2000 S70 AWD - Very Loud Engine Noise - Timing Belt Slipped Off The Cam Gears

[ryan29121]

I own a 2000 Volvo S70 AWD with about 180k miles on it. Today, all of a sudden my car started making a very loud engine noise. See below youtube video. Its very strange because I stopped at a store to pick something up for 5 minutes, came out and started my car to witness this noise. Before stopping, my vehicle ran without issue.

I was very close to home so I drove the rest of the way. During my drive home, I didn't notice any differences with the way the vehicle drove. Aside from the noise, my vehicle seemed to run completely fine. The oil level is good. Any ideas? Worth fixing or having it fixed?

Youtube Video:

Thank you in advance for any advice!
-Ryan

[FLXC90]

Are talking about the exhaust noise or did I miss it (25 years fixing jets!) describe the noise. can you tell roughly where it is coming from? ie. under the cam cover, RH side of the engine by the belts

edit-on listening again is there a throbbing noise? valves sound loud also.

[EstVolvo]

My internet connection is too slow for seeing the video but here is an idea:
Mechanic's Stethoscope
http://www.harborfreight.com/mechanics- ... 69913.html

[ryan29121]

I went out and looked under the hood for a bit and noticed the timing belt had slipped off the cam gears. The belt itself is in good condition and only has about 50-60k miles on it (5 years or so old). When I last replaced the belt, I also replaced the tensioner. Not sure how this can happen. I am guessing my engine is toast now as it doesn't start. If I remember correctly, the valves get bent and the head gets damaged when something happens with the timing belt. Any suggestions? Start looking for a new vehicle?

Thanks

[EstVolvo]

Oh no!
Did the idler broke?
I would start looking for a new vehicle.

[ryan29121]

I am guessing the tensioner pulley went out, but I haven'y fully dove into finding the exact cause. Might start looking for a different vehicle. Replacing the head is probably not worth it since the car is only worth about $2500-3000. Thanks for your help everyone. I will go on with my sad Volvo-less weekend

[Clemens]

I'm a believer of fix it if that is the only thing wrong with it. At least you know the car. Buying a used car is always like playing roulette, so i try to stick with what i have. You might be able to find a complete motor at a p-n-p (look for wrecked cars, they usually have good engines as opposed to cars that seem very nice overall where the engine or tranny could be the reason for the car being at the junk yard). Find a cheap mechanic or do it yourself. Should be way cheaper than a nice newer car

[sleddriver]

This almost happened to the sled. TB was riding on the outside edge of one of the idler or tensioner pulleys. Thank god I discovered it in time!

Did you use OEM blue-box parts when the TB was done?

If this ever happened to me, I'd fix it. Same for a burned valve. Robert has some great videos on doing this job. You could even pull the head off a junker for parts.

[cn90]

Actually the value for a 2000 model with 180K miles is close to about $1500 or so.
Fix it only if you think worth it.

Anything can cause the TB to walk loose.
- Gates TB is know to walk in and out, search you tube and you will see.
- Tensioner: what brand? Was it INA or some junk?
- Idler pulley: is it original?
- WP: if original, it may have bearing issue, creating wobbling belt.

This is why in this forum we always say:
- Aisin WP has a life of roughly 180K-200K or so.
- Mechanical tensioner (where the pulley and tensioner are in the same component): 100K or so.
- TB 100K or so. Technically speaking the rubber TB can run longer, up to 150K, but most people replace it at 100K anyway.
- Idler Pulley life is about 150K or so.

[abscate]

A 'new' car can easily cost 1-2000 USD to take it to Stage 0, so don't underestimate the value of repairing your sled.