gazfish

Hi All,

Search didn't show anything for this question, the 32v engines need slightly more tension on the belt than the 16v due to the tensioner moving further on later cars, based on what I've read.
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My question is, for the last of the 16v Euro engines with the belt warning system, should the higher tension be set as I think they have the same tensioner as later 32v?

Thanks for any insight,
Gary

davek9

It's not the "style" of the Tensioner that requires the slightly tighter setting, it's the 32v train,
So rule of 928'r's thumb is to set 16v to match the lower tension edge of the notch and on 32v go for mid window.

Dave

SeanR

FIFY

davek9

Thanks Sean, been doing mostly PKens bracket and Audi setup lately

Dave

SeanR

I hear ya. Just tearing in to one I did 9 years ago and 20k miles. Figured it was time to check it due to age. Here's the extension on the cold motor and 9 years. Gates belt of course.

dr bob

Sean,

Do you have any hard data showing the differences in stretch between the racing belt vs. the standard Gates? eg -- Are you recording PKensioner extension when new, and looking at the same dimension when they come back later, as you do here?

I'm in a similar driving/miles situation as the one you are measuring, with 6-7 year change intervals and maybe 20k miles. My interest is in one where the racing belt might have a longer calendar life. Gates of course shares lawyer language that says the belt should be changed at the shorter of their miles recommendation or the car manufacturer's number. Porsche doesn't share a calendar recommendation so we are flying half-blind. Our tribal knowledge number is 5 years, Honda recommended 7, etc.

Your thoughts?

Ad0911

After hearing about the Gates belt vs Conti I ran to my parts shelf to check the new belt I bought a couple of years ago from one of our reputable 928 parts suppliers. Guess what? Its a "Contitech" belt. Not a Gates. Now how bad is this?

Wisconsin Joe

It's not "bad" in any way. Conti is what Porsche used.

They just stretch more.
Once they've stretched, they do ok.

Gates stretch less. Some people prefer them (including me).

Just use a Gates next time.

SeanR

I've not kept very good records at all when it comes to that. Not on a per-car basis anyway.

It was said when the Gates R-belt came out that it was wearing gears down really fast, so I put it on my car with worn gears, original PKT, Laso pump and didn't do anything else with it for 5-6 years. When I took it off the extension was around 5-6mm, the worn gears didn't look any worse than they did before. Put the same belt back on with the same Laso pump and new Porsche gears but upgraded to the new PKT version, pulled the pin and let it do it's thing. I think that was back late last year. When I checked extension a few months ago it was right around 3mm.

Of all the Gates R belts I've put on cars, I've not yet dug in to find out how they are extension wise due to customers are out there driving them, when I see them at gatherings I just pop the air tube to look at the tracking and see how it is looking from there. Going to put that belt on this car and will check it again in 5-6 years for grins and take some more notes. Honestly, I think this car could have gone for another 9 years and all would have been good, but since it's apart might as well put a new belt/pump/rollers/piston on it.

As for timing to change the belt, I want to look at it after 5 years, if all looks good (tracking, visually, noise) send it on it's way for another few years. Unless the car is being driven a ton, well, like a normal car and and gets 15k miles per year, then I'll dig in further and change stuff out. Like said before, it's not the belt that goes, it's all the bits around it that cause problems.

9two8

Not bad at all, my car is on it's second Conti in 9 years !

Ken
80 928 S
5 Speed
UK

SwayBar

There is nothing wrong at all with a Conti belt.

SeanR

Except it's ability to stretch more than a Gates or Porsche one, nothing at all.

dr bob

I'm at about that point with the std Porsche belts. I look at it every couple years, and schedule replacements every six years or so. At this point the miles aren't a concern. The schedule will be driven more by willingness to stand over the front of the car for an extended afternoon. Good news is I can stretch the project to a second day with virtually no penalty. Everything is lickin' clean, so the job is really getting to be pretty easy. Not nearly as much stress as the first time way back when.

I've got another year to decide. That will be from another batch of the R belts if I go that way. My Honda DD will be due based on time too. Roger, got an R belt suiatble for my then seven year old Honda V6? Water pump will be just getting broken in with less than 40k right about then. So just a belt.