First let me start by saying that I’m not a mechanic or very mechanically inclined, however I’ve had 2 mechanics working on this and they can’t get it to fire up either. So the car’s AC compressor went out months ago, and ended up throwing the AC belt, as well as the alternator belt with it. Since it was winter, and money was short, I elected to just put on a new alternator belt and I’d get the rest fixed later. About 4 months later and the alternator belt was thrown again. So we put on another alternator belt again, and this time it literally lasted lass than 1 day. This time since it was warming up, I had a mechanic put in a new AC compressor as well as put on a new accessory belt, and another new alternator belt. He hooked everything up, and it looked perfect. He went to start it, and it wouldn’t turn over. The belts are turning, and the accessories are coming on, but it’s getting no spark at all. We can’t figure it out. The car was running absolutely perfect before it threw the alternator belt. Minus no AC of course. So we hooked up a diagnostic handheld and it’s showing A P0340 code and at first it showed a P0365 code. I looked up the P0365 code. I cleared them and the P0340 code is remained. I looked it up, It said it could be the cam shaft location sensor and so I changed both of those, and still no spark at all, The other thing that could cause that code is a weak battery, and I believe that’s what it is, so I charged the battery and got the code to clear and still nothing. Anyone have asy ideas? You’ve got 2 mechanics and me shaking our heads as to what it could possibly be!!!

 

As a 2012 T5 owner myself, I've heard plenty of the sensitivities of these motors as I've worked on mine over the past few years. When you say "alternator belt" I assume you're talking about the main serpentine belt, correct? I wonder if the high resistance, that resulted in three belt breakages, damaged the internal timing belt which would cause havoc on the motor? Are these "2 mechanics" certified Volvo techs?

 

Find a new mechanic. The drive belt tensioner failed, causing the belt to walk and eventually shred. One of the shredded pieces got wrapped around the crank pulley and either broke the timing belt or caused the timing to change. You likely have some bent valves now.

 

We purchased a 2012 S60 for our 16 year old son .. from an individual that purchased it as a CPO from our local dealership & had it serviced there. We’ve owned several Volvo’s in the past & always satisfied. After owning it 2 days, the serpentine belt broke, hit the timing belt, & blew up the engine ( per Volvo mechanic). The dealership wants 7k to replace the engine.. the car has 76k miles do warranty just ran out, however, the factory issued serpentine belt should have held up to 105k miles.

We contacted VCNA & filed a claim under their “goodwill” program. The company sent their condolences on our misfortune but would not offer any financial assistance or negotiation to replace the engine.
Its a sad day when a company will no longer stand behind its own product.

We will not buy another Volvo!!

 

With all due respect, that doesn't make sense. Both belts are "serpentine" in design. But what most people call the "serpentine belt" is on the outside of the engine and the timing belt is in the inside of the engine. Therefore, there is no way that they could come close at coming in contact with each other. Maybe you heard wrong or maybe the mechanic was hung over?

More than likely, you just snapped the timing belt. Losing the timing belt will take out an engine. The internal damaged is on the level of cataclysmic. Sorry to hear about the loss. I wouldn't throw in the towel just yet, but next time, get an engine with a timing chain. More robust and durable. They usually last the life of the engine.

 

That is exactly what the Volvo mechanic told us.. apparently there was a redesign on the 2012 model year. The car still will not start with a new serpentine belt due to no compression on the engine.

 

It makes perfect sense. I explained what happened in my post above.

 

It is a reasonably well known issue among Volvo people that the 2012 T5 engine had a poor belt tensioner design which was prone to premature failure. A serp. belt failure on that engine is also known to have a good chance of damaging the timing belt and grenading the engine. Most people who know about this issue replace the belt tensioner (design has been updated) immediately as a preventative measure.

I would do some research and present your findings to VCNA. The failure was likely caused by a belt tensioner which is known to be a poor design. So much so that Volvo themselves re-designed it for the very next model year, which essentially is an admission that it was a flawed design. They might change their tune, especially if you could get pictures of the serp belt tensioner proving that it was worn or damaged. Even a video showing excess play or misalignment of the tensioner pulley. Worth a shot.

