belts
 

I have an 87 NA and was wondering how often you guys are changing your belts. I have records for my car and they were done at 31K. I now have 78K and was thinking it was about time to do it again, but I dont want to take it to a shop. Anybody around Baltimore care to help out? Id rather pay top dollar to someone that knows these cars and appreciates them like I do as opposed to a dealer.
Thanks, Ethan
edonoh1@tiger.towson.edu

The recommended change interval is between 30K and 45k, depending on the source. Belts need to be retensioned every 15K.

I have yet to do the belts on my car myself, but I am planning on doing the retensioning myself in the next few months.

Here are a few good resources:

<a href="http://porsche-944-garage.tripod.com/" target="_blank">944 Garage</a>, 944 Garage Workshop Manual, ENG-04 thru ENG-10

<a href="http://www.connact.com/~kgross/FAQ/944faq.html" target="_blank">944 FAQ</a>, section 8

Best of luck.

I have a 1987-944S that I purchased aprox.11/2years ago,I had no records that stated when the previous owner had changed the belts,so I replaced the timing and balance belts myself.Then re-tensioned after 2000 miles and plan to change at 30,000 mile intervels.After doing this job once you will realize that all though it takes some precision it is not rocket science and can be performed by the average Shadetree Mechanic.

Make sure whoever does it knows what they're doing. The place that did mine first left a bad roller in, installed the wrong width balance shaft belt, and took 3 tries to get the tension approximately right. I only have very experienced 944 folks work on this critical area of the car now. I sleep much better too!

Keep the shiny side up,