shinrai

I'm in the middle of a belt job and noticed subtle marks on the water pump. Normal? The washer on the back side of the crank pulley and the pulley on the tensioner is in the correct position. This is from a gates belt I installed about 4 years ago. Car is driven a couple thousand miles/yr...



The reason I ask is because the latest belt I received (Continental) is about 2mm wider for whatever reason and want to make sure I don't have a tracking issue somewhere. Fattest belt I've ever seen for a 968 or 944. I imagine there was a change a few years back. Old (Gates) on left and new (Conti) on right:

chudson

I do not remember a width change, but also haven’t held a Conti in some time. I can order both brands and compare so to let you know unless someone else responds sooner. And I admit that I’m now curious.

Whether valid or not, years ago there was an enthusiast who convinced everyone that the Conti belt was not the belt of choice for a 968. The claim was that all the belts that had failed prematurely (on 968s) were Conti. Again, whether this was accurate or not I still question, but have not chosen that brand since even though we have installed hundreds of that brand on VW and Audi with no known or documented premature failure. As far as our cars are concerned, I think that if you follow the 5 year replacement suggestion, you are safe with any well known brand. But that’s just my opinion

Cliff

shinrai

Thanks for the input Cliff. The new Continental belt is 27mm vs. the 25mm Gates belt. The reason I purchased it is because the Gates units were not available. I installed it today and it appears fine. The WP pulley is roughly 28mm which appears to be the bottleneck. I'll inspect in 1000kms and report back if any issues.