Koenig-Specials 928

I did mine a last year and had done the entire job including the WP. I met a fellow 928 owner (non-Renn member) and he became interested in the porkentensioner. However, he recently had the dealer installed WP & TB with rebuilt OE tensioner. Questions for him:

1. Can the prokensioner be installed without removal of the WP

2. Can you remove the centre cover without having to remove the crank bolt ( I didn't think so because I remembered having to remove the alt mounting assembly to get to the cover. But I am not sure)

3. Or can the tensioners be swapped without removing the centre cover.

His car is a pristine dealer kept 87 S4 but he's interested in the security of the porken product (I showed him my volumes of printed materials on the tensioner and he knows I am using it on my Koenig).

These simple questions because he figures he cannot take it to the dealer to install and he's not a wrench.

Please and thank you.

dprantl

You definitely need to remove the center cover in order to replace the tensioner. The harmonic balancer is very large and I'm not sure you could get the OEM tensioner out without removing it. What's the big deal removing the crank bolt?

Dan
'91 928GT S/C 475hp/460lb.ft

SteveG

You do not have to remove the WP.

the flyin' scotsman

1............yes
2............no
3............no

Given the time of year this would make a good winter project leave the car alone for now.

jcorenman

This is a bit of a slippery slope. I assume the dealer will continue to maintain the car in the future? If the dealer won't install an aftermarket tensioner (which is a reasonable position from their viewpoint) and you (or the owner) installs it, then what happens when service is required?

As a for-instance, suppose the (dealer-installed) WP begins to make bearing noises. The dealer goes to change the pump, but doesn't know how the PKensioner works, or how to release belt tension, or where the pin goes in the tensioner for reassembly, or how to adjust the belt tension. (Or maybe they do, if they hang here or have worked on newer cars).
Do they refuse the job, ask for instructions, or just guess?
Or, worst case, do they look at the noisy bearings and look at the aftermarket tensioner and loudly say "Aha!!" ??

Don't get me wrong, I like the PK'snr a lot and think it is a great design-- but if this is a dealer-maintained car then I would be inclined to leave it stock. Properly rebuilt, the stock tensioner will work fine.

PorKen

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. No

The center cover can be walked over the balancer, and A/C pulley, if you unbolt the PS/Alt. assembly and move it forward a few inches. You still have to remove the cam gear covers, so it's not much more work to remove the balancer, if you have the tools.

I have quickly replaced the tensioning system a couple of times without removing the balancer, keeping an existing low mileage belt. (Both times I have ended up replacing the belt later while doing other work.)

Koenig-Specials 928

Thank you folks. I emailed these responses to him and he agreed with Jim. Keep it dealer maintained.

HK