2011 S60 Serpentine Belt/Timing Belt, engine recall/ flaw on SERP belt protector

[edntab]

I brought my car to the Volvo dealer to get the timing belt replaced. Within a few miles of leaving the Volvo dealer my car broke down on the highway with a catastrophic engine failure. When Volvo towed my car back to the garage and inspected the engine they said the serpentine belt broke which caused the timing belt to fail - causing a tremendous amount of damage to my engine. I believe that the garage is at fault and that if the serpentine belt was that close to failure they should have noticed when they replaced the timing belt. Did they have to remove the serpentine belt to replace the timing belt? Could this be their fault or just coincidence? I think they were negligent and should have to pay for all the repairs that the belt failure has caused or am I way off base?

[oragex]

Yes, the serpentine belt has to be removed prior to removing the timing belt. How many km on the car?

Is the engine a diesel? On older diesel engines, failure of a pulley (roller, tensioner, a/c compressor pulley) on the serpentine belt would cause this belt to mangle around the crank pulley causing the timing belt to break. This happens less often on petrol/gasoline engines.

It is good to write/communicate/insist directly to the main Volvo headquarters in your country, as the Volvo dealer themselves are well know for not taking responsibility.

[jbeebo]

Aside from the obvious:
-that you need to remove the serpentine belt to get to the timing belt, thus the mechanic had no choice but to handle the belt and look at it...
-that in the handling of the belt any mechanic should've recognized it was at end of life...
-that the mechanic and dealer wouldn't take that opportunity to make more $$ and call you claiming the serpentine belt was bad and you need to replace it, and the tensioner, and the idler pulley as well and this is an extra 2hrs labour blah blah...

I'm confused how the serpentine belt failure could cause the timing belt to fail. The engine will run just fine without the serpentine belt. Sure you'll have fault codes and lights on the dash because the alternator won't be spinning. And you'll have a heavy steering wheel and no AC without the serpentine. But the engine itself will still run like a top.

Did they explain how the serpentine belt failure magically caused the timing belt to break? Did the serpentine smash through the timing belt cover, and get tangled in the timing belt? Is there any damage to the timing belt cover?

My nose doesn't work very well, but this sure smells like the mechanic screwed up the timing belt job itself and the serpentine is a smoke screen in an attempt to pass the blame to you.

[93SCMax]

"My nose doesn't work very well, but this sure smells like the mechanic screwed up the timing belt job itself and the serpentine is a smoke screen in an attempt to pass the blame to you."

+1 brother

Speak to the Service Manager at the Volvo dealer, and if you don't get results, elevate to the General Manager.

[edntab]

It is not a diesel and it's a 2011. I'm American but live in Germany so it complicates things. I contacted Volvo Sweden and they contacted Volvo Germany but the dealer in Germany keeps giving us different prices for what they want us to pay. We don't think we should pay anything and that the dealer is at fault and due to the mechanic's negligence our engine failed.

They only said that the serpentine belt broke and caused the timing belt to "jump time" which then led to all the engine damage. They said they have to replace all the cylinders and their estimates have went from over 4300 euros down to 2300. It looks like I'll be contacting Volvo Sweden again.

[oragex]

Can they return to you the broken belt? It may show what exactly happened. You may also inspect the serpentine belt tensioner, I remember there were some issues on low miles 2011+ models (not sure the S60 was one of them). I'd have the car back and inspected by another trusted mechanic.

[Tonyx]

OP, be firm and clear - serpentine belt can not cause timing belt to jump timing, period.
I hope the truth prevails and Volvo headquarters rectifies this for you.

[jbeebo]

OP, be firm and clear - serpentine belt can not cause timing belt to jump timing, period.

Exacto.

I can't imagine a scenario where the serpentine would cause a timing belt failure. And a properly installed timing belt _WILL NOT_ skip a tooth. If it skipped a tooth it means the mechanic didn't tension the belt properly --> mechanic still at fault.

Look, timing belts are strong as heck. I've extracted engines and trannys from junkyard cars using the timing belt as a strap [PS: do not try this at home kids ]. I've even seen timing belts so old there were a couple missing teeth on the belt and guess what, the car still runs fine and timing is preserved. Modern timing belts are so robust that it's usually not the timing belt that fails; it's the tensioner, water pump or idler pulleys that seizes which damages the timing belt.

Ask the dealer to show you the failed parts and explain clearly how the timing system failed in its duty. Was the timing cover damaged in any way? Take pictures, document conversations, be like a detective - and in this case the dealer doesn't have Miranda rights LOL, anything they say can and will be used against them in the court of law. If the dealer doesn't rectify it, I'd pursue it through the courts.

Do you have a record of what parts they replaced, were they all Volvo OEM components?

[shiloh51933]

You literally just left the dealer when your Tbelt broke, then the repair shop is totally at fault. They were specifically working in that area so obviously there at fault but they don't want to shell out the big money to replace/rebuild your motor. Like Jbeebo already mentioned, Tbelts don't fail and I doubt the serp belt caused a T-belt failure.

[shiloh51933]

I brought my car to the Volvo dealer to get the timing belt replaced. Within a few miles of leaving the Volvo dealer my car broke down on the highway with a catastrophic engine failure. When Volvo towed my car back to the garage and inspected the engine they said the serpentine belt broke which caused the timing belt to fail - causing a tremendous amount of damage to my engine. I believe that the garage is at fault and that if the serpentine belt was that close to failure they should have noticed when they replaced the timing belt. Did they have to remove the serpentine belt to replace the timing belt? Could this be their fault or just coincidence? I think they were negligent and should have to pay for all the repairs that the belt failure has caused or am I way off base?

When you initially broke down did you open the hood to look around? Was the serpentine belt wrapped around the crankshaft pulley between the Tbelt cover and the crankshaft pulley? In any event that's the area "they" worked on and your main reason for going to the "German Volvo Dealership" was because you wanted the Timing belt service completed properly. You paid extra money having your Volvo serviced at the Volvo dealership and at the very least they should cover there negligence.