Hi, most new cars and Volvo's have an Harmonic Balancer. This is the pulley which is bolted to the crankshaft and fits on the front of the engine block. When you look at the pulley off the engine, it is made up of 2 parts, one concentric circle, which fits inside the other and is held in place by a hard rubber strip, for want of a better explanation. My Volvo started developing a bad oil leak at the front of the engine block and I asked my mechanic to fix the leak if he could. It turned out that my Harmonic Balancer was failing, that rubber strip had ceased to act as a suppressor for the vibration of the fan belt and both parts of the pulley were visibly moving. What would have happened, if I had not taken my Volvo in for that oil leak to be repaired was that the Harmonic Balancer would have separated while the engine was running. Immediately this would have thrown the setup of the engine out of kilter and the pistons would probably have smashed themselves into oblivion inside the engine, totally destroying it, in the fraction of a second. Costs to replace the Harmonic Balancer were over </body>,000 because the timing belt and other parts had to be replaced at the same time. If you have read this far, then my advice to you is to take your car, irrespective of it is a Volvo or any other make, to your mechanic as quickly as possible, if an oil leak eventuates, because that oil leak might signify a mechanical part which is failing and an expensive repair bill, if it is not dealt with immediately. BigBenn
