Alternator Belt Replacement
 

Just had the Alternator belt snap on my 2010 D3 XC60 on this dark wet night!

Can anyone tell me if its a real pain to replace or a walk in the park. With the torch in my teeth it looks really tight for space down there!

you have been very very lucky the engine wasn't wrecked , have you had the recalls for the belt and it's tensioner carried out ? when was it last changed etc ?
No it is not simple to change you need to get the R/H front wheel arch liner half removed for access .

Why would the engine get wrecked for the Alternator belt? Do I really have to take the liner off to get at it? Tensioner was replaced in 2015. Is it a sprung one or tensioned in the old fashioned way? Does it need a specially short torx drive to get at the tensioner? I can't see much now it's night time

Since 2007 these Aux. belts and tensioners have been troublesome there have been 3 attempts to fix it between 2008 and 2014 the latest fix was the tensioner and the change interval for the Aux belt was changed from 108000 miles or ten years to every 54000 miles , this has proved to have sorted the problem .. There was never a problem with the cambelt itself.
Yes when the belt breaks the belt gets tangled up with the cambelt and wrecks the engine in around 75% or more of cases like yours .. repair costs can be £7000 ….

The tensioner is sprung loaded so you need to take off the wheel and the arch liner , and with a large torx bit and long lever press it back whilst you get the belt on then relax the lever to take up the tension .
Hopefully you have used genuine volvo parts regarding the tensioner and belt !

Thanks!
I've just ordered a Gates Belt. Used them before on many of my vehicles. The tensioner bearing is running as good as gold at the moment so will replace that at a later date, need to get the car up and running as soon as. Is it the tensioner bearing that fails or is it the tension mech, within that causes the problems. Whats size is the Torx? Just had a quick look with my torch and it looks way bigger than the T55 that I have.

yes a big torx possibly T30 ,, I would highly recommend you get a volvo belt , they have been improved to take the stresses and you know they will be ok for 54000 miles , gates may be good but who knows how good until it breaks , You have got away with the skin of your teeth so do it properly . You don't get a second chance !

The belt usually breaks on start up , the sudden tug when the engine fires ,

Will get the Volvo belt then and swap it as soon as it comes. Interesting that these wrap themselves around the crank and mangle the timing belt. Presumably then the lower casing is not sufficient to throw it outward away from the gap? So is this problematic on the D3 engine as well or more so on the D4 & D5? Just been watching a load of YouTube stuff and those engines seems to have a much more complex aux belt arrangement whereas mine is only about 450mm diameter. It was actually just sitting there lying on the crank with the engine running and the frayed end pointing at me!

Does anyone know exactly what size the Torx is on the tensioner? I certainly don't have one a that big and need to go out and buy one first thing tomorrow.

T60 Just checked on my old tensioner removed 2 months ago

Just had a thought, has anyone released the tension on one of these with a 15mm spanner on the nut at the pulley? I gave it a little tweak and it does move freely.