Jfrahm

I have a 9201 and calibration bar, maybe some morning or afternoon we can get together for some comparisons. I am kinda busy this month with visitors and a trip but next month should be less hectic.

-Joel.

67rschev

+1

I agree with this entire statement . Both motors i have done , the BS belt was way too tight . Somethin in my head , just thinks it should be run way tighter than it ends up at . Still will be fun to see how the different methods size up to the P tool . I'm even thinking of droppin the big doe on that fancy pants 100 dollar Kevlar unit to see how it would compare .....

Joel
we'll work out a Sunday in August when you can get down into town here and we can do this ... Pizza and beers my treat
Tony

sbyrne

9201 is no guarantee, either. When I had the belts, pump, rollers, etc done on my car when I first bought it, I recall being impressed by the fact that my independent mechanic had that tool at his shop. Now, only 10,000 miles later, and after having the tension checked 2500 miles after installation, it appears that excess belt tension is the underlying problem with car (overheated) - took the water pump and a couple of rollers with it (or with them, since all belts were likely over-tensioned).

Discussing this thread with the guys at the shop this afternoon, we wondered if our timing belts could be tuned to pitch, given the thickness of the thing, relative to the Duc belt mentioned in the OP.

whalebird

sbyrne - Even when the belt is tensioned correctly - a new belt will often take out a water pump. The retension will upset the pump if it is used to a given belt. I mean an older, seemingly fine, water pump will not like a new belt at all. This is so common its laughable. Many people just do the whole front of the motor at t-belt intervals. There are exceptions, my car included, but this goes for any car. A new serpentine belt on any car can very often lead to tensioner pulley/water pump failures. It is not the excessive tension that took out the water pump, its the pump.

Yummybud924

hmm after 3 years I only put like 20,000 kms on my car and so my water pump only has 20,000 kms on it so it would be a waste of money to replace the waterpump with such low miles so I just put new belts on.

I pay like 100 bucks everytime to get my tension checked so I don't have to worry. if you overtighten the belt i'm sure you'll wreck the waterpump and its kind of a bitch to replace plus 944 water pumps aren't cheap think my new water pump was like 350 bucks.


I used the twist and kricket method and my porsche shop said I had gotten the tension really close.

next time i may just use the kricket. when I get my belt retensioned I'm going to feel how tight it is and check it with the kricket and get it as close as possible next time.

if you are off by a little I doubt it is anything to worry about. you just don't want it way too tight as you'll wreck the tensioner and water pump bearings and too loose and the belt will jump.

I think most people who are off are probably overtightening versus under.

art

I doubt you'll get much twang when cold, maybe when hot after the expanded engine puts full tension on the belt.

I've had good luck with a new belt on an old pump, so I'm trying it again. Same pump, 3rd belt. Rolling the dice, but I pay close attention to it.