Ahh...glad you found the issue and you were able to correct it. Was the shop that gave up trying to figure out your problems the same one that installed your TB? If so, I would certainly let them know what was up with your car and complain. In my opinion, they are incompetent and not willing to take responsibility for getting your car running correctly (from what they caused). It appears that they didn't know what they were doing...so, they (in my opinion) don't have any right to be in business as a volvo or even a foreign car repair facility.kvnbrbkr wrote:Ever since The T-belt was replaced 10,000 miles ago, it has been acting up.
I would be really tempted to take the service receipt from the places that puts your TB back on correctly (make sure it says that belt reinstalled due to being 2 teeth off) and have a meeting with the owner of the shop that put it on to begin with. Furthermore, I would be tempted to ask the old shop for the $$ it cost you at the new one as restitution...Of course, this would be totally up to you.
And to answer your question- no, it's not a common thing to happen, but it does happen when people aren't careful with the TB installation (such as they were unaware of the notches in the camshaft wheels to line things up with). You are certainly lucky that you didn't keep driving it and your TB break from the wrong tension on it.