What chewed up my timing belt?

[sabbates]

I have a 2001 V70XC, and I was replacing the VVT solenoid when I noticed the timing belt was all chewed up, as shown in the pictures.

Any idea what caused this?

[AKAMick]

Only removing the timing cover is going to reveal what caused that? seems to be offset on the cam gears,

[Xfingers]

Manually rotate the crankshaft with a large socket and extension and try to see what the belt is rubbing up against? In that first pic, it looks like the housing might also be damaged. Was the belt rubbing against that or the timing belt cover?

[pbierre]

It looks like the belt has been drifting towards the engine block while under load. If you've used a belt sander, you know what belt drift looks like.
It only takes a tiny imbalance in belt tension from one side of the belt to the other to induce drift. How could that occur? The TB idler and/or tensioner are the likely culprits. As they get old and worn, they lose perfect perpendicularity to the belt.....then belt creep occurs. That's why these parts are always replaced with the TB change. You're lucky the drift was inward....if it were outward, the belt would have come completely off, and you'd be looking at bent valve stems.

[pbierre]

Can you share how many miles (kms) this belt served for? I've always been curious how conservative Volvo is being recommending
10-years or 120K miles? Anyone ever seen a histogram of TB failures for these Volvo engines?

[sabbates]

Can you share how many miles (kms) this belt served for?

I've only had the belt on for 20-30 thousand miles.

Something is clearly chewing it up, however, so I don't think it's the fault of the belt.

I'm going to take it apart tonight, so hopefully I can find what is eating it up.

[AKAMick]

I've only had the belt on for 20-30 thousand miles.

Something is clearly chewing it up, however, so I don't think it's the fault of the belt.

I'm going to take it apart tonight, so hopefully I can find what is eating it up.

Well any updates on what caused this??

[Xheart]

A possible suspect is the metal belt protector that goes over the crank pulley. Either incorrect install (seating) of this protector, missing or the longer bolt may be the cause.

The belt protector #1 goes around item #13 in the following diagram:

[Astro14]

Somebody put the wrong length bolt in somewhere - the belt shield (#1 in the diagram) has a screw in it, I think and the back side of the engine has a screw or bolt that holds on the axle bearing and some shielding... If someone wasn't careful about using the correct length, I could see a bolt sticking into the path of the belt.

[AKAMick]

I have a 2001 V70XC, and I was replacing the VVT solenoid when I noticed the timing belt was all chewed up, as shown in the pictures.

Any idea what caused this?

We are all waiting for your findings as to what caused this, we are running out of probabilities, please end our suspense and report back after you get the covers off, most interested in the cause of this.