Belt squeal under load

[Peter86]

So had a day out in the lakes yesterday with the wife.
I have a V70 215 D5, 61 reg.

Going up some large hills and when getting into 4th and 5th gear a squeal could be heard, not majorly loud but enough to make it noticeable. On a flat run no noise, on start up no noise.
Had the aux belt replaced a good few weeks back, not the tensioner as it seemed completely fine, even the breakdown guy said it had just snapped but could not find any cause apart from wear and tear of the belt.

I'm wondering if the local garage has used an aftermarket belt which is the issue or is it worth going along the route of belt tensioner and go from there.
Also worth a mention I did not have the AC on.

Also out of curiosity is it still a general rule to replace the aux tensioner around 50,000 like people on here have done with new belts. Mine is the first facelift model and I'm sure its the spring loaded tensioner.

Any help appreciated.

Pete

[Tatsfield]

I've not had the squeal on my Volvo but in fifteen years of Peugeot ownership, I discovered that on those engines the drive pulley on the aux belt is dual mass with a rubber bonded section between the boss and the rim of the pulley. If the bonding fails, the rim or the boss skids on the rubber and this makes a squeal like tyres on a shiny floor.

Dozens of other owners tried everything to stop "the belt" squealing but nothing they did made any difference as, of course, there was nothing wrong with the belt. They cannot be blamed for believing it was the belt slipping on the pulley as when one of the auxiliary units driven by the belt came on load, the squealing slipping started. Alternators, idler pulleys, tensioners and air con compressors were are blamed and examined and sometimes swapped out but the real culprit was the drive pulley. A wise French mechanic just drew a chalk line across it and ran the engine, got the squeal and when the engine stopped the line across the diameter of the pulley showed quite clearly that the pulley boss was skidding on the rubber. The issue was further complicated by the pulley heating up and expanding and contracting accordingly and the rubber gripping the boss more firmly and the squeal stopping.

If the Volvo has a dual mass pulley on the aux belt system, I'd check there with a piece of chalk! If it hasn't, I apologise for taking up space on the forum.

[green van man]

I change the tensioner with every aux belt. It's the tensioner not the belt that is the weakness, this causes the belt problems.
If you have changed the belt and left the tensioner it could of damaged the new belt.

Paul.

[Peter86]

I only did the belt as i needed it fixed asap as I use my car for work. I didn't even consider the tensioner as the belt failed at about 43,000 miles.

[green van man]

Originally Posted by Peter86

I only did the belt as i needed it fixed asap as I use my car for work. I didn't even consider the tensioner as the belt failed at about 43,000 miles.

If the belt snapped I would change belt and tensioner asap were it my car.
The horror stories of the belt taking the cam belt and totaling the engine on the D5s are numerous. Every engine has its Achilles heel and the aux belt tensioner seems to be the D5s.
I don't do big miles in mine so change on time interval, piece of mind is worth the cost of changing these components 10,000 miles early at their due date for me.

I change the landrover cam belt at 30,000 mile intervals and the tensioner every second belt, book time is 75,000 miles. Spoke to my local landrover guru, he had seen too many fail at around 40,000 to take a chance so recommended the 30,000 interval. The 300 TDI is easy to work on with plenty of room so that one I do myself.

Paul.

[Peter86]

Just an update.

Had a look at my tensioner and noticed it was black all over it, similar to a fine black powder. I also noticed noise happening now on flat roads but again when getting into 4th gear. Called my local Volvo about my belt failing and the tension probably being the cause of the belt noise, premature failing of the belt, how long should it last etc, guy on phone was really helpful.

Anyway to cut a short story even shorter they replaced my tensioner and replaced the after market belt with a genuine Volvo one for free for me.

All I can say is I'm extremely happy with Volvo's customer service, especially at my branch, wish i had called when the belt snapped as a may have saved a few pennies but needs must when you need it fixed quickly to get back to work.

Anyway drive home I couldn't find any noise and also an occasional noise I was thinking was a bearing noise on the heating fan has also disappeared so it must have been from the tensioner failing. The car just sounds a bit quieter now.