s80 Serpentine Belt Replacement Topic is solved

[Jim Doe]

I just replaced the serpentine belt on my 99 s80 2.9 (non-turbo) and have to believe either:

A) I'm a moron and I did it the hard way

or

B) Volvo engineers are morons and designed the vehicle so it can only be repaired with a tow truck and a credit card.

After taking off that ridiculous plastic cover, slacking the tensioner and slipping the belt off the PS pulley, I still couldn't see what was interfering with the belt down on the crank pulley.

Long story slightly less long: I wound up taking out the fender tub and taking the harmonic balancer off in order to get the belt onto the crank pulley! With the balancer on, there was absolutely no way the belt was going to slip past the balancer and one %$#@-ing bolt for the engine mount.

I can't believe that this is the design - what was I missing? Is there some big zipper somewhere that would have made this easy?

I got it done but if that's how this pig is going to be when working on it, I'm going to quit!

Thanks for any input,
Jim

[Tsquared]

I fully understand your frustration. When it was time to do mine I took a look at it, called and priced the T-belt and the accessory belt. I got my mechanic as the parts guy was at lunch. I also asked him what he charged for replacement - $45 labor. I had it there the next day - I hate belts.

They also did the "light" detail cleaning and reset the service light.