ronnie993tt

How long/many miles should v belts last? Much noise makes mine need replacing after 11,000 miles/11 years. Seems a bit early? What is your experience? Much advance thanks for your response.

dbf73

Mine was replaced after many more miles 30K? than that. Thinking of doing the Clewitt system when engine out for clutch

ronnie993tt

Apparently, they're like tires and degrade over time and heat cycles.

Bass993

Did my belts at 48K miles during engine out for oil leaks and updated the pulley per Porsche which requires a slightly different belt. Otherwise, runs very well!

Quadcammer

could it be that they were just loose after having stretched a touch?

Mike J

Belt life seems to vary a lot - from a few years/mlles to a decade, could be heat cycles and use as variables. If yours are 11 years old, I would definitely replace them, it's cheap to do and gives you assurance it won't snap while on the road. I have had at least four cars I know of locally who have shredded/snapped belts on the road, all of which have less than your age. Noisy/squeaky belts (especially on startup) means you need to adjust the shim count, they are likely a bit stretched and loose. If the belt starts to have small cracks it's time to replace as well, the cracks usually start on the inside edge of the belt where the rubber teeth are, so they are not very visible from the outside of the belt (where you see it when you look into the engine compartment). Also look closely for fibre threads on the edge of the belt, that is a sign of wear as well. The inside belt has the sensor running on it, so often the top of the belt gets worn, so once your writing is worn off and you can see significant wear replace it.

Cheers,

Mike
'

ronnie993tt

Not according to the tech Quad. There was no noise on start-up only. Once the noise started, it was all the time and got much worse very quickly. Since the sensor had to be replaced the 11-year-old belts were done as well. As I mentioned earlier though, not cheap at 3 hours labour.

Mike J

They charged 3'hours of labour to replace the belts? Hmmm .... Its a simple DIY, and I would argue its good to practice so if the belts fail on the road you can change them right there. :-)

Cheers

Mike

ronnie993tt

Intercooler has to come off, replace sensor, cost padding 'cause it's a very valuable turbo? When I did a search, it came up as 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Mike J

Well padding a bit but that is OK, they have to allow for issues and a bit of profit.

I have probably changed at least 30+ belts sets over the years in 993's, including Turbos. Intercooler is about 5 mins to take off, 5 to get back on.. Most of the time would be spent with the A/C compressor, fiddling with the pulleys and threading the belt past the A/C mount if it has not been ground (there is a wicked pinch point down below). That can take time if things go wrong. The sensor is another 10-15 minutes. My point is its good practice to try this at home and then carry a spare belt and a few tools just in case. :-)

Cheers,

Mike

ronnie993tt

After 14 years on this forum, I've come to trust your judgement, Mike. So, what do you think is a reasonable time? Ronnie.

Mike J

Hmm no hard numbers, sort of like tires ... you can run them fine after 10 years but most people would say don't go fast lol. 10 years is a lot of time for the rubber to age, but then again in our Canadian climates the rubber seems to keep very well. I usually go by the wear on the top of the belt from the roller, the condition, if it's fraying at all, mileage, if you are in there anyways, the ability of the owner to change it on the road, and age. 5 years is fine, 10 is getting old. Every owner has different thresholds on their maintenance, I have guys who do oil changes every year even with 500 kms or less on the oil (and my coaching them that it's fine), and other who stretch it out to years ...

Take care Ronnie!

Cheers,

Mike'

ronnie993tt

Sorry Mike, I meant reasonable time for you to change the belts and sensor. I hear ya on the tires. I go 7 to 10 years depending on wear. Based on advice from several indies I've gone to oil changes every 2 or 3 years and brake fluid every 4. Even at that I've had several tell me they'd put my used oil in their car!

Quadcammer

Eh, when you consider time to bring the car into the shop, time spent looking for other sources of the noise, changing that annoying bolt in the sensor and dicking around with the intercooler hoses and such, I could see maybe 2.5 hours. If i had a good relationship with my indy, I don't think I'd complain too much about a 3 hour charge, but in reality, just changing belts is about 90 minutes.

ronnie993tt

Thanks quad. Kinda what I figured based on Mike's input. My guy has a nice big shop and he and 2 of his guys are very experienced Porsche trained mechanics. I'm just happy to have an option from the stealers. Local dealer wanted almost $3K to solve the ghost horn issue which turned out to be a 20 minute, $3 in O rings job!