Not sure if you're on Swedespeed forums, but i've read a lot about it over there, and the warnings are coming from an actual Volvo technician.

https://forums.swedespeed.com/showth...belt+tensioner

 

So just a few hours ago my S60 t5 103000 km didn't start . I called a tow truck and we saw that accessory belt is partially shredded. It cranked but started for a few seconds then died . What should I do ; take it to the volvo dealer; smaller mechanic but I'm not sure their competency. Are my valves bent ; is this going to cost me several thousand dollars? please help i can't sleep

 

Sorry to hear that Ali Salim, I am currently in the process of rebuilding a 13 s60 I bought with a crashed head. It was supposed to be a flood vehicle but it turns out the serpentine belt got wrapped around the timing belt crank sprocket and caused the timing belt to break.

If your car has a serpentine belt that looks suspect, either not centered on the tensioner, or shredded I would immediately remove the belt and figure out why it is not riding correctly. It will destroy your timing belt and valves if the belt gets between the crank sprocket and timing belt. I have just recently started looking into the cause of the serpentine belt breaking on my car, all of my pulleys move freely, I cannot engage the ac clutch so I am not sure if it is seized but other than that the tensioner feels pretty good with minimal slop in the bearing, the alternator turns freely with slight noise that is either the start of a bearing going out or just the brushes but nothing that would throw the belt. I will probably replace the tensioner just to be safe but I suspect that maybe the alternator is not properly aligned, there is a lot of adjustment in the alternator on the bottom bolts.

Have you had your alternator removed at all recently? Any recent work done under the hood? A/c compressor, serpentine belt or pulleys replaced? Have you had the timing belt replaced yet?

I am sorry to say but I think your valves are bent. When your car goes from running fine to not starting with a frayed serpentine belt it is kind of pointing in one direction. Again, I would not try to start it again unless you are sure there is no serpentine belt pieces in the timing belt area and the only way to do that is to take the passenger side engine mount off and remove the timing belt covers. Its not incredibly difficult but you will need to jack up the engine to support it while you take off the mount (make sure to use a piece of wood or something to distribute the weight across as much of the oil pan as possible so your jack doesnt punch a hole in it) once you verify there is not any serpentine belt material in the timing area you can inspect the timing belt condition, check if the engine is properly timed and go from there

 

Hi Thanks for your reply.

So I indeed removed the engine mount and timing belt cover and found a small piece of the serpentine belt up near the timing pulleys. The timing belt seams to be in good condition. I am waiting for mobile mechanic to come to help me check if the timing is correct . If it is or is not we will try to make the timing correct and change the tentioner and serpentine belt. Do you think this is a good idea?
The timing marks on the pully are super hard to read? Is this for everyone ?

I have no engine work done in the 103k km just oil changes and breaks rear; and tires.

What is the best thing to do if after setting the good timing and chaining the serpentine belt doesn't fix my car. Should I do a compression test and if it fails then have my head rebuilt, buy a used head 1500CAD , buy a new head at volvo( 2950 CAD) plus labor.

Thanks again for your advice
Ali

 

Yes I would change the serpentine belt and tensioner and make sure to check the ac and alternator to make sure they move freely and the bearings are good.
I would replace the timing belt, timing belt tensioner and timing belt idler, it may look okay but its the only thing keeping your engine in time and keeping it from destroying itself. Its an important component, make sure you understand how to change it and how to adjust it, if this is messed up it can damage the engine as well. I recommend turning the engine over by hand with a ratchet on the crankshaft pulley nut before you start the engine, this can assure you there is not metal to metal contact, you should feel compression in the engine but no contact that completely stops the engine from turning.

Yes the timing marks are very small notches in two of the teeth on the crankshaft timing sprocket and two tiny lines on the camshaft gears, you can try to put some paint from a paint pen to highlight the marks on the cam gear.

Yes the next step would be to do a compression test and that should definitely tell you if the valves are bent. A machine shop with experience with 5 cylinder volvo heads can do a good job on the rebuild. Make sure they have experience, they should ask for the lifters and camshafts with the cylinder head. I would not mention them to shop and you should see if they ask for them specifically. If they do not ask if it is solid lifters and they do not ask for the lifters and camshafts I would not let them touch my cylinder head. When new valves are installed the clearance between the lifters and the camshafts when the valve is closed has to be set to a specific clearance if you have solid lifters. My 2013 had solid lifters. A new head is extremely expensive, I do not recomend it, I think you might be able to buy an engine for that price, if you get another engine I would still change the timing components and maybe water pump depending on the mileage. It cost me $800 to have my cylinder head rebuilt, that was for labor, valve guides on the exhaust side and 1 valve. I supplied the other 19 valve that I bought from FCP EURO osvat brand because they were the cheapest and the shop I went to said they have experience with those valves, they are ok but sometime they put the wrong valve in a box or a box is missing a valve. All my valves were correct that I bought from FCP except one which might have been the one that was not in a box. Just make sure to check every valve out of the packaging if you order osvat otherwise everything else seemed good. You need to replace the cylinder head bolts as well if you do this job, the bolts are one time use.

