This is in response to all that have posted messages to me..... the cars belt was replaced at the recommended 70,000 miles, at that time and year it was not recommended changing the pulley. Now the car has 109,000 miles and the pulley broke, damanging the engine. I have called Volvo and was VERY dissapointed in there response. I have spoken to the customer service rep and now he will not return my calls. If in fact there have been problems why wasnt any letter or notification sent to me? I have taken great care of the car, and always on time. So now I am 4000.00 dollars short and have a rebuilt engine. I am trying to get info to take action on this problem. Thanks to everyone that responds. Also the mechanic that works on my car use to work at a dealership , and knows his Volvos.

Hello again,

Sorry to hear about your car. I know that the newer models (and I believe the 1998 as wel) recommend replacing the tensioner with the first belt change (in the maintenance manual in your glovebox). The mechanical style tensioner is not as reliable as the hydraulic style, therefore they recommend replacing it with the belt every time. As I said in my other post, Volvo is not going to help in any way because the tensioner should have been replaced at 70K with the belt. They have had a few failures of this pulley, but it is not part of a service campaign or recall, therefore you received no notification (not to mention any make and model vehicle will have a few known troubles, it's just the nature of the beast). As for rebuilding the entire engine, usually it is only necessary to replace the bent valves (I have never seen significant damage to any of the bottom end components, including the piston tops). Anyway, the very worst case should be installing a remanufactured cylinder head. Even here at the dealer they only run $1800 or so, not $4000. As I said, you could probably get away much cheaper than that even, if only the faulty valves were replaced. Maybe your mechanic is trying to sell you more than you really need? In any case, replacing that pulley is something that Volvo will consider to have been the owners responsibility. Let me know what else I can do for you.

Good Luck,

Joe S. - Volvo Master Technician

2000 S70 AWD, 1995 850 Turbo, 1981 242 Turbo w/intercooler

Wow . . .that's the pits. I'm curious if your motor uses the older hydraulic tensioner or the newer mechanical one?

When I replaced the original timing belt around 65K miles, I didn't replace either of the two pulleys. Now that I'm near 128K, I'll be replacing both pulleys, the water pump and the hydraulic tensioner, if it's leaking any oil. I've heard that the hydraulic tensioners are quite reliable and seldom fail. Not sure what Volvo's rationale was for discontinuing its use.

The general consensus is to replace the hydraulic tensioner every second (140,000 mile) belt change, leaking or not. It's (relatively) cheap. I also had the rollers replaced but not the water pump. Have you ever seen the inside of a Volvo water pump? It's a serious water pump!

As for the OP, I'm not sure how helpful Volvo might be on a 10-year old car. They weren't awfully good at fixing stuff on mine when it was under the original factory warranty.

-BTC

'98 V70 T5 5-speed, 173k mi, heated velour cloth comfy chairs, factory HD suspension, Bilstein HD, front IPD stabilizer bar, Volvo strut tower brace and skidplate, XC grill, C70 jewel E-Codes, V-1, Lidatek, IPD stuff, JB Weld, Original Duck tape, zip-ties, two '06 Honda license plate nut impressions in back bumper (gift from daughter), Mobil-1 since new.

"The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair." - Douglas Noel Adams (1952 - 2001)