Not sure how clear these will be - serpentine belt looks pretty good but I do see some minor wear on the timing belt. Not opposed to waiting but I'm also fine with spending $3-400 and a weekend to avoid any major problems in the future. Reading all of the catastrophic events makes one a little nervous....

 

Here is the picture I meant to send earlier.

 

Based on the pictures, anyone have thoughts on the necessity of completing the belt maintenance?

 

On a 2012 with 72k, it doesn't need to be done.

 

Hello, I have a 2005 S60 2.5-5 Turbo and I had my belt replaced with water pump at 100K by Sandberg, a dealer here in Seattle. The recommendation I heard was 10 yrs/120K. I had it replaced last year and got the original belt back.

The car was owned by a Catholic High School teacher and coach for the first 80K, so to speak, no speed merchant, and then by modest driver me for the remaining 20K here in Seattle, not seeing dusty or very cold or hot temperatures, and for certain, no hard driving.

The belt I got back had all its teeth, just about 25% of the edges of the belt had any kind of loose threads, but the back of the belt was rather shiny with real pressure wear on it. If I could have put it back in, I would have gone another 40K with no concerns. Yours, a little thready at the edges, looks much better than what they took out of mine (except for the higher number of threads,) but to write it again, mine was not that worn. Good luck

 

I just did a timing belt service on my '03 S60 2.5T AWD.
The previous owner said that it had been done 20,000 miles ago (at 110,000 miles) when I bought it a few years ago. I didn't see any stickers or proof that it had been done besides a service receipt so I decided to take a look for myself and change it if it was due.
When I opened the timing belt cover, I noticed that the belt looked fairly new but the tensioner and idler pulley looked original. It seems that the dealer that did the service just slapped a new belt on it and called it good.
My water pump was starting to leak as well so I ended changing the T-belt, T-belt tensioner, Idler pulley, Water pump, Serpentine belt, and Serpentine belt tensioner.

Some suggestions for the DIY kind of person:
- Get a crankshaft holding tool to remove that 30mm nut. It is on there TIGHT! I almost broke a 1/2" breaker bar trying to get it off. I had to use a huge pipe extension to get the right amount of leverage. It was the tightest bolt that I have EVER had to remove...
- Jam a screwdriver or something in under the crankshaft gear when putting the T-belt on. That way the belt won't slip off of it when you are lining up the belt on the upper camshafts timing marks.
- Take time to figure out how to properly set the T-belt tensioner. It's a VERY fiddly mechanism and is easy to set up wrong.
- If you are replacing the water pump, make sure to remove all of the old gasket material from the engine block. Mine was awful and required me to spend a lot of time cleaning it all off before installing the new pump/gasket.

 

Looking for a good Volvo mechanic to do a timing belt replacement on Long Island

 

 

Can anyone please help me? I am new to this forum and also a new Volvo owner. i recently purchased a 2002 Volvo s60 T5 from an auction. i took it to my mechanic and he suggested that i replace the timing belt. he asked me to find out, immediately, when the timing belt was supposed to be replaced and also if it was a "freewheeling engine" he said that if it were a "freewheeling engine" that it would not matter if the belt broke. so i guess my question is, is this engine the type that would survive if the timing belt broke and also when is it supposed to be replaced? the engine has 146K miles on it. I really like this car and want it to last, although i bought it from a scrap yard and so i have no history on its maintenance.... i have been working on it for a year as i get funds to fix it. its come along way but still needs an exhaust system and a slight bit of body work to the rear end.

 

My 2015.5 s60 T5 with 52k miles had the tensioner fail, stripping pieces off the serpentine belt and into the timing belt causing a catastrophic failure. After being told it could be $17,000 for an engine replacement, I contacted Volvo customer care. Here is the run down:
7/6/2020 Customer care contacted and asked about “Goodwill” due to having only 52k miles and being 5 yrs old. Was told they would contact me within 7 days, but I should call back in 3 days because it doesn’t usually take that long.
7/13/2020 Called customer care and was told someone would reach out to me shortly. (My agent wasn’t available)
7/15/2020 Called customer care and was told upper management was the holdup but someone would contact me soon. (My agent wasn’t available)
7/16/2020 Called customer care and was told my agent would call me back with an update (I received no call).
7/17/2020 Called customer care and was told there were no updates as of today, but an update to my account was “scheduled for 2 days from now” (that would be Sunday in case you don’t have your calendars handy). I then called my agent and left a message to call me as soon as she was able.
7/19/2020 Agent called back to say the first claim was denied on 7/6 (day 1 of this story). She told me that she submitted an appeal on 7/6 as well and would get back to me as soon as a decision was made.
7/30/2020 Today...I have heard nothing from Volvo. (24 days after first contact with Volvo)

This is unfortunate because I was catching the Volvo bug and would have continued to talk up their cars while driving them. Having a blown engine at 52k miles is unacceptable, and this issue should be addressed for those of us with the problem and those who will have it. Having an actual thread dedicated to this topic is proof enough that it is a real issue, and my vehicle is currently at a private garage awaiting repairs next to 2 other Volvo’s with the EXACT SAME PROBLEM. I could not recommend Volvo to anyone and feel insulted by their lack of communication through this process.

