I love the "tool" and trust nothing else.

Harvey

 

The marks are non-dimensional. It's a really neat thing, in a way, but it's silly.

Other cars that use belts use a thumb to check the tension. Once you've done the belts once, you can do the same on these cars

 

Great thread, lots of fun to read. I've got a 9201 and it sits in its box collecting dust, I'm too lazy to get it out and set it up so I just tension by hand.

Sam

 

Sam how about selling it to me? I just had my buddy evaluate my tension by feel and the cam belt was at 4 on the thing This is a used belt btw.

 

i set my belt with the auto tensioner, felt it and decided it was fine. I have since measured it with a 9201 and the tension was perfect.

 

The balance shaft belt isn't auto-tensioned. Hence one reason for the 9201.

That's not far off from normal. You really don't want a used T-belt, that's broken in, more than 5 or 5.5.

 

I own a P9201 that I bought used from a fellow rennlister along with some other tools a couple years ago. I did buy a Krickit and just did not like the results I got from tensioning looser belts such as the older 15mm Balance Shaft belts. I think it works better on tighter belts (alternator, etc). I figured the cost of the tool would pay for itself by only using it twice, and now I have two 944's so it has definitely earned it's keep for me. Besides I enjoy the piece of mind, and yes I have broken a T-belt...it was a defective ContiTech and I followed all factory maintenece schedules using the P9201, so henceforth I only use the Gates PowerGrip belts made in the UK. More limber and better coverage of the chords IMO.

 

A lot of the Kriket is interpretation and technique. Very subtle variations in technique can yield wildly different readings. Yes, if you're VERY careful to do EVERYTHING the same you can get the same #'s on a series of readings, but I think one of the huge problems with the Kriket is that you end up in a situation where you end up varying your technique to obtain a desired value (in real life, we call this "rationalization"). With the 9201, the readings are not nearly as technique-sensitive - I seem to see a very clear cause-effect relationship between tensioning/loosening and immediate changes on the gauge. More so than I ever did with the Kriket.

With the Kriket tool, I've loosened the tensioner and gotten HIGHER readings just because I happened to be reading on a slightly different spot on the belt, or my finger was slightly dragging on the thing, or whatever. It's really too squirly for my liking. I finally got my wife to help and didn't tell her what the target value was. I'd take a reading, hold the thing up for her to read, have her write the # on a piece of paper and go back, do another reading, etc. I'd do this about 10x in a row, then look at the #'s. When I finally got them all close to the target I knew I'd hit the mark - and yes, it was close to what I'd have guessed the proper tension was by hand.

Anyway to make a long story short, I think the 9201 really is a helluva lot more precise than the Kriket and yields much more consistent results considering reasonable reading-to-reading variations in technique and exact location. As long as you're reasonably consistent, you get the same reading (or nearly so). Not necessarily the case with the Kriket unless you're EXTREMELY careful (and a little bit lucky).

Tensioning by feel might work for some but I think you only ever hear one side of the story from such folks (the ones that love to brag about how they saved so much money and how great they are). You never hear from those that have snapped a belt or two and ended up with their tails jammed firmly up their *** cracks as they limped home on a flatbed. Think those people are going to come on here and share their story about how their oh-so-wonderful tensioning method just cost 'em eight (or sixteen) valves, head machining and/or a new engine? Doubt it. Exactly how often that happens is open to speculation though. . . On the contrary, how many people that HAVE used the 9201 have had belt failures? I'll also bet that if someone DID use it, tensioned the belts "the right way" and had a failure, they'd raise holy hell on this forum about it. I've never heard of such a story until now (see Charlie's post above - very informative). It's always due to poor maintenance or some other kind of thing, usually driven by the "el cheapo" mentality.

So although the 9201 tool might be a lot of $$$ for something that "seat-of-the-pants" types don't see as necessary, it makes me sleep better at night and I'd trust the 9201, the Kriket and my gut feelings in that order. You want to play Russian Roulette with your own engine? Fine. Don't do it with mine.

The more "cheapo" suckers that end up snapping t-belts, the fewer 944s will be in the hands of such people and the better off the rest of us are (as it will ultimately push the values up).

 

If you check belt tension with your thumb and think that you have it right...you're gambling and if you lose your engine ($$!) your bad. No sympathy here. Some get away with this...some don't. This is especially true on the 928. Feel doesn't even come close to working on the main belt although some think so.

Same with tightening bolts with "feel". I got away with it on the Chevy steel block engines but I'm always stripping the threads or too loose with feel method in Aluminum blocks. I now have two diff. torque wrenches and no more use for the Helicoils.

Harvey

 

I bought the Kricket tool when i was doing my belts. As soon as i got it out of the box i realized i did not want to trust it. I later confirmed my initial response by getting readings that were all over the place. I towed the car to the dealer, only to have them quote me 300+ to tension the belt. Towed the car back to my house and ordered the 9201. Paid like 400 for it, had a fellow rennlister buy the calibration bar(in exchange for letting him use it once or twice). Now I check tension way more than i should, just cause I'm scared. But it's way better than not checking it enough. So the tool has more than paid for itself, and probably has not depreciated much at all. And as a bonus I've gotten many of cases of beer for lending it out.

 

You guys who think the 9201 is fool proof are stoned or something. There are plenty of instances out there were folks have checked tension with one, did it wrong and had a belt creep or snap. Twist the tool a bit and you get an inaccurate reading. It is all PROPER technique and if you don't follow it to the letter you're walking home. Same holds true with torque wrenches. I see folks twisting them or holding them in the wrong place, tossing them around or storing them dialed to a torque and still think they are going to get an accurate reading. You guys who are getting all indignant about foks who are foolhardy enough to not check their belts with a proper tool might want to be sure you know what the hell you are doing before you point fingers.

My only point about thumb and forefinger was that it is really stupid that our cars require something so elaborate when just about anything else out there either has a proper auto tensioner or PER THE MANUAL uses the twist technique to check tension.

Maybe George Beuselinck or Markus could chime in here.

 

That is a good point Kevin, though the kricket would probably suffice. Its not that hard really to tension after you have done it once or twice. My balance shaft belt is tensioned using the 9201 as well btw.

 

You're right in that the 9201 tool is finicky and has to be carefully used to get correct readings. I check various times just to be sure. For 928's Jay Kempf designed a tool similar to an early (no longer produced) Porsche tool that twists the belt and gives a pretty fair reading. So, for the 928, I use the Kempf tool to get it in the ballpark and the 9201 to fine tune the belt setting. But then again, I'm ****. I'm not aware of a comparable tool to the Kempf tool unless the Kricket is it. The Kempf tool, actually, isn't all that inaccurate. BUt I have more comfort with the 9201. Pays for itself pretty quickly if you take your car to the shop for tension resetting. Plus the prices on these seem to keep going up so I figure I can sell it later on and get my money back.

Harvey

 

Absolutely. But you can't make the tool give a low reading. You can only exaggerate the actual tension. For this reason, I tend to prefer being on the low side of the margin of error, if I can't get the exact spec.

 

I've never had any problems with the kricket.