1998 V70 tensioner disaster

fbrewer · Post by **fbrewer** » 26 Dec 2006, 20:49

my 1998 v70 wagon's engine was destroyed--at 60 mph on a highway--by a failed timing belt caused by a failed tensioner. the car had 126K on it. i learned from my volvo shop that i was one of the unlucky 1998 owners that had a 1999 electronic tensioner, instead of a '98 mechanical one, which therefore should have been replaced either at 70K or 105K, depending on whom i spoke to. (the '98 mechanical part would not need replacing, they tell me, until 140k.) i had regularly serviced the car every 5k. since i had no knowledge that my '98 car had an original '99 part in it, the fault lies either with volvo or my volvo dealer. has anyone else had such a problem or heard of one?

Post by **JRL** » 26 Dec 2006, 21:05

98's had both tensioners. (Mid year change)
Whoever changed your belt should have known what to do and which one you had.
If you dealer changed it, you may have a cause of action

Rule .308 · Post by **Rule .308** » 27 Dec 2006, 10:15

There are no "electronic" tensioners. It sounds like you have the later manual tensioner as opposed to the earlier hydraulic tensioner. Either way somebody was probably remiss in not recommending the tensioner at the first belt interval. My shop and all of the other ones that I deal with typically recommend replacing the later style tensioners with every belt change and we recommend the earlier style hydro tensioners with every other change. I will usually recommend the other pullies in that system as well.

Mark

Post by **pfeener** » 27 Dec 2006, 19:23

If the belt was changed by a shop not familiar with Volvos they wouldn't have known about the change interval on the mechanical tensioner. Even the Volvo dealerships weren't all that familar with the mechanical tensioners when they first came out, so they might have missed it as well.

As for your engine being "destroyed"; most likely the damage is limited to 1/2 dozen bent valves. If you're mechanicaly inclined and want to spend the time you can do it yourself for about 20 hours of time and under $500 in parts. At a dealership the repair will run in the $4,000 range.