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Has anyone ever diy this on a .2? Bumper off? Airbox out too? I’m thinking the bumper has to be removed for access. I remember how tight it was to do the belt with just the airbox off, so the bumper has to come off but anything else or does this give enough access?
I have done it with the bumper on and the air box out. You need to get a torx bit and use a 5/16 or 1/4 inch wrench, tape the bit to it, to get enough room to do the work. Not the worst job just tight quarters.
I don't think removing the bumper will help much unless you take off the center pipe as well. You should be able to do the job from above. Make sure you replace the tensioner "lever" as well.
I've done it bumper on. Removing the bumper doesn't really reveal any more access to the belt. As others have said, tight access but doable. Airbox out. License plate off. Remove bolt through license plate area which allows removal of the cylindrical spacer that is on the top left of the crank pulley cage. Remove tensioner. Then that's it, contort the belt out of its hole.
Pro tip. Belt removal should always begin and end on a flat pulley. Usually the tensioner pulley is one of those.
Follow up...... took about an hour.... I removed the airbox and that gave me access to the belt tensioner.....turned out the bolt had just backed out.....using a 30 mm wrench I wiggled the tensioner until I had the bolt snug by hand. Then I ground down a short T-50 on one side so I could slip it into the bolt. Then I tightened it as much as I could as I believe it’s supposed to be 21 ft lbs and I could not get a torque wrench on it. I used a flat blade screw driver to keep the tory bit engaged while tightening it. The only time anything had been on this is 2 years ago when I changed the belt. I’ll keep a close eye on this bolt but for now the restyle is gone.
Ground off t50 with wrench to tighten Bolt tightened
@docdrs well done! Well done!!! Porsche redesigned the tensioner. I am not sure what they were thinking when they designed a stationary bolt on something that sees a twisting force with no bearing to rotate on.
Perhaps when you crank on it to loosen the tensioner pulley when changing the belt it changes the torque value and over time it slowly came loose? I think I may put some nail polish on the underside of the bolt so it can be easily identified and checked for movement.
update.........i took the car for a 500km jaunt and the nail polish indicated a 16 of a turn unwind. Being skeptical I brought the necessary tools to tighten it if need be.This time i applied some physics and a second wrench on the first to achieve a greater lever and another 1/16-1/8 of a turn over previous via the nail polish marks. i returned to find no movement after another 500 km. I will update again after another 500 km. Just wondering if this tensioner bolt is a canadian thing or a semi common thing?
06-27-2019, 01:56 PM
Belt Tensioner / bolt DIY
