potent951turbo

Does anyone have any final opinions on the kricket belt tool? I was thinking about ordering one but after I did a search there seems to be many varying opinions. Just trying to see if I should save the money if its no good or go ahead and get it. Or if anyone is near upstate SC and has the Porsche tool that would be great also.

Techno Duck

If your car has the spring tensioner, i found it is very hard to use the tool to get accurate results. Are you in a rush to get it done? Honestly if you can hold out you might want to try the Arnnworx tensioner.

http://www.arnnworx.com/

potent951turbo

My car is an 86', and my new belts are in the mail so I was hoping to get something pretty quick.

ehall

if you are going to use it, get the arnworx tool.

IanS

Have either of you used the new Arnnworx tool? It looks pretty straightforward.

ehall

I have not. I reccomend arnworx because the guy makes some neat stuff, and is part of our community. He has a good write up as i recall. It's on his site. I recall that he did something slightly different with his, but I can't remember. Also, if you are going to do your own t-belts, he also sells the other tools you will need to DIY.

hosrom_951

Kirket works fine everytime

ehall

hey hos, have you ever had the kriket tension tested by the factory tool? I'd be very interested in knowing how close it gets. I think there may be too much hysteria over the factory tool. Anyway, let me know if you have.

Mike S

I've seen/used the Kricket and the best analogy I can come up with is that the kricket is like eating rice with chopsticks. It can be done, but its not easy and a fork does a better job. I've never used the Arnnworx tool, but without it the thing is way to innacurate for my taste.

Dmitry S.

A while back a couple guys got together and played around with the Kricket and 9201. We found it was much harder to get an accurate measurement with the Kricket, but after getting used to it, the 9201 was spot on every time.

If you go to the Gates Company website to read about the Kricket, it will state "Not for use on timing belts"

It's your motor. If you set the tension too tight, you'll put too much strain on the water pump bearings and the pump will fail prematurely. If you're unlucky, the pump will seize and your timing belt will go with it. Too loose, and the belt flaps around and can skip teeth at high RPMs.

If you want to save some money, use the Kricket to get a rough estimate, and immediately drive the car to a shop that has the 9201. The $100 to tension the belt is worth the piece of mind for me.

Trucho-951

I've used the Kricket and have found it very easy to use. What I discovered worked best for me, was to leave the Kricket on the belt and read the measurements with my finger still on the trigger by using a flashlight to read the measurement. I did repeated measurements before removing the old belt to make sure that i could get consistent measurements and that the values were as i expected. Then and only then did i proceed to replace the new belt and adjust the tension. It was a very easy and pleasant experience. I have taken my car to the track and have done DE's all year long. I now check my belt tension every six months.

Jeremy Himsel

When compared to my 9201, I found the cricket to be extremely inconsistant when used on several motors. With the belts set to read 3.0 on a calibrated 9201 (I did this on three different motors during my last belt tensioning day) the cricket readings varied quite a bit. When rechecked with the 9201 the readings were spot on at 3.0. You be the judge.

jimmyvirus

Where is a good place to acquire a p9201 and calibration bar? Thanks.
James

hosrom_951

In a direct comparison no i didn't, but after replacing the timing belt with a new one, the car went to the shop for checking the ac, the car went in 3 or 4 days after installing the belt with less than 70 miles. I asked the mechanic to check the timing belt (i was nervous since it was my first time dealing with the timing belt and using the kriket). He said that the timing belt was fine and within spec, and they use the factory tool. That was good enough for me.

Eric

Pete944 did this direct comparison about a year ago--kricket vs 9201 on his NA and posted that the results were spot-even with both. Do a search of the main 944 board and you should find the post.