F451

Earl G likes and uses the 9201 gauge. We calibrated his 9201 before we checked my S4. And it is way sensitive. I felt comfortable that Earl knew what he was doing though. We did get repeatable results.

Then we checked my Kempf tool and I got my baseline for my S4's tension as measured with the Kempf tool.

And HOLY CRANKING the engine by hand. We had Earl up top checking tension, and I was laying down with the 1/2 socket wrench cranking around and around and around and around...

Checking the belt multiple times with each tool to insure we had consistent results. My arms nearly fell off, but it was worth it.

Then Earl was good enough to get under there and do some cranking while I fiddled with the Kempf tool so I could learn how to use it properly and get repeatable results as well. A great learning experience.

And Earl is like 70 yrs old! Holy cow, the guy is tough.

the flyin' scotsman

I used the Kemp tool for many years worked very well.

Now that I have the Porken tensioner the tool sits in the tool box; seldom sees the light of day.

F451

Show off!

Tails

I have used the Kempf tool for over 5 year, for changing the TB and for yearly tension checks, so far all is well with 8 years of ownership.

An old engineering saying is probably adpt for the Kempf tool, if uses the 'KISS' principle - "Keep It Simple - Stupid" or is it "Keep It Stupid - Simple"?

Tails 1990 928 S4 Auto

JHowell37

There's a lot of money riding on a lot of stupid things with these cars, and especially where the timing belt is concerned. I tend to agree with others that it's best to keep things as simple as possible and the Kempf tool does just that. Porken's tensioner should be shipping soon so like some others, my Kempf tool will soon go to the back of the toolbox.

StratfordShark

As a newish owner I bought the Kempf tool to do my first re-tension when I got a timing belt warning (don't worry - have since had new belt and pump fitted).

I was impressed by how accurate the tool seemed. After I got the belt warning it was reading just below the left side notch and readings were very reproducible. I re-tensioned till it was nearer high side of notch and no more belt warnings till I had the new one.

Jim bailey - 928 International

It has been tested and tested and tested...it WORKS !

fraggle

I have one, but I, too, am switching to Porken tension setup.

worf928

Nah Greg. Only you and Earl are steady-handed and ****-retentive enough to be able to get repeatable results from it

mark kibort

I think the main reason for timing belt issues is breaking, loosing teeth and some of that can be traced to some pretty loose belt settings.

With my interm tension checking solution. (ITCS) , you can do a check up to verify things are not way out of wack.

Mk

blown 87

Ok, Dave that hit home hard.

You would not believe how steady my hand is during the nap I take after 5 beers.

When I was thinking about doing the side marker delete on my 928 and was worried about what would happen if I got pulled over and got grilled on this I called one of my cop buds, he is a shift commander (Sargent) with the local SO and I ask him about that.

His answer was "you are the only ****-retentive ******* I know that would be worried about something like that."
He really thought it was funny.

I guess you may have a point.

There is nothing wrong with the Kemph tool, great tool, I just like being able to have a number to work with.

A lot of folks say they have problems with repeatability and consistency with the 9201, I just have not seen it.

Like I said, I have both of them and a after market one.

It does kind of give me a good feeling to be able to write "timing belt measured 5.3 on the calibrated 9201 after rotation" on a work order.'
Not that it matters, if a new water pump (wasserpumpen) goes out in two months and bends a bunch of valves, it is not the guys fault that just paid me a LOT of money to do a timing belt job on his car, Gregor got to eat it.

Shark Attack

Thanks for the input and easing my mind. It just seems that the right tention is a fine line. IMO if the belt is over tight you are going to have early failure of the tention arm bushings, if too lose, well we know what happens there....

PorKen

Once you have turned it a couple times to see that it's tight enough to be safe, unplug the fuel pump fuse, and/or LH/EZK connectors, and crank it over with the starter. Smoothly (with a constant effort), turn it by hand to 0|T, and check the tension again.

Turning by hand can make the measured tension vary quite a bit. Using the starter equalizes the tension over the entire belt. This is especially true when checking the cam timing after adjustment. You can easily be a few degrees off.

blown 87

Taking the plugs out and being consistent is mandatory also.

G Man

Jaeger Engineering used to have a download available from their site that gave you a tone. Kind of like plucking a guitar string. I never tried it. I guess you tune the belt to match the tone. Does anyone use this method?