KMASS993

Hi Guys -

I am thinking about adding the Clewett Engineering Serpentine Belt Kit to my 1996 C2. I was wondering if anyone has long-term experience with the kit and if so, what the feedback is thus far. I am curious to hear about reliability, ease of belt replacement, and the impact on the charging system. Also, if anyone could comment on installation process (DIY vs. shop) it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

Regards,

Kevin

Cactus

Was going to do this myself but other "projects" came up so I would like some feedback as well.

CarreraX

Curious to know why you would want to spend $600 to do this? Im not saying dont do it I just want to understand why. I havent had problems with the stock stuff.

Juha G

Yeah, what's the point? No problems with the stock belts + they are super easy to change.

Changing the crank pulley is not a very easy DIY job in my opinion. (I just did it last weekend). You need to remove the cats, mufflers, heat exchanger cross pipe, engine cover and you need to loosen the engine carrier and drop the rear of the engine to get access to the pulley. Opening the king bolt and tightening it back to correct torque is another story...

camlob

Yeah looked at it and its expensive.

KMASS993

I have the old top pulley set up and by crank pulley is in rough shape from the prior owner letting sit w/ a Turbo tail (rust etc.). I haven't had a ton of luck with the stock set up which may be due to poor adjustment by the previous mechanic. Lastly, the belts break, its not an optimal setup by any means and I don't think that a must need for long trips should be a kit to change any of the belts, it should be more reliable. I have family in the Adirondacks and don't really want to be changing a belt on a mountain road. If I have to pay someone to replace my belts and while not 100% necessary, need to purchase a new crank pulley and top pulley to increase reliability, the incremental cost of the setup is not to bad considering the peace of mind that I think it could offer me with long trips and ease of replacement if it were to break.

David in VA

I've had it on my car for almost a year now. No issues at all, have not had to replace a belt yet. I had it installed after breaking a couple of belts and later having the crank pulley bolt back out at the track costing me track time. As far as I can tell, no adverse effects other than cost. Also a lot easier to replace the belt if I needed to.

David

Juha G

These cars were designed well, very well. When properly maintained, you should have no issues whatsoever. Changing your v-belt system to a serpentine system is an aftermarket modification and as such is a compromise between function, fitment and cost. Something that Porsche didn't have to do when they designed the 993.

I don't either see how changing the belt system would leave out the need of proper alignment.

There is really nothing to gain with this swap, you are better off just having a good shop replace any broken or worn parts with oe items and making proper alignment + shimming of pulleys to ensure correct tension. JMHO.

KMASS993

I don't think that it changes the need for alignment but it does change the need to perform any type of tension adjustment which was probably my issue in the first place. I don't think by any means changing belts is a "super easy" thing to do, especially if you are on the side of poorly lit road. What I am after is not only reliability but the peace of mind that if a belt were to break I would be in a better situation to replace and be on my way. The updated top pulley and crank pulley are going to cost me around $300, plus the belts themselves as I will replace them all. Also, regarding your comment on Porsche's original design, didn't Porsche move to a serpentine belt system in the 996 GT3 and use them on 993 RSRs? Was this for a new engineering requirement associated with these engines or because they felt that the design was superior in terms of performance and reliability?

77'3.6vram

Porsche used this setup on the 964 3.8. I have had one on my car for almost three years and no sign of wear on the serp. belt at all. The A/C belt has needed to be changed. The Clewett pulley w/AC still uses a Porsche OE V-belt for the A/C compressor. Great pice of mind and looks amazing. It's well worth the money. IMO

Garth S

The serpentine belt mod drives the fan and alternator in unison ..... as does the RS hub: to do the former mod, one accepts the slower alternator speed as provided by the RS hub - if that is considered an issue.
Correct me if memory fails, but the V-belt pulley update mentioned is uniquely for the rear most set( alternator) - precisely the set that one tosses when installing the RS hub. It is this set of sheaves that have caused most V-belt failures: when this belt fails, it invariably takes the other belt with it. There was no required update on the remaining inner (fan) pulley set that remains if the RS hub is used.
Installing the RS hub ( for ~$100) eliminates the separate alternator belt and pulley, and allows the fan belt "tension" roller to be deleted ..... and is a simple DIY.
The single remaining V-belt is far more reliable IMHO ( 4 years + on mine), and can be changed in minutes if req'd - far more easily than the dual belt set up ( nuts on studs vs allan head screws, etc).
Anyway, for reliability ( and $$$ less), the RS hub mod was my choice ...

KMASS993

Garth,

Any downsides that you've noticed on the charging side? I drive mine mostly on weekend and it is on a battery maintainer all the time.

Garth S

Kevin,
No downsides for me. I only use the battery maintainer during winter hibernation ( like now ), and it can sit for days in the summer without issue. My battery is now 6 years old ...

If ones driving sees a lot of low speed city traffic with AC on max and a mega watt stereo creating nirvana , adequate battery charging would be challenged .... but so would I

Quadcammer

I'm sorry what? You don't think almost every single part on the 993 or just about any modern car is a compromise between function, fitment, and cost?

I don't have a problem with the belt system (as dated as it may be), except that it require a number of tools to change the belt, and is finnicky at roadside.

If the piece of mind of knowing you can change a belt with one wrench is something thats $600 plus install worth it for you, then do it.

KMASS993

I think the biggest issue with the setup will be the charging. I live in Boston and drive my car in the summer. That means both a/c, traffic and some city driving. I'll do some research on the RS pulley and see what bad experiences people have had from that standpoint. I'll report back if I move forward as I am sure others are interested in the setup. Thanks all!