Alright, what's this I hear about the age of an installed T-Belt? I've always known about mileage, but I recently read some articles discussing how long vs how many miles.

My 86 944 has approx 25,000 mi on the belt but it was installed in 1998. I bought the car from the original owner in Cal who was in his Seventies, he drove the car very mildly (which should have some bearing on the life of the belt).

Any words??

Thanks, Darien
86 944
86.5 928

 

45,000 miles or 3 years whichever comes first..........

 

Replace the belts. If you have any doubt in your mind, replace them. I was EXTREMELY lucky with my car, the belts were only changed 20k km prior...but that was 12 YEARS AGO! When I finally took it in, the balance shaft belt was already snapped off, and the timing belt was starting to peel...DO NOT WAIT THIS LONG! It's not worth it...It doesn't matter that the previous owner drove it midly...they were changed 7 YEARS AGO! The rubber belts age and crack, and the teeth start to peel off. Change the belts AT LEAST, and if you can afford it, do the rollers, seals, and waterpump. If these things fail, you're looking at a complete engine overhaul, or owning a nice big paperweight.
I found this picture from a while back, an example of a failed belt, causing bent valves.

 

Brendan is right. Don't take a chance with that belt. I will second replacing the waterpump and all the rollers. If it hasn't been touched in 7 years it's a ticking time bomb.
www.clarks-garage.com has the procedure, and www.paragon-products.com has the parts. It's not a hard DIY job.

 

Change them now. 3 years or 30, 000.

 

i agree with silverbean...3 years or 30,000...i speak from experience...

 

EVERY SIX MONTHS!!!

j/k. 3/30K is fine.

 

Will do... Thanks for the heads up...

 

What about 3 years and 2,000 miles?

 

I was told 50k or 5yrs from Weissach. ((SHRUG))

 

And if there's any oil or coolant leakage, do it again.