Serpentine Belt Failure

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08-24-2010, 07:43 AM

#46

hagfish2

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I think the belt is supposed to be replaced at 90,000 miles. Mine is at 76,000 with no issues, but I replaced it for good measure. Easy to get to once the air filter is out of the way.

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08-24-2010, 11:03 PM

#47

cab&coupe

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Thanks for the write up Dan.

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08-25-2010, 04:20 AM

#48

Edgy01

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Quote:

Originally Posted by hagfish2

I think the belt is supposed to be replaced at 90,000 miles. Mine is at 76,000 with no issues, but I replaced it for good measure. Easy to get to once the air filter is out of the way.

I thought the belt replacement is at 60,000 miles.

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01-31-2012, 04:45 PM

#49

Minok

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Edgy01

Finally, there is the revised motor,--the Direct Injection motor (MY09 - ) As you can see, Porsche has re-engineered the entire serpentine belt routing and tensioning system. This is rather curious as the design prior to MY09 had been around since MY99,--why change a good thing? Note the single tensioner pulley with no idler pulleys. The tensioner pulley appears to have some sore of hydraulic devise keeping it under tension. (It looks a LOT like an old style chain tensioner (if you're old enough to remember), only larger). Now missing a 24mm head to receive a socket on the pulley itself, you can see that Porsche has put that 24mm head onto the assembly between the yellow and red arrows.

So anyone who has replace the MY09+ DFI belts.. can this still be done by the roadside with a simple flathead screwdriver and a 24mm spanner?

As far down as that belt goes, I'm wondering how one gets it all in place and is there enough room for my big fat arm.

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01-31-2012, 05:43 PM

#50

ADias

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The DFI 9A1 engines are too new to require a serpentine belt, although there are several 50k+ mile engines out there. The layout of the belt is cleaner (less contorted) than the M96/M97 design.

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07-27-2013, 02:38 PM

#51

YtseFrobozz

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Edgy01

My brother in law is in the business and attributes serpentine belt failures to three possibilities:

(1) out of alignment pulley - can cause the belt to wear on one edge or the other.

(2) an accessory is dragging, putting an additional load upon the belt, which should be essentially free-wheeling with the engine.

(3) tensioner tension may be too tight. If the tensioner (GREEN) is placing too much tension on the entire system it may be causing the premature wear of itself and the other (YELLOW) pulleys. (All the other pulleys are metal).

Don't forget

(4) Some dumbass (me) leaves a roll of electrical tape in the engine compartment which falls into the gap where the crank pulley takes up the belt, mangling it.

Oh by the way, that also turns the electrical tape into confetti, and do you know what tape does? It sticks to EVERYTHING. D:

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07-27-2013, 07:25 PM

#52

DGrayling

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Has anyone out there changed a 997.2 belt as yet? A DIY on Renntech mentions that you need to remove the rear bumper cover to gain access. I'm not too thrilled about that.

http://www.renntech.org/forums/tutor...-polyrib-belt/

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07-27-2013, 09:06 PM

#53

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Quote:

Originally Posted by DGrayling

Bumper removal is not required. Check out the DIY section at the top of this forum.

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07-29-2013, 04:55 PM

#54

Minok

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Edgy01

My brother in law is in the business and attributes serpentine belt failures to three possibilities:
...
(2) an accessory is dragging, putting an additional load upon the belt, which should be essentially free-wheeling with the engine.

I'm not sure about that.
If the belt is attached to an accessory that has a wheel, the accessory MUST be putting drag on the engine via the belt. That's why the belt is there, to transmit power from the engine to accessories.

If the accessory just spins freely then its not doing any work at all and serves no purpose being there. Physics tells us so.

Now a malfunctioning accessory could be putting more than its allotted drag on the system - I suspect that is what you are referring to.

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07-29-2013, 07:47 PM

#55

CAVU

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Quote:

Originally Posted by jkw911

Bumper removal is not required. Check out the DIY section at the top of this forum.

In that DIY he does remove the bumper. However, in the AllData manual, it sez to remove the license plate to access an opening behind the plate through which you can remove the 16mm bolt. For fun I removed my license plate and there was the second hole for accessing the bolt. The one to the right is for the tow eye.

By the way. For you clean freaks. You don't want to look behind the license plate. As you can see, it's dirty-ish. I admit it. I just put the plate back on satisfied that I know it's dirty back there

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07-29-2013, 09:12 PM

#56

Dadio

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Quote:

Originally Posted by CAVU

Too late. I clean and wax behind the plate everytime I wax the car. Don't ever look behind the tail lights.

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11-06-2013, 08:15 PM

#57

Asquared

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Edgy01

Yes, these things are quite readily serviceable along the side of the road, if needed. The only tool (after the airfilter box--standard screwdriver--is removed) needed to reduce the tension on the belt tensioning pulley is a 24mm open ended wrench.

Apologies for bumping on an old thread, but something appears to have happened with my belt. I was pulling into my office garage, and it felt like the power steering went out. I was already pulling into the garage, so it was just another minute or so until I pulled into a parking spot.

I assumed it was the power steering pump, so I started to do a little research on here. When I went to check the PS Fluid, I noticed an open pulley, so I looked around a bit more and I can see my serpentine belt. I haven't pulled on it to see if it totally failed or just slipped off.

I see Edgy's instructions, and I know he says it can be done on the roadside, but looking at the engine compartment, I struggle to see how I can make it work. I change my own oil and my own brakes, so I'm not completely incompetent mechanically (just largely). Should I try to put it on myself or should I just have it towed to the shop?

I can leave here until this weekend and get the right tools from home and try it over the weekend. Any Chicago guys with the requisite experience, there's dinner/beer in it for you if you can help me out.