Mike J

While the common consensus on the list is that the distributor belt should be replaced every 60,000 miles or so, I have not see a broken one yet. I have on rebuilt 4 so far, so its not a large sample.

I would be curious to know, out of the members with 993's here, how many have actually experienced a belt breakage.

Now I know that there is a chance that this belt breaking causes quite a bit of damage (although its more likely not to do anything at all other than some power loss) so even a small chance is not worth taking, but it would be interesting to see the % of incidence.

So, who has broken their belts? For the record, I have not.

Cheers,

Mike

ilko

2 964s and 1 993, all higher mileage (70-100K) with no rebuilt distributor records, no broken belt.

CalvinC4S

I have seen a couple, only on 964's though.
No damage done, only performance issues.

Magdaddy

changed mine at 68K miles, upon reccomendation of mechanic. He has ssen broken ones, and the consequences can be substantial.

Cheap peace of mind to replace, since I try not to temp either fate...or "Murphy's Law"

Deadeye

85K miles-not yet

shadow993

What issues if it breaks besides lack of performance? I would think you would notice before anything would occur.

Mike J

If the rotor lands on a spark plug input, that spark plug is firing at the wrong time (and 6x the frequency of what it should be doing). That means misfires, where you can have ignition of fuel mixture while the piston is compressing the charge. The can damage pistons, valves, stuff you do not want hurt....

I am not looking for second hand observations since some of that is fed by urban legends, we have all heard about this issue. I am looking for direct experience just to see how bad the problem is.

Cheers,

Mike

Mark in Baltimore

Never broke mine but replaced it at approximately 45,000 miles.

diet97993

This is a preventative maintenance issue. Any time you have any rubber belts under tension and running in a dynamic enviornment that includes heat, they, at some time will start to break down. It's one of those items on these cars that you need to keep track of from time to time. The 964 belt failures is why Porsche added the vent tube to help extend the belt life. When you hit 50K it would be a good idea to periodically go in there and examine the condition of the belt and replace at the first sign of excessive wear or damage and now age (Cars are now 12 to 15 years old) as part of the consideration.

Don

IXLR8

Exactly. My alternator belt failed 110 miles from home last spring even though it looked fine during winter inspection.

I have no prior history as far as the distributor drive belt and bearings go. Besides, its winter and time to wrench.

Vorsicht

1995 95K 993 Not Broken (that I'm aware of). I am going to replace it during my upcoming clutch replace.

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

I've seen plenty of broken belts, and now increasingly, bad bearings.

Stealth 993

Mine looked great when we did it around 90kmi.

Gunter

Replaced mine at 99,000 Km (about 65,000 Miles) right when I bought the 993.

Old belt still looked good but I was surprised how small (narrow) the belt is. Bearings felt good.

I think that bearings are as important as the belt because when the belt is changed at 60,000 Miles, will the bearings last for another 60K?

A source for these bearings would most likely be appreciated by the DIY's.
Like size, Brand, Part numbers...................and where to buy?

Maybe Steve Weiner could make a business supplying them?

Considering the potential damage caused by a broken belt, I bought a nice used spare DD and will take it along on tours.

ABCar

None yet...where is the best place to source one