After searching the threads, and following the p-car instructions, I'm stuck on replacing my alternator belt. I got theA/c belt off, and bought an 8 mm hex socket to hold the alt shaft. It appears that thew interior hole was stripped in a previous replacement, because the socket won't hold the shaft in place to turn the 24mm nut.

Any ideas?
thanks!

 

Did you get the triple square tool? Or an 8mm allen?

 

ARRRGHH! Another loose connection between the ears! I got an 8mm allen, rather than a 12pt/trip square. I saw a mention about "'96 cars use an 8 mm hex" (on the a/c hose clamp-duh), and went to town. It's amazing the things you find when you read the instructions a second time.

I hope that I don't have to read the "stripped alt shaft link" at the bottom of the DIY <sigh>

thanks,

 

Sometimes the shafts end will appear stripped, but in reality they are not. A little surface rust and debris can make them look as though they are buggered up..

 

Chris,
Just thinking- wouldn't the Porsche tool probably be a 9mm 12 pt., if an 8 hex fits so well? Funny, when you mentioned that, I remember one of the threads saying that the tool SHOULD BE in your toolbag, but alas no.

 

It's a 10mm tri-square (12 point).

 

The oft-repeated comment that "the tool should be in your bag" is untrue as far as I can tell. It didn't come with the original toolkit according to the PET catalog and my experience.

The first thing a 993 owner should do is buy a spare DME relay and a set of 12-pts from Pep Boys for $10.

 

phelix-
Thanks for the post- there's a dueling thread out there, that had the same discussion going!

Also-I like that avatar.

cheers,

 

Bill,

I just threw both my fan belt and my alternator belt at Watkins Glen this past weekend. Like you, I did not have the 12 point tool in the tool kit, and neither did most other 993 drivers. My alternator shaft end was stripped out, so I had to have Steve Timmins yank out my alternator and then re-thread (read BANG-IN) the end, whereby the shaft could be held to loosen the nut. It was a total pain in the ***, but Steve did most of the fun work such as reconnecting all of the vacuum hoses and trying to properly install the heater box.

 

I had a thread on this tool the other day. The 12 pt. bits you can buy at car parts places are too long to fit and need to be Dremeled or hack sawed down, especially since a socket has to go on there too. Do an eBay search for "12 M10 tool" and you can find these tools for around $12 shipped.

When I had to replace a belt on my old Carrera and didn't have the tool to hold the fan pulley, I just had a friend hold the fan in place by the blades with his bare hands. It worked with no problem, though it would be tough for one person to do this, especially if the car was pretty hot.

 

Thanks, Rick.

 

I didn't need to cut my Pep-Boys tool down. It didn't fit super easily, but it did fit. If you don't cut it down, you simply use a wrench to hold it, instead of a socket. Works fine.

 

Rick,
I had been following your thread as it came up with more stuff than my original.

Would you believe that I found a 12 pt. set that I forgot I had? (talk about pack rats!). Unfortunately, the bit is too long as well. I assumed that I would have to use a wrench on it, but can't get it around the latch. A little to hard for a hacksaw, but maybe a grinder. If Eric did it, I guess I'll go back and try again.

Otherwise, I'm going to call a gorilla to hold the fan in place

 

Funny, when I went looking for some more wisdom out there, I found a link on p-car from Ray Calvo saying the same thing!

 

If you plan to replace the belt, just cut the damn thing and then you can probably get away with holding the fan with one hand while using a ratchet on the pulley nut. No danger of the crank getting turned the wrong way when there's no belt on the pulley. I use a Dremel for cutting those star bits down. I haven't done the hand-held-fan method on the 993 yet, but it really was easy on the Carrera.