My 2000 S70 has been a trustworthy car up until about five months ago. Just recently, I've replaced almost the entire steering/suspension (myself), the brakes, sent the ABS off to Victor Rocha to be rebuilt, got a new (Bosch reman) starter, and more.

Two weeks ago, I thought the odd shifting problem had come back from before I had the ABS repaired. However, it was the tranny officially dying on me. I had it towed to a tranny rebuild shop (because I can't afford/don't want to afford a new car), and they rebuilt the tranny. I got the car back two days ago.

I drove it for all of one hour before it started harshly shifting (reminiscent of ABS problems), and then it just shut down on the freeway. Luckily, I was near an exit, and was able to roll onto a side street.

I called my mechanic and let him hear me trying to crank it. He said it sounded like the flywheel disengaged. The tranny shop previously told me that the most busted parts of the old tranny were the torque converter and the flywheel. Coincidence?

I had it towed to the tranny shop, and the owner called me and said that the timing belt was torn. I find this too coincidental to have happened within one hour of driving after the tranny rebuild.

Do tranny shops touch the timing belt during their rebuilds? I don't want to be out $3k AND my car, so I want some sort of recourse when I go in to talk to them today. Obviously, I would have rather junked my car than have paid $3k for an hour drive. ANY help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

as far as I know they do not touch the timing belt.....how many miles were on the car??? volvo recommends changing the timing belt @ 105,000 I had 138,000 on my car and just changed the belt and good thing the belt had cracks in it and could have gone at anytime....I am sorry to hear that your belt went and think you will have to replace your engine....I would replace the engine if your car is in good shape $3,000 for a new engine is not bad and you know if you break it down to the number of years you will get out of the engine it is for 3 years it breaks down to $2.81 a day so to me it would be worth replacing the engine instead of buying another vehicle unless you have many issues with this car....if your contemplating selling the car I am sure someone on this site would be interested in helping you out. Again sorry that your belt went but I don't think the transmission place had anything to do with your belt going on you....

 

210k miles on it. I had the timing belt changed at almost the exact time you did. About 136k. My mechanic told me that it would be good for about 120k more, but even so, it's only at about 70k now.

I won't replace the engine because I JUST spent $3k on the tranny rebuild, not including all the other work I've done in the past few months, totaling about $1.5k more. Another $3k on top of that would be $7.5k in just five months of maintenance.

I know it would keep the car going for another few more years, but so would the ABS being replaced when it broke - if the starter wouldn't have died right after. So would the starter being replaced when it broke - if the tranny hadn't died right after. Too many things keep breaking, and it's just too expensive to keep repairing things, only to be stranded on the road again.

However, my mechanic is going to take a look at it this morning and give me a diagnosis.

 

Well, I got a call back from my mechanic, and he said that the timing belt did tear, and it was completely unrelated to the tranny rebuild. Sucks.

I guess I would have paid to rebuild the engine anyway, if it went before the tranny did - so I can't really say the outcome would have been any different - but it still sucks nonetheless. With all the work I've put into it recently, it really sucks for this to happen now, but I'm just not going to put any more money into it. I'm calling it quits on my S70. It was a good run.

2000 maroon, non-turbo S70 - purchased August '04 for $10,763 w/93k miles. Died October '10 at 210k miles. Not a bad run. Really fun car - lots of good memories. RIP.