Ok - this is a new one for me - my son borrows the car and gets s mile from our home when the car just dies —after it gets towed to the dealer - here is what they said - that the belt tensioner sheered off part of the serpentine belt - ( I say part because when you look at the belt it appears to be in place and working ) the piece that sheered off got stuck on a timing gear causing it to skip timing - and this led to it destroying the valves - how can something like this happen ? Has anyone heard of this ? The dealer wants over $8K to repair with a new head - and for the record the car has 79K miles and just had the timing belt service less then 2K miles ago - the extended warranty company won’t cover the repair because they say a non covered part - the belt- led to the damage —any and all suggestions and advice appreciated !

 

Have seen that (and repaired that) many times. Serpentine belt comes apart and a tiny portion gets caught in the timing belt. Usually just the serpentine belt fails (not the tensioner?) , and causes the problem. Was the serpentine belt replaced with the timing belt? (since it was off anyway) If it was what does the shop have to say about the new part causing damage to your engine? I've (my shop) have done similar valve jobs for free when a timing belt failed prematurely, so I guess it depends on the integrity of your shop.

Now it is possible to incorrectly install the serpentine belt - if it's not aligned perfectly on all the pulleys (I've done it, and recently on my own 2015 t6) - and after a period of time - say 2000 miles, only a portion of the belt , the portion that was aligned outside the pulley shreds. I've never seen a tensioner selectively destroy a portion of the belt - unless one of the pulleys is plastic and obviously destroyed. A damaged tensioner usually just pushes the belt off.

That repair - head removal/replacement with all new valves - should be (or used to be at my shop) in the $3500 range. The dealer may be quoting for a new or Volvo brand remanufactured head. Find a good independent Volvo specialist if the dealer is unwilling to help.

"non covered" part - Yeah - I never recommended extended warranties - although they do pay out sometimes. Very Frustrating - sorry for your loss.

 

The cause is the tensioner. I've seen many come in before this happens and the belt isn't centered on the tensioner anymore. I've also sent many where they come in too late.

 

This is endemic on these cars happened to me too