Replacing the Serpentine Belt and & Tensioner on a P2 chassis Volvo S60 is an easy job to complete requiring about an hour of your time and a little bit of patience. Typically this repair is required because of two main reasons:
Either serpentine belt wear which is identified by cracking belt rib, or the bearing on the serpentine belt tensioner is worn out and noisy. Both of which can harm other parts on your Volvo if failure were to occur.
Parts & Tools You’ll Need:
- Volvo S60 Serpentine Belt Kit
- Sockets & Ratchet
- Torque Wrench
- Volvo Belt Tensioner Tool (or a short Torx T-60 bit)
Let's Get to Work:
- Jack up the car and secure it with a jack stand.
- Remove the front passenger side wheel with a 19mm socket.
- Now remove the 2 nuts to remove the metal plate that secures the fender liner.
- Bend the liner back along the seam and use a vise grip to secure it so it’s out of your way:
- Unhook the power steering hose and un-clip the power steering reservoir so you can work around it as needed. You can also choose to lift out the power steering reservoir it connects to on the passenger side fender so you can get that hose completely out of the way.
- Attach the belt tensioner tool and rotate clockwise to relieve tension and remove the belt from the car. Note the routing of the belt first so that you know how its routed for reassembly.
- Remove the 2 tensioner bolts and remove the tensioner through the passenger side wheel well.
Installation:
- Now, route in the new tensioner up through the front passenger wheel well and set it into place.
- From underneath the car hand tighten the bottom tensioner bolt
- From up top, thread in the top tensioner bolt.
- Now, torque both bolts to 15 ft-lb:
- Route the new belt onto the pulleys using the method shown in the below video.
- All other steps are the reverse of the removal steps indicated above.
- Tighten the nuts securing the fender liner plate
- Reinstall the wheel and torque the wheel bolts to 105 ft-lb.
