evo9

Hello all:

A little news/feedback from a newbie :-)

The GOOD: I'm proud new owner of 2010 carrera s cabrio 6mt. I'm coming out of a Mitsu Evo9, and all I can say is, "I'm impressed".

car has 30K miles and is in great shape per PPI I had done. I changed the oil & filter myself. Followed advise here about putting correct amount of oil in, started at 7.75 QT's and added .25-QT until Oil-Level indicator showed full. It took 8.5-Qts for gauge to read full. Porsche mechanic here in South FL suggested I use Mobil1 5w-50. So far, car is running great. I put 1K miles on it, and it has not consumed any oil yet (per the oil-level indicator). I admit, I do miss old-skool dip stick.

The BAD: Well, not really that "bad". I took car out for a 'spirited run' down I75 and back up on Rt-27 here in South FL. Car was great. I stop for gas, and upon starting car, alt/batt light comes on, no power-steering, and I'm like "damnn", serpentine belt must have given up the ghost. I peek at engine and see belt is off top pulley, and part of belt is hanging out of bottom of engine. This was a Fri evening, so had car towed 2.5mi home by good ole AAA. When I finial got car to my Indie, found out bolt on tensioner pulley arm sheared/broke off. Check out pic.

Indie said there was a upgraded part# for bolt, so more than likely, Porsche determined bolt was "bad" and updated it. Car still in shop. Not best way to start new Porsche car ownership, but I hope this is not a sign of things to come...

DC911S

No big deal, PPI can't catch that though. I'm guessing it (bolt) was over torqued last time it (belt) was replaced.

semicycler

Mobil 1 5W-50 is good stuff especially for hot weather areas, Porsche A40 approved too. It's my summer go to oil. Not starting an oil debate thread, just pointing out it has A40 specs and is in the user manual as an alternative weight to the popular year round 0W40.

evo9

Follow-up:

Got car back from shop this morning. All together 3-days in shop. My indie wanted to replace power-steering pump pulley also because apparently, it was damaged (had small pieces missing on rim of pulley). And of course, pulley for power-steering pump has to be shipped next day air from god knows where, and didn't arrive until late during 2nd day.

Comment: The tensioner arm bolt looks extremely "fragile". My tech suggested we replace that bolt whenever we replace the belt.

In any case, all seems well now. I hope this is "it" for me posting BAD for a while.

ADias

Not a good idea to fill to the very top. One segment (or even 2) lower is safer.

Bruce In Philly

I am still a bit perplexed at how the original bolt was "over torqued"..... I will be doing a second belt replacement on my 2009 C2S in about 5K miles and don't mind replacing this bolt (I assume it is a cheap part) to keep from getting stranded. I remember getting the belt on was fiddly .....

Did someone use a big breaker bar to pull the pulley over too hard?

Are we talking about screw number 4? See below..

Peace
Bruce in Philly

ChicagoSpeed996

I have changed my belt and noticed something odd about the design of the pulley arm and pulley arm bolt. The pulley arm boot binds when operating the pulley 30mm adjustment. When the pulley arm is rotated back into position, the bolt actually loosens.

So, back to the German guy YouTube video of changing a 997.2 belt. He mentions loosening the bolt and then tightening it after replacing the belt. I have heard you don't have to, but seems like it is needed. More in why I believe that in the next paragraph. And also there is a redesign with the pulley arm as noted in a recent R&R post about the pulley arm change out.

So back to my experience. I replaced the belt and noticed the the bolt moved to the left with the pulley arm when it tightened. I thought that maybe it just returned to the original position and was normal? So about a week later I noticed what sounds like a typically described AC rattle some 9A1 engine models notice. I use a mechanics stethoscope and couldn't pin point it. I then remove my air box and notice that the pulley bolt has walked out about an 1/8 of an inch and was quite loose! I think we are seeing some of these failures. Over torqued? Or just coming loose then vibrating to the point it cracks it off in the block?

evo9

Bruce in Philly: Yes, bolt #4 in your diagram was the one that broke on me. I'm going to take my tech's advice, and just have that bolt replaced next time I have belt replaced. Having it break off in block is a total pia. It cost < $8, so suggest be safe and replace it.

porscheralph

Does anyone use loctight on these bolts? I use the blue on most of the bolts on all my cars. Opinions?

Bruce In Philly

Thanx. Your indie noted the part was upgraded and it appears so... if you put the part number into some P-dealer's website it noted it did not fit my car.... but it did not tell me what the new number was. No biggie, I will just call the dealer when I need to order my belt and plugs in a few thousand miles.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

ChicagoSpeed996

I was was going to remove mine and do exactly the same thing! Put some blue loctite on it.

Robocop305

How do you guys access this bolt? Do you have to remove the bumper?

ChicagoSpeed996

Anither memebr made a tool. You need a very stubby torx with a thin long handle.

evo9

Re: using loctite: I think I'll not use it on this bolt. If bolt does break, getting broken piece of bolt out of block that has loctite on it, will be more of a pia...

PelicanParts.com

Welcome and congrats on the new ride! I'm attaching a link to our site's DIY tech articles on the 997 platform to help you if you're planning on doing any maintenance or repairs yourself. Please let us know if you have any questions!

Porsche Carrera 997 (2005-2012) Technical Articles