XC60 D5 auxiliary belt failure

[GrahamBrown1]

Originally Posted by Ulrikas PA

No manufacturer suggests changing a drive belt at every service.

If it's worn after a year, there has to be an underlying root cause. It's a bit like someone saying that my brake pads only last a year. Is the caliper sticking etc etc.

I can guarantee you there isn’t, tensioner and alternator pulley are fresh. I just think the quality isn’t good enough. Why oh why they went to these small belts when the previous D5 had a belt twice it’s thickness I will never know! Ford cost cutting no dought.

[GrahamBrown1]

Originally Posted by GPEMK

Just a quick update ...
On Monday I called the dealer who fitted the last two belts, but they were unable to look / fit a new belt until Wednesday (initially they said Thursday) of this week. They were not able to help with a loan vehicle. I had to be back home 100 miles away on Monday, so waiting until then was not a practical solution.
I have attached a picture of the break in the belt. Looking elsewhere at the belt, there are two cracks in the edge which are a couple of mm long.
There was wear along both of the edges of the belt with some of cord visible.
The vehicle was recovered to a local workshop close to home on Monday afternoon and by mid-morning Tuesday, the engineer there had fitted a new belt. He gave the pulleys a clean bill of health but fitted a new tensioner out an abundance of caution. He also suggested that he would be willing to check the belt in three months time.
I have sent the belt and my comments to Volvo UK's Customer Services Team.

Be interesting if you get a reply of any help. The cost of these belts failing can be massive if they take the cambelt with them. In theory you have had 2 volvo technicians and an independent look at your car and fit a belt. I can’t see 3 people failing to find an issue with the belt drive on your car. I wouldn’t fit an aftermarket belt but I also won’t let a genuine one do more than 20k miles from what I can see

[GPEMK]

So, I sent the belt to Volvo Cars UK asking them to confirm if it was a genuine part, if it was made to specification, and telling them of my experience of repeated failures (recap: the original lasted 37.4k, the two replacements fitted by a Volvo dealer 28.8k and 21k). After slightly less than eight weeks of investigation, they said this was a matter for the dealer to resolve. *
In my reply a few days later I asked them to return the belt - and they said that it was likely that they had disposed of it - in essence as they had received it eight weeks ago.
The dealer has been of no further assistance saying that belt life depends on a number of factors. Interestingly they said "The manufacturing maximum Replacement mileage is 54,000 miles. There is no lower limit mileage advised".
My takeaway from this is that it's not so much "Replace at 54k", but "54k is the best it might do".
They are happy that they have competently fitted belts supplied by Volvo, and their request to Volvo Cars UK for some goodwill has gone unanswered.
So it looks as if it is off to the Small Claims Court or the Motor Ombudsman.

[Wardair]

Hi, I had exactly the same issue with my XC60 but the third time the belt broke it took out the cambelt and trashed the engine!
The car had always been serviced by main dealers and the belts and tensioners replaced in accordance with schedules.
The local dealer submitted a request for a goodwill gesture from Volvo but VCUK made no offer of support at all, in fact their responses were abysmal and quite insulting given I am a multiple Volvo owner.
Read all about my case here https://twitter.com/CarComplaintsUK
Vehicle History (all work done by Volvo)
Feb 2017 Aux belt/tensioner failed & replaced
Jan 2021 Timing & Aux belts/tensioners replaced
April 2022 Dealer Service
July 2022 Aux belt failed replaced
April 2023 Dealer Service
May 2023 Aux belt failed after 9,827 miles loss of drive.
Be interested in hearing how you get on and happy to share the VCUK correspondence if it is any help.
Martin

[GMcL]

Originally Posted by GrahamBrown1

I can guarantee you there isn’t, tensioner and alternator pulley are fresh. I just think the quality isn’t good enough. Why oh why they went to these small belts when the previous D5 had a belt twice it’s thickness I will never know! Ford cost cutting no dought.

Given the OPs car is 2016 and Ford sold Volvo cars in 2010 and Ford had nothing to do with the VEA engine I'd say China cheap parts.
I had a P2 S60 2005MY D5 old belt split in half with the two outer bands shearing off while I was sat at traffic lights. Since then I've replaced these belts every four years regardless of mileage (never gets near 54,000 miles, more like 24,000) and do the cambelt at 8 years.

[Phil Croxley]

Well this slightly disturbing information has certainly made me consider changing mine at a lower interval!

[Wardair]

Hi Martin,
Thanks for the private message.
I am afraid that Volvo have taken little interest in this problem that I know many cars have experienced. It seems that they provide a simple brush off in my case it was 'we do accept this can happen'. They knew that the broken Aux belt can interfere with the Cam-belt and trash the engine but made no modifications to prevent this happening!
I escalated the matter to both Volvo UK and European Executive management level but they didn't show any interest. I was requesting Volvo support repair of my vehicle (given the broken Aux belt had interfered with the cam belt and bent the valves) my request was that Volvo provide the main dealer with replacement parts and I would pay for the repair which I thought was a reasonable request in the circumstances.
This is a well known problem and there have been recalls to change the Aux belt tensioner. The original 'normal' Aux belt life cycle was reduced to 54,000 miles but in my case the 3 belts broke way under that mileage and two Volvo main dealers could find nothing wrong.
I had extensive discussions with the Volvo dealer that the car was recovered to by Volvo Assist and they really expected Volvo to offer a goodwill gesture of some sort given the car had been fully serviced by Volvo main dealers since new and I previously had 3 Volvo's from new!
I am still considering submitting a court claim as it has cost me a lot to get the engine repaired. I am afraid The Motor Ombudsman is a joke as it is funded by the Motor Manufacturers so is only good if you want to go after a garage/dealer and it will not handle a manufacturer recall issue (which I believe this problem is, as Volvo could have modified the cars to prevent the catastrophic failure I experienced).
I will try and email you the responses I got to my 3 official complaints submitted to VCUK and you will see how pathetic these responses were, a very similar experience as complaining to the BBC.
Regards
Martin

[RDesign4Life]

It's a reasonable assumption that these belts are simply not strong enough either inherently so by design or by diminishing quality of manufacture.

Either way what cannot help is the stupidity of stop/start functionality. Pre 2014 XC60s would have tugged on their belts from rest once per trip (when starting the engine). The introduction of stop/start crappery meant the number of occasions of these induced stresses from 0rpm to 750rpm would be increased by several hundred percent every journey which can only serve to shorten the effective life of the item.

This is why I always turn off the stop/start immediately after starting the engine every single journey before I even put the car into drive.

[Kev0607]

Its worth mentioning that these D5's are interference engines. Any engine is prone to serious damage if belts fail.

Its a stupid design, but there's plenty of other cars out there that sadly end up in a scrap yard due to similar scenarios.

[Bonefishblues]

With an aux belt failure? Surely not, unless you mean the aux belt takes out the cambelt?.