This is a 5 cyl engine.
My son's 2005 Volvo S40 quit running while going down the highway with me following behind him in a Rental Truck. I was following right behind him continuously after leaving his home address to the point where his vehicle quit on a level 4 lane highway. He said he was driving on heard a bang and the car quit almost immediately.
The Volvo dealer where his car was towed to (it just so happens the same dealer who replaced the engine head 3 months and 4,000 miles ago), is stating that the approximate cost to repair the vehicle is $9,203.91 to replace or repair the engine. The service manager states that my son's car hit something which dented the a/c housing which broke the serpentine belt which broke the timing belt to ruin the engine.
He stated to me over the phone that at normal highway speeds and with the engine's rpms at those speeds, that after the belts broke it would take no time at all for the engine to quit. (Verified by my son saying he heard a bang in the engine and the car quit running).
2. My son's insurance company inspected the vehicle and had a specialist from their company also inspect the vehicle and below are their findings on the car's damage: They denied his claim:
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-UNDERCARRIAGE SHIELD HAS NORMAL MINOR WEAR AND TEAR SCRAPES EVERYWHERE
-SHIELD IS PERFORMING ITS FUNCTION AND CONTINUES TO DO SO.
-SHIELD IS HARD PLASTIC, IT WOULD HAVE TO BE BROKEN TO CAUSE DAMAGES TO SERPENTINE BELT
-THE SHIELD HAS A FOAM INSULATOR THAT REST AGAINST THE OIL PAN AND THE A/C COMPRESSOR BODY
-BEFORE THE SHIELD WOULD HAVE COME INTO CONTACT W/THE BELT AND PULLEY, THIS FOAM INSULATOR WOULD HAVE TO BE CRUSHED AND IT IS NOT.
-THE SPINNING PULLEY WOULD HAVE ALSO LEFT A BURN MARK AND THERE IS NONE.
-THE MARK ON THE SHIELD JUST IN FRT OF THE FOAM INSULATOR OCCURRED AFTER THE BELT BROKE. ALSO
-THE BELT WHEN PIECED BACK TOGETHER FITS TOGETHER AND THERE IS NO EVIDENCE OF IMPACT TO IT.
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3. This very same Volvo dealer repair this vehicle in April of this year (2008) with costs totaling $5, 561.32.
The repair they accomplished was replacing the engine head which would of required removing the serpentine and timing belts.
4. I believe the Volvo dealer may be lying on what caused the engine failure in order to cover up their poor engine repair they had done in April of this year.
Question: Could the Volvo dealer had done something wrong and not show up for 4,000 miles?
Question: Do a/c belts with less than 70,000 miles fail on their own?
Question: Your advice on which way I should pursue this, the auto insurance company is denying the claim saying there was no collision (verified by my son who said he did not hit anything).
The Volvo dealer is denying they did anything wrong and they are saying either: a) the a/c belt just failed on its own or b)the belt was hit at some time to damage the belt (although the a/c housing is ONLY showing a couple small marks on the INSIDE of the a/c hard plastic housing.
The extended warranty people are saying they don't cover belt breakage.
Overall, a very bad situation.
thanks for your help.
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Monday, July 14th, 2008 AT 11:56 PM
