Took serpentine belt off to replace, neither old nor new belt will go back on

[toddball]

Hi all,

I have a 2004 XC70 with ~112,000 miles. Took the serpentine belt off the other day because it was cracking, and couldn't get the new belt on. Then I tried putting the old belt back on just to see if I could and I couldn't. The two belts are as close to the same length as I can measure, and I think I'm using the correct routing (see diagram below), and as far as I can tell the belt is seated correctly in the pulleys when I try to slip it on. It's not all that close to going on, even with the tensioner fully de-tensioned.

When I took the old belt off, I removed it from the PS pulley first. I have tried slipping the new belt over the PS pulley last, and also slipping it over the tensioner last.

Any ideas? Can't figure out why I can't even get the old belt back on.

Belt routing I'm using:

[93SCMax]

Welcome to the forum.
It's not an easy task, but should be doable with the original belt.
I use a Volvo belt/pulley tool that's around 2 ft long to move the pulley to the left. If it's not to the full stroke, you will not get the belt on.

Your routing is correct.

So my approach is:
1) Route belt around all pulleys except the top (PS pump). Belt must be fully seated on all these.
2) With left hand and belt/pulley tool, move tensioner to extreme left (counter clockwise).
3) With right hand, start edge of belt on right outermost pulley (PS pump).
4) Since belt is ribbed, get first few ribs on, then start working the belt around the top (counter clockwise).
5) Once on, relax tool and tensioner.

It's tough, but you should be able to do it if the tensioner is fully to the left (counter clockwise).

Once you've done it with the old belt, try it again with the new belt...hope it's a Continental.

Good luck.

[toddball]

As above, I we all pass it on the power steering pump in the last place. Assuming you have the correct belt, I have to say that the trick is to really turn the tensioner to the maximum: the wrench (or whatever is used to remove the tension on the tensioner) must be fully rotated aaall the way. When it's done this way, the belt passes very easily over the p/s pulley, without any forcing.

One other thing, if the tensioner is really fully rotated, and the belt still doesn't go over the p/s pulley, it means the belt is not correctly seated on any of the other pulleys - I use a flash light to make sure it's properly seated on all other pulleys.

Last tip: little known, the early XC90 used a 120bar power steering pump. This is exactly as the 110 pump used on the S60/V70/XC70 (I think only the R had another model) with the interesting difference that the pulley on the 120 bar pump is smaller than the one on the 110 bar pump. Here comes the fun part: the 120bar pump fits perfectly on any S60/XC70 with this extra bonus: the pulley being smaller, the belt is much more easy to install! It takes less tension on the tensioner, really easier install/removal. And the tension on the belt is still strong enough with the engine running, I haven't seen any issues from using a smaller pulley on my S60.

[toddball]

If you put a ziptie loop on the top of the belt , to get it onto the PS pulley, you get your fingers out of the way and can work it onto the pulley easier. Clip and remove at end, or use a pick to release it and resell it as tested zip tie,

Not getting the ribs into the grooves as noted above is the other place you can go astray

[vtl]

Who made the belts? Conti? They are poor match to the original Volvo belt.

[toddball]

Thanks all for the replies, will try again this evening. Replacement belt is a Duralast, which I guess is not a great replacement either.

[93SCMax]

Who made the belts? Conti? They are poor match to the original Volvo belt.

Respectfully disagree. Conti makes exceptional replacement belts for European cars...otherwise I would not have suggested one.

[vtl]

Yeah, for other cars... They are often OE to them. For Volvo 5 cylinder it is either shorter or is not flexing enough like Volvo OE (Gates?) does. This causes extra stress on power steering pump, and generally makes it much harder to install.

[93SCMax]

Yeah, for other cars... They are often OE to them. For Volvo 5 cylinder it is either shorter or is not flexing enough like Volvo OE (Gates?) does. This causes extra stress on power steering pump, and generally makes it much harder to install.

Wow, Conti is the OEM supplier for Volvo. Read their reviews and change your opinion...nothing but good results with them.

[vtl]

Wow, Conti is the OEM supplier for Volvo. Read their reviews and change your opinion...nothing but good results with them.

Nope, OE is most likely Gates for this application.

I had Conti on two engines for like 100k miles. Cost me 1 PS pump, 1 new cracked INA tensioner and it snapped once, causing t-belt jumping over sprockets.

Buy yourself a new Volvo belt and compare it to Conti. How easier it installs, how less stress it puts on bearings, etc. In this application Conti has clearly missed.

Conti T-belt is ok.