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

[edntab]

Update - went to the Volvo dealership, saw the broken serpentine belt and engine. The serpentine belt was shredded and broken into pieces, apparently those pieces got stuck in the timing belt which caused the timing belt to jump. To verify - the mechanic would have handled the serpentine belt and should have noticed something was wrong with the serpentine belt and if the serpentine belt was ready to fall apart? I'm not sure what could have caused it to shred like it did but it was in pieces, these seems like something the mechanic should have noticed. Could the mechanic have done something to the timing belt that caused the serpentine belt to shred?

Thanks everyone, Volvo Sweden is no longer helping us and this helps me to determine the best route to take.

[oragex]

Yes, absolutely. They had to completely remove the serpentine belt from the engine bay. However, it's not necessarily the belt that broke because it's too old. Most of the time it's the a/c compressor pulley that will seize causing the belt to break. Also the alternator pulley and the tensioner can cause the same problem. You can test all of these pulleys by hand now that the belt is out of the car. Like I said, if I remember well there was a problem with early failure of serpentine belt tensioner on some 2011+ engines.

[jbeebo]

Thanks for the update edntab.

Oragex's advice is sound, check all the serpentine belt pulleys for free rotation to find the source of serpentine failure. If the belt broke strictly due to age it usually doesn't shred violently. If a pulley fully or partially seized it will be quite evident. The serpentine will be shredded to bits, even sometimes melted rubber goop will be flung out.

But the timing belt cover exists for a reason. It's job is to prevent outside contaminants from getting to the timing belt, including the serpentine belt guts. Was the timing belt cover damaged in any way? Are there serpentine belt guts inside the timing cover? Should be easy to tell, serpentine and timing belts are constructed differently. Serpentine failure on it's own does not automatically result in Tbelt skipping, if the timing belt cover did it's job.

I would also expect to see some witness marks on the Tbelt. Per the theory, the serpentine was wedged between the belt and the pulley causing the belt to slip or skip a tooth. Contaminants will embed into the surface of the Tbelt, I've seen metal pieces, sand, and belt chunks do this. Ask the dealer to show you the Tbelt and timing cover for evidence of this theory.

[aboulfida]

Sorry about my english

My name is Fadi and I operate the biggest independant used Volvo dealer in Canada (www.servicevolvo.com). We only repair and sell Volvo for over 30 years now and we are up to date with all of Volvo's new cars future and also have all the necessary tools and network technologies to work on VOLVO.

I can confirm what @EDNTAB is saying and I can prove it. Volvo Canada and Volvo USA won't admit it since it will cost them a lot money to claim all these Volvo ( T5 2010 et plus ) on the market and trying to find a good solution to this big issue.

I can definitely confirm that there is a big flaw in the design for the timing belt plastic/rubber protector. Also the alternator's belts tensionnor is made with cheap materials and that is why Volvo makes an upgrade in the plastic protector in their new engines 2016 and up , but it is too late because all these 5 cylinders on the market with the thin belt model (2010 and up ) will have this problem if you don't replace your alternator belt tensionnor more often than usual almost every 50.000 km wich is illogic and costly for the customers.

The problem is when you have a little loose in the center shaft from the alternator belt tensionnor pulley causing a disalignement of the belt and pushing the alternator belt 2 - 3 mm outside wedging the belt between the crankshaft pulley and the plastic/rubber protector wich resulting in a slip and skip some tooth in the timing belt and touching all the valves and top pistons together loosing the compression and badly stopping the engine. ( often breaking it ) ( average cost from $3000-$4000 )

I already contacted Volvo Canada to complain and explain them that they need to find a way to repair this flaw. Unfortunately, no one listens to us and they also tell me they never heard about this problem even if I personnaly had many cases involving this issue.

If you think about it, I'm only making money of this issue and I do not have any interrest in complaining to the company. This problem will only affect the brand's reputation wich is known to have great engines.

I am working, on my own fees, to make a real upgrade to replace the plastic/rubber protector by a metal one wich is much larger( in goal to protecting a bigger surface ) than the original one and really prevent anything to go inside the timing belt area.

I promise you to keep you updated on my work and progress. I will provide more information including pictures and all the détails.

Fadi at Office (450)434-1169
Cell (514)586-7278

[oragex]

Thanks for the input aboulfida. The flaw is for the 2010 and up Volvos (I'm mentioning it because we are here mistakenly in the 2001-2009 section of the forum). It was indeed a design flaw on all models. As usual, Volvo won't take responsibilty out of the warranty, and few people who will buy a used car will be aware of the flaw until the engine is damaged.

I've found this recall for the UK

https://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/apps/recall ... 320039D5D6

http://ukcar.reviews/volvo-xc60-2009-problems-recalls/

http://www.theaa.com/allaboutcars/recal ... &makeId=E9

Australia

https://www.caradvice.com.au/262692/vol ... d-locally/

[Faust]

For what it is worth, this happened with my 850 wagon. While driving along pleasantly, at about 20 mph, my motor died. I pulled into a parking lot to inspect and found my serpentine belt wound tightly around the primary pulley. On later inspection, I found the timing belt broken and the motor trash. I can see the serpentine belt freezing and breaking the timing belt, I cannot see the reverse.

[GlennG2759]

They should have noticed the bad accessory belt and replaced. In my opinion they owe you whatever it takes to make your car run again. That' B.S.
Good Luck

[abscate]

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?

Added recall flag to subject title, year

Stand by to move To P3 forum

[Dllambe]

Sorry to burst your bubble. Volvo has a defect they will not own up to involving the timing belt cover, when a serpentine belt breaks, it will bend the cover and get into the timing area and whether you have brand new or old timing belt. It will wrap around crank gear causing time belt to slip and jump time enough to do major damage. Just did a 2008 c30 with 2.5t.