Good reason to check your serpentine belt

[road1will]

My 04 XC90 2.5T began to have a bit of belt squeal over the last 2 weeks, and it was getting obviously worse each time i drove it. So, I got a new belt from Volvo for ~ $40 and swapped it out. Comparing the new belt to the old, the old did not actually look that worn, but did not appear to be OEM. It was noticeably longer than the old belt. I do not know if it had stretched or was just a poor aftermarket belt. Either way, it was slipping because it was too long.

When i removed the old belt, I BARELY had to relieve the tensioner to get the old belt off. Getting the new belt on was a whole different story. I had to really crank the tensioner over to slip the belt over the tensioner. It was not an easy task in such a tight space, but it was still a ~15 minute job.


For anyone that wants to know, all that is needed is a T55 Torx bit to adjust the tensioner. Depending on your T55 bit and ratchet head size, it may be too large to use, I used a breaker bar to overcome this issue.

Anyway, if you have some belt squeel, or have installed an aftermarket belt, consider replacing it with an OEM - its not fun to be on a road trip with a broken drive belt!

[outrigger777]

How many miles on the old belt?

[road1will]

Not sure, i bought the car used and this is the first time i've changed the belt. The old one really didnt look that worn - i've certainly seen much worse. There were some cracks in the belt, but they were only really noticeable when i folded the belt.