spark plugs and wires, didn't help. We were told coils packs were bad, so they were changed. We just found out motor mount is broken and we need to have that repaired. I know the broken motor mount can cause the engine to shake but can it also cause the car to misfire or run poorly?

 

I wasn't trying to blame you. It may not have been the engine mount at all. Like I said, people hit the oil pan and/or compressor all the time with the engine mount being fine. But if the compressor pulley was damaged, it very likely caused the belt to shred again. Unfortunately, you can't prove anything so it's a bad situation for you.

 

ES6T - nah, I was referring to the "the problem isn't the car, it's the owner. And the mechanic." comment. Got under my thin skin, but this morning I figured it is true. As owners that don't do repairs, you put your faith in those who do. We thought even with high miles, that if we cared for the car properly (which we thought we were doing - even after taking out the oil pan) that we would have a decent car for the teen which would also provide safety for him. Stuff happens though right, but goodness OUCH!!!!

CarCrazyMom - I wouldn't put off having the engine mount addressed - trust me....

 

Had this not have happened, you're right... You would have had a good car for a teen to drive. Not all mechanics are that thorough or knowledgeable unfortunately and I believe that is what ultimately caused this.

The 2000 S40 is different. A broken engine mount won't cause a misfire though.

 

This is the problem with old cars. The incompetent, lazy and dishonest mechanics will not stand behind their work. I don't particularly blame them as thorough and honest mechanics generally make less money than the bad ones.

You either have to know a knowledgeable and honest mechanic - and there aren't many - or become one yourself.

There's a good reason most people opt for a car payment and a new car at timing belt time.

 

Hello; I'm a new member with almost the same problems with mi s40 t5 2005. Many parts had been replace but always something new happens.
I'm not only disappointed but also frustrated with the car. My next step is to sell for as much I can get.

 

As they say: "Your mileage may vary". I have a 2005 T5 AWD that is a normal 9 year old car. It needs TLC from time to time which I give it. It is not abused but it is driven often. Nobody touches it but me for repairs. I know the car inside and out.

I have to ask. Do you do your own repairs? Is the car abused?

 

No, the car had been not abused in any way, in fact I was driven at 60 miles /h when the engine, without any sound stopped. There was nor any "check engine" warning light and was not overheated. this morning the compression was checked and only the cylinder # 5 had 110 lbs., the rest of the cylinder's reading were under 17 lbs. timing belt in good condition and the engine turns freely. Somebody told me to check the lifter, but there is no lifters in this motor. again the engine quits without any sound or warning,(Like turning the key off)

 

You don't just lose compression in 4 cylinders. The belt may be in tact but something may have shredded one of the accessory belts, causing it to get into the timing and jump time.