 

I would have to agree that timing belt maintenance is not to be put off. My 2012 S60 T5 owners manual suggests changing at 120K miles, I thought I could stretch it to "next payday" at 126K and wouldnt you know it snapped and took all the valves with it. I opted to get a used engine from a shop with only 25K and $4K later I am back in my love. I should have treated her better and changed the timing belt before the 120K mark. Would have saved a lot of time and money. Show your Volvo some love and change the timing belt!!!

 

Car recently purchased for 16 year old daughter. Receipts the came with the vehicle show that the local Volvo dealer had the car 8210 miles ago for a leaking water pump. Previous owner paid for new water pump and timing belt install. So the daughter reports a screeching sound under the hood that you could hear clearly over the stereo. She turned around and came back home with the car. I start the car and can only hear a very slight chirp. I'm thinking serpentine belt tensioner. Remove the serpentine and air conditioning belt and tensioner and all looks good. Remove timing cover and oh my god. There's the brand new water pump still looking new. There's a tensioner that looks brand new. And there's The Idler that looks like the original from 2012, judging from the baked on rubber on the pulley it probably would have seized up again had I ran it a little longer. Okay got it barely in time. Then I noticed the cam gears have no timing marks whatsoever. I even go over them with a magnifying glass in my minute detail looking for the faint line. Absolutely nothing. Granted these don't have a keyed gear. the timing marks are really only good for reference to see if your belt has skipped. Really the only way to know if that gear on the cam has slipped is to lock the cam in at the rear the engine. So off with the starter to access the plug to lock the crank in at top dead center. Remove the harness from the top of the engine to make room to access the cam plugs at the back. Use the tool to lock the cams in and what do you know... The exhaust cam is off by two teeth retarded. No check engine light even. Even ran fine.

A good time to replace all five coils and the thermostat and thermostat housing. I guess the moral to the story is if you have someone replace your timing belt make sure you get all the old pieces in return. I sent the photos to the dealer in question followed by a lengthy conversation. To their credit the service manager did offer to finish the job at no cost but I passed on it. Peace of Mind means doing it yourself sometimes. The other moral to this story is a very slight chirping sound sometimes is the only warning you'll have before catastrophic failure. The 16 year old drives a Volvo for safety reasons obviously. But as a mechanic for the past 30 years on everything from air-cooled Volkswagens to Diesel's to F-15 Jets, Volvo is not my idea of a fun vehicle to work on:-)

 

 

I have a 2004 S60

So I was getting a timing belt replacement done and it got out of time it seems. They did not mark the timing before hand and I think it fell out of time because one of my cam shaft pulleys spins a little bit (because it is a CVVT) and they don't know where it was originally. We've been trying to get it back in time and need help.

We can see the "M" markers and get them to line up but that doesn't seem correct and we see two of the "I" notches, but they won't line up at the 12 position


Will the "M"s work as an indicator or do I need to use the notches?
I can see the notches on the crankshaft pulley, how can I be certain it is lined up? It looks lined up from my point of view but I don't know if it's on the money.

 

My question is HOW does the serpentine belt get sucked into the timing belt housing and WHY didn't Volvo fix this issue, smh?
I experienced this exact failure on my 2007 S40 which blew up my engine earlier this year (and right after I'd spent $$$ replacing all the brakes and shocks, lol), and I'm just curious if there's some kind of DIY guard that might be added to prevent this happening on my new-to-me 2009 S60?

 

I ended up purchasing the tool to lock the camshafts in position. Fits in behind the two rubber plugs at the opposite end of the cylinder head from the timing belt. With the camshafts locked in position you can break loose the bolt in the middle of the camshaft gears ever so slightly. With the crankshaft at top dead center on the mark and the belt installed with the tensioner, you then tighten down the nut in the middle of each camshaft gear. It was the only way I could feel one hundred percent sure it was set up right. Fired right up a like a kitten

 

If you are not confident is in the marks for top dead center it is well worth the money to use the tool that fits in behind the starter. That will lock it in the correct position for setting the timing. I noted when using that tool to lock the crankshaft to top dead center the timing marks on the crankshaft gear we're about to 2 MM off...

 

Well, when it comes to car maintenance, it's always better to be safe than sorry. You know what they say, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." So, while it may seem like overkill to replace the water pump along with the timing belt on a 2012 model, it's always a good idea to check for any leaks and potential issues before ordering parts. After all, you wouldn't want your car to be in hot water because of a faulty water pump!

 

Great thread! My issue is potentially related. 2013 S60 AWD, 110,000 miles. She consumes oil in the customary Volvo fashion but I recently had the oil trap changed (potentially not necessary but one of my others needed it) in the hopes it would help to stem oil consumption. The car wouldn't start the other night and a despite attempts to jump the battery, it wouldn't go. Turns out the engine is seized, per Volvo dealer, but the timing belt appears to be fine upon initial inspection. I will find out more soon, but what else is common with these engines, apart from the timing belt, that might cause the engine to seize? I wouldn't even manually turn over. I am wondering if the oil consumption was excessive blow-by and eventually caused issues in a valve(s). It's super disappointing as I am a loyal Volvo owner and have many more miles on other vehicles. Thanks!