Mechanic Mishap with Timing Belt
 

Hi All,

I could really use some advice from those talented Volvo mechanics out there.

I recently purchased a 2004 S80 2.9L, and as it had 109,000 miles on it, I took it to get the timing belt changed along with the tensioner, idler, and water pump. The mechanic works on German cars, but I asked him if he works on Volvos, and he assured me he did. When I left the car with him, I asked if he used cam locks to preserve the timing, and he said if they needed to they would. I also reminded him it was an interference engine, and how important the timing was. He was also using OEM Volvo parts.

I went to pick it up, and had driven it about 1/2 a block when the check engine light went on. Immediately, I turned around and gave it back to them. When I called later they said it was throwing timing codes and that they would take care of it.

Long story short, I picked it up the next day, drove it a few miles towards home, and it died. Had it towed back to them, and was told that the engine was trashed. Broken valves, headers the whole shebang. They said it had jumped the timing three notches, which was huge, and they were investigating if it was something they had done or if it needed other parts that may have caused it.

The work they did had a 1 year 12,000 mile warranty, but they made it sound like it could be something other than the timing belt replace that made it go out of time.

The previous owner had just gotten the transmission serviced, around 500 miles ago, pulled the pan, not flushed, and the transmission module software updated. Though it had a hard first and second shift, it seemed to be running well.

Thoughts, opinions? Anything else that could have messed up the timing? Transmission problems anything?

Thanks so much for your help!

Sherry

I would bet it was something they did.

Thanks ES6T! Can you think of anything else that could of caused it other than the Timing Belt?

They did mention that it took 2 people to put the timing belt on it was so tight, and I wondered if it might have got caught on the nub on the bottom of the crank.

When I watched a YouTube video of a Volvo master tech putting it on, it seemed to go on without a lot of tugging.

Thanks again for your comment,

Sherry

They go on without tugging. I've done hundreds and never needed a second person to help get it on. If it was caught on the nub under the crank, it would have jumped time right away. I'd bet they didn't set the tensioner correctly.

Thanks so much, your comment is much appreciated.

Best,

Sherry

They owe you a free replacement engine.
 

There is absolutely no way that the timing belt could be off by that much unless they installed it incorrectly. Why are you discovering these problems when picking the car up? Why didn't they discover the problem on a test drive? The easy answer is that they didn't take the car for a test drive.
They might have used the incorrect length belt or the wrong tensioner. You might need the help of a good lawyer.

Hi SLOjohn,


Thanks for your comment. They took the engine to a machine shop and cleaned up all carbon deposits, and put in new valves, and everything that was broken. They didn't charge me for it, and gave me an 18 month warranty on the work. The car runs great, and I'm very satisfied with it. Wish they had done it a little faster, but they didn't hassle me about paying for it. I've had it back now for around 6 months and so far so good.


Best,


Sherry

Great ending to the story. I've replaced two belts on S80's after a broken belt ruined my son's car after 109,000 miles and the only difficulty is getting my hands between the sidewall and engine. I'ts a very tight space. Seems like something better than a belt should be used. My Silverado has 437,000 on it before I changed the oil pump and timing chain was still good.