Type_LT

I'm about 500 miles from my 2500mi retention. Basically the belt whines pretty good, especially now that it's cold outside. After a good 10 min of driving the whine is gone. I used the P9201 tool and checked the new belt tension about 20 times before I buttoned her up. I know this topic has been beaten into the ground so I decided to pull it out I know the whine means "too tight" most of the time however it goes away once the engine is warm at which point it would be tighter right? I read a month or so ago on here about the whine being an idicator of good belt tension?

Can't let this topic rest now can we!

Luis de Prat

Initially, it's normal for a newly installed belt to whine for a few hundred miles, but I believe 2500 is too much. After that many miles, the belt should no longer whine at all. As the engine warms up, the belt expands, making it looser, so it no longer whines.

It sounds like the belt on your car is too tight. Did you install it yourself? If so, adjust it accordingly with the tool, or take it to where it was serviced and tell them it's still whining after 2500 miles.

art

My experience is that as the engine warms up the belt gets tighter due to the expansion of the aluminum being more than whatever the strength member in the belt is. (glass or steel or kevlar?)

Check or feel the tension in the belt when the engine is warm and you will be surprised by how tight it is.

art

Luis de Prat

I stand corrected, the belt expands less than the engine. However, I do know that it shouldn't whine after 2500 miles.

I've had 944 car belts changed by professionals over 8 years and none has ever whined that long.

Either way, if it's still whining after so many miles, the tension seems incorrect and should be properly adjusted.

Travis - sflraver

I think aluminum is less than .001" per inch per 100º. The belt its self would grow and shrink more than that.

Jerry Ljung

FWIW, my experience with the 9201 tool and whine is that, even if you are countering the final torque used to lock the tensioner, the value would change markedly (e.g. 2.7 to 4.3 (= whine..)) when applying the final locking torque. All this may mean is that I don't have genuine "mechanic's feel" for the procedure.

I was able to get the tension value to be in range by measuring it a f t e r applying final locking torque. Whine dissapeared. YMMV

Best

Operator

hmm...
my belt always whines in 2nd gear at low rpm..
everyone told me it was normal and nothin to worry about.. no problems yet, it whined before and after a belt/roller/pump/seal change..
probably has nothing to do with your post anyway. oh well

keith

My properly tensioned belts always whine like that when cold (like first thing in the morning). This is my 3rd belt cycle on 2 cars, and I own the tool and use it frequently at work.

Sometimes the positioning of the idler pulley on the balanceshaft belt will affect the belt noise.
I'd make sure that thing is properly positioned, and be happy.

PorscheG96

These belts whine a little bit...I've had two different shops do my belts and with Bill's help and the 9201 tool I was pretty much able to do them myself. The belts have always whined first thing in the morning, especially when it's cold out, and as the engine warms up the whine can no longer be heard. I could try defining a loud vs. quiet whine and wouldn't get anywhere with this post, but if the belts are whining and it's LOUD then they're too tight. If you ask me, there's nothing wrong when rolling the window down and driving in first gear hearing a whine from the belts after starting the car in the morning.

Type_LT

keith and G96: Thats exactly what my belts do, whine for about 5min in the morning then after warm you'd you hard pressed to hear any more whine. As far as the balance belt idler (the one adjusted to .5mm), i took the timing cover off to see if it was spinning, it only spins when you rev the engine to 1500rpm and beyond. I'm not too worried now that some others have expressed their cars doing the same thing.

83na944

For the record, the dealer did has done my belts until recently. Most of the time I never noticed a whine, but the belt they did about 3 years ago whined until it was replaced.