Volvo V70 1999 Timing Belt

[robmeister]

Have been having problems where the engine won't turn over and hence the car won't start at all. Apparently the starter motor is okay. Weather conditions in UK are sub zero, and the RAC diagnosed a frozen engine. I asked him to look at the timing belt and he thinks it is broken (because it's so slack). I can't pull the belt out as I would expect if it was broken however there is a lot of slack. Is it possible that the tensioner is frozen and not keeping it tight? Sounds unlikely.... The timing belt isn't turning if I try starting the engine but it appears that another belt (water pump?) is turning. Does anyone know how much slack there should be on the timing belt? Presumably it should be minimal?

[jblackburn]

To quote Lee here,

"There should be no slack whatsoever from the crankshaft sprocket, across the idler and onto the intake cam sprocket.

I have to "massage" the belt onto the intake cam sprocket and the sprocket itself may actually come back a millimeter or so to get the belt seated since the old belt stretched a bit.

It should be tight like a guitar string on the intake side when it is correctly routed."

If the water pump is still spinning, it sounds to me like a tensioner has failed or the belt has slipped somewhere along the way. My advice would be to get the cover off and look/feel around the whole belt. Maybe you're seeing that the serpentine belt is turning?

Have you seen this? http://volvospeed.com/Repair/timingbelt.php