I found two engines for under $1300 when I was looking into that option, not sure the condition because I didnt check them in person. If I had to do it again I might try an engine swap instead. Its a ton of work to do a cylinder head and a lot of procedures that have to be followed exactly or you risk another engine failure. I have now done 2 cylinder head repairs. We will see if my second one was put back together properly tomorrow when I start it for the first time. It took me way longer than I thought even though Ive done one before. The machine work took close to 2 weeks but they were really busy when I dropped it off. If I found an engine that I knew for sure what the mileage was on it, I could check the oil and hear it run, maybe up to temperature if possible and then test the compression I would try an engine swap, it would be nearly the same amount of work and maybe cheaper. My FCP parts bill was $658.33 and I had some coolant on hand and still need to buy oil. I will attach a picture of my order. The vacuum pump rebuild kit was incorrect, I thought it was the same as an xc90 6 cylinder but was wrong. You may not need a water pump, wiper blades or air filters if you have done them recently. So total investment so far is ~$1568.

Let me know what you think and keep us updated on what you find when you investigate your engine further

 

Thanks for your advice! How did your engine head refurbishment go ?
So this was a little to overwhelming for me and I wasted a little money on some mobile mechanics that could not even do a compression test ; so I took it to the Volvo dealer . They in found that my valves had hit my pistons. Honestly I don't know what to do now . There are 2 used engines near me both around for 2K USD or 2700cad. Head refurbishment at a company that specialized in engine refurbishment is around 900 CAD but removing and installing the head will be super expensive. I wrote to volvo Canada customer services because this is emotionally drained me .

 

The head refurbish went well, it started up first try and it has been running well, I have about 20 miles on it so far and no problems. It is definitely a big job even the second time around. What market places have you checked for an engine? I would check ebay, car-part.com, craigslist and facebook marketplace (thats where I found the cheap engines but it might be different in your area). On ebay it looks like 2kUSD is common and car-part had a couple cheaper ones at 1700. What year is your s60? I read that in 2012 there can be an issues with piston rings and burning oil. There was a specific number of cars with a number that identifies them, I would google it but it seemed like it would be easy to identify. I read in 2013 they increased the compression and I think the engine has a different model number, I am not sure of the compatibility between the years but I would maybe try and stick with an engine out of the same year. My engine had the engine model number on the air box.

I understand the emotional toll it takes when a timing belt slips/breaks, I wish I knew the best solution for your situation. I am not a professional, just shade tree hobby mechanic. The head refurbishment has a ton of steps and with the engine being an interference engine makes any work in the timing belt area high stakes, it is important it is done right, there is little to no room for error. This goes for a head refurb or engine replacement where you will probably want to have new timing components so there is no chance of old components failing later on.

Are you absolutely set on fixing this car?

 

With all due respect you evidently have no idea what you are talking about. The only thing seperating the timing belt and the serpetine belt/ main drive belt on the t5 engine is a plastic timing cover with an opening at the bottom allowing the belt to potentially walk towards the crankshaft pulley if the tensioner fails. if the tensioner fails and the belt begins to move closer towards crank it will eventually start to shred the drive belt and wrap itself around the crank thus either breaking or pushing the timing belt off. all of the volvo 5 cylinder engines are interference engines meaning that if the timing is thrown off while the vehicle is running the valves will clash and 99% of the time bend a valve and destroy the engine and cause atleast 1 or more cylinders to lose compression.

 

Resurrect a thread at least 2 years old and your very first post is to attack my thoughts on an old subject???

Explain how my apprehension was inaccurate regarding the Volvo tech's explanation for catastrophic engine failure when he told the owner, "the serpentine belt broke, hit the timing belt, & blew up the engine"? I've heard of many timing belt failures associated with the T5, but not from belt-to-belt contact. As others have documented many times on the forums, that's not what really happens.

 

That comment was directed to Jlcanaday. It was cc into my response.