Well, removing the balance shaft belt gives you one less belt to break. Should it break (and it is known to have happened), it can tangle up in the timing belt and take it out too. Because it is an interference engine, you would be in for an expensive engine rebuild. Do not neglect the timing belt on this car. The balance shaft belt is there to reduce engine vibrate a bit (it counteracts a higher harmonic). It appears to be a refinement that may be more relevant to cars equiped with an automatic transmission when at idle but that is a pure guess on my part. I did not notice any difference when I removed mine. My engine idles a bit rough anyway (it does have lots of miles on it) so the extra refinement supplied by the belt is lost in the noise - literally. Since the B230f and ft do not have balance shafts and the block is the same, I can't see how any engine damage can occur by removing the belt. Theoretically, the engine should be quieter and have a bit more power since the belt can be a bit noisy and it does require energy to turn. Subjectively I can say that it certainly is no worse with the belt off and perhaps even better.

Google turbobricks and wander through that site. They do address the 16v turbo a bit. See my site www.nuceng.ca/bill for some info on the B234f engine and some general Volvo stuff.

Bill