Felix

I've finally replaced my belts with Porsche-sourced belts. I had a lot of difficulty removing the old fan belt; it was nearly impossible to get it off the crank pulley. It seems that at the bottom of the "well" for the pulley there is very little clearance between the forward flange for the alternator drive section and the bottom of the "well". Installing the new belt was equally challenging. Is this normal?

I also seem to need more shims as the belts are overly tight at the moment. Is this normal too? The replacement belts are the exact same size as those that came off.

911/Q45

You can halve your workload by cutting the old belts off with a knife, after being absolutely sure the new belts are correct! It is pretty tight, but you'll get better with experience. The new belts will seem tight at first, but quickly loosen as they wear in. If you try to set the "correct tension" when they are fresh, they'll soon squeal and will need to be tightened. Best to just use the same shim stack that the old ones had.

Bill P.

Interestingly, the N/A motor uses a slightly different size alternator belt. Be sure to use the turbo specs.

Bill

Felix

Thank you both for the tips. I'll keep an eye on the tension; after about 50 miles they still seem too tight so I may source some more shims to reduce the risk of early bearing failure. The belts I installed are the same as what came off the car and they match what's listed on the PET CD and on the p-car DIY.

Dick in TN

My experience with the OEM belts is they do not stretch and recommend using the correct tension from the start. I purchased a Krikit KR1 V-belt tension gauge from NAPA , heard about this tool on Rennlist.

Getting the belts on was very difficult. I tried for two hours to get the new belt on the front pulley, never could get it on and finally made a tool using a 36" long 3/!6" sq. bar with a 1 3/4" long 90 degree bend on the end to use as a pusher. I suspect the clearance between the pulley and the sheet metal below the pulley is less on the Turbos and the NA cars.

If anyone has a technique for installing the belt on the front pulley would love to hear from them.

johnneurauter

Well I'm glad I found that others have a problem fitting the new fan belt, man is this thing a pain in the ****. I'll try monkeying something together to shove down there to try 'n get the bet on the pulley.

Just an FYI, on the 12 point tool, it's also commonly referred to as a triple box and you need a 10mm. I picked up a slick Blue Point door hinge removal set, Snap-On part number DHS108 which contains 4 triple box bits (6,8,10 and 12 mm), 3 Torx bits (T30, T40, & T45) and a cool low profile ratchet so you can actually get the damn thing in there without having to remove the latch mechanism (which I had to do to get the last 12pt that I borrowed). It ran me $80 for the set, which seems to be a better deal than the $30 for just the 10mm 12 point from the dealer, which I have also ordered but they of course screwed that up (par for the course with the jokers at this particular dealer).

Back to the garage to fight with that bloody fan belt. Meanwhile, if anyone has any great tips for getting this **** in place, I'm all ears.

johnneurauter

Got it!

It becomes a lot easier if you twist the belt so that the teeth are on the outside, then it's easier to slide in and a little tricky to flip back around when it's on the pulley, but much easier than trying to put it on the honest way.

Sometimes it takes posting to get the answer you need, even if you answer it yourself.

kurtv

My mechanic did some machining on one of the brackets (I believe it was the AC compressor) to facilitate the replacement. After that, it is relatively easy to replace. It has been a good thing too since originally they put in a NA spec belt which shortly afterwards broke.

johnneurauter

Maybe that was the problem that they guy who was busting 4 belts a year was having (i.e. using the NA belt instead of the turbo belt).

Peter S 993tt

That would have been me - I'd recommend that you also replace the fan idler bearing while you are at it. They tend to go bad and fry the alternator bearings.

I actually solved the problem by having my mechanic install an adaptor to run a single belt off the fan pulleys. Basically it is a spacer instead of the idler bearing. It is very similar to the RS setup. I find that it reduces the complexity, and it allows the engine to rev up faster. The only bad thing is that you run the alternator at lower RPMs so that the dash lights tend to dim ever so slightly. I had to do this because since I didn't have the special tool that fits on the shaft of the alternator, I stripped it when I used an allen wrench (not recommended), and this conversion was cheaper than replacing a perfectly good alternator that I had replaced the year before.

Basal Skull

Reviving and old thread...
I lost a alternator belt at the track Pacific Raceways in Seattle on Thurs. Took me about 45 mins to replace. (good thing I carry a spare fan and alternator belt + appropriate tools). So to day since it's raining, thought I should change all my belts... had difficulty taking the fan belt off. After doing a search and finding this tread, took Don's advice and cut the old belt off. Was seriously questioning the intentions of that piece of advice as I couldn't get the new belt on... Then remembered something from working on farm equipment as a kid. I put a piece of twine on the pulley, looped it on to the belt and pulled hard - popped right on.
Now getting all the shims and the holes lined up is another story and may require a thread on it own...
Just thought I'd share.

Ryojo

Acropora

Weird, my AC compressor belt was on inside out on arriving at mid-ohio raceway today. I just cut it off as the weather was cool enough.
Getting another one on sounds like a bear. Might be the right time to remove the AC system to save weight.

Basal Skull

Brad
the AC belt is straight forward, the alternator belt little more tricky but not that hard, now the fan belt is the one that is a pain.