I have a 2002 Volvo S60, 2.4 FWD Automatic Trans, with 120000 miles. I have had all scheduled maintained done at the Volvo dealerships, including my timing belt replaced early this year just before the recommended 105k. Last Monday I had to slam on my brakes to avoid an accident, I avoided having an accident but my car died, and would not restart. I had it towed to the Volvo dealership and they are telling me that the timing belt has slipped/jumped timing. Nothing appears broken, the belt is not broken, however the timing is now off, the engine will not hold compression so they believe the valves are bent and heads possibly damaged... needless to say $4000+ to fix, so not worth it.

Has anyone heard of this happening? It has only been 15,000 miles since the belt was replaced. Could they have messed something up when they replaced it earlier this year that has caused this to happen? In addition, they replaced the air conditioning compressor clutch in July, could they have messed something up then?

They told me they've never seen this before, it is just a very unlucky occurrence, the only possibility they could think of is that some road debris got up in the engine compartment, and slamming on my brakes dislodged it and it came between the timing belt and the cam, or something causing it to jump timing... is this feasible?

Thanks!

 

I don't think the debris thing makes any sense at all. I also don't see where slamming on the brakes could have anything to do with it. Yes you took your foot off the gas to hit the brakes but the brake pedal would not cause the engine to decline in RPM's so quickly that it would cause the TB to jump. The AC clutch is part of the serpentine belt, not the timing belt, so again I don't see a connection. It does sound like your valves are bent. I would ask to speak to a regional rep regarding the situation. Not saying it is their fault just that I wouldn't dismiss that probability out of hand.

 

i am leaning to BS on this one.

Do you happen to have the service history of when they replaced it? I am curious about something...

 

I say BS as well!

 

Thanks for the replies. I did call and speak to the North American Volvo office in New Jersey. They essentially told me that the car is out of warrantee, and all the dealerships are independently owned and operated so any service issue is between the dealer and me. As far as what I described, the person I spoke to had never heard of it happening, but they can offer no further assistance.

The service manager's latest story is that maybe something hit the cover for the timing belt causing it to slip. He said they inspected all the pulleys and tensioner and all were working and set correctly, however the belt jumped approx. 20 teeth, and the valves are definitely bent. He spoke to the Volvo regional rep, and they said they cannot really do anything for a car with over 100,000 miles on it.

I know I did not hit anything during my braking, so nothing hit the cover, that is definitely BS. So the more I find out, the more it sounds like either the tension was set incorrectly to begin with, or the tensioner or some other component failed or is in some way defective. The new timing belt components should only have 15000 miles on them, so the service manager said he'd contact the regional rep again.... Naturally they can offer me a good deal on the trade in if i buy a new car from them... makes me even more suspicious.

The paperwork for the original work is in my car, I'm on my way to pick that up shortly... what is it you'd like me to look for?

Any other ideas, suggestions? Am I SOL?

 

no, i don't think you are SOL but i am pretty certain they are trying to **** you. I think you may have paid for a lot of nothing when they did your service (this can happen - one person opens it up, leaves for the day, another thinks the job is done and closes it up)

What dealership did you go to?

if you would like, you can scan and send it to me mcginlep AT gmail DOT com

 

Did they replace the pulleys when they did the timing belt?

 

thats the direction I was going, tech.

 

I had the work done at West County Volvo, www.wcvolvo.com, in the St Louis area. They did it in one morning, this past January, I had dropped the car off the night before, so as far as changing shifts, I don't think that would have happened, though the mechanic could have been distracted, changed mechanics, anything is possible.

Looking over the invoice, there is a charge for Tooth Belt (274338), and Tension Pully (30638277). So it does not look like they replaced the idler pully or anything else, should they have?

Right now their position is I got 15,000 miles on the belt, so it left the shop properly tensioned or I would not have gotten that far. They told me, despite jumping 20 teeth, it still has proper tension, no teeth are missing, and the pulleys are all fine, so its a mystery as to how it jumped. Their best guess is something hit the cover causing the belt to jump, so its just a freak occurrence that they are not responsible for... I definitely did not hit anything.

My position is I had the timing belt replaced there less than a year ago, I had a timing belt problem. Either one of the components failed or something wasn't put together right in the first place, and they should fix it... Do you guys agree?

I feel like i'm running out of options, a 7 yr old car with 120k miles is not worth 4000 for me to fix. I don't really feel like I have any other leverage with them, do I?

 

Got it Jack!

I agree fully. In my mind, they should be responsible. I cannot think of anything that could make a belt jump like that.

There is no reason this can't be escalated through VCNA but you would have to go through the local branch and not through NJ.

 

note a respectable dealership would have replaced your water pump at the same time as well, this shop did not.

Another thing you can try is get them to use their "DEALER GOOD WILL ACCOUNT (those words are important - its a specific thing)." This is a reserve of cash that all dealers get from VCNA to solve customer service issues. Its use it or lose it, so no reason so that they not use it on you.

FYI - the price isnt awful.

 

Thanks for the advice so far. I will talk to the service manager again tomorrow and bring up some of these points up. He is supposed to be talking to the regional rep again on Monday about this.

I'll ask them to use their "Dealer Good Will Account"... Though being December hopefully they haven't used it all up for the year or something... I'll keep you all posted.

 

its a monthly account os it resets every month - being still early in december you may be ok.

The only reason a belt would jump would be a bad pulley or improperly torqued tensioner. PERIOD.

 

+1 to that!!!

 

Well, after some back and forth, they decided to take the cover off and have a second closer look. The new story is that the crankshaft pulley failed allowing the belt to slip causing this problem... they did not touch that, so tough luck to me... the car needs a new crankshaft/crankshaft pulley, in addition to the valves... Any thoughts, can/does this happen?

 

i will defer to tech a bit but i go back to BULLSH!T!


If the pully failed it would disconnect from the shaft and spin totally freely - timing would not be impacted nor would the valves.

The only way this would happen is if it seized which would only happen if you never changed your oil (and there would be tons of other residual damage from that).

BS-BS-BS-BS!

 

I asked for a written explanation of what happened with my car, and this was the answer, "THE FLYWHEEL PULLEY CAME APART AND PIECES WENT INTO THE TIMING BELT AND MADE THE ENGINE JUMP TIME."

Sound more feasible? Would they have done anything with the flywheel pulley, during the timing belt replacement? Ever heard of this?

Thanks again for all your help, I looks like I'm just stuck with this loss, and will be getting a new car...

On that note, any suggestions the best way to get the most money for this car, just try to trade it in? or sell it to a junk yard? Sell it to a 3rd party buyer? How much money do you think I could get for it now 2002 S60 120k miles, Premium package, leather interior, winter weather package, in good shape up till this incident?

 

yes makes sense and yes they should have replaced it, that is part of what the service calls for.

I would make one last call to them, threatening to get the attorney general involved and stating your intent to call VCNA. They failed to properly perform a service that they charged you for and this resulted in the damage I would strongly suggest you call VCNA (again) to report this dealership right away.


Car is probably worth about 2k, private party sale, at this point.

 

You say the service calls for this part to be replaced, is there some publication that Volvo puts out that I can get a hold of so that I have some reference to quote when I call?

 

I will check it out when I get home 0 it MIGHT be VADIS.