Cambelts - when to change?

[Poppers19]

Booking my 944 S2 in for its annual service with the local Porsche specialist and they have advised that even though the belts on my car were changed less than 10,000 miles ago the fact this this was 3 years ago means they should be done again!

Would welcome peoples thoughts on this one, should belts be changed every 3 years regardless of mileage?

Thanks in advance for any responses.

Peter
1990 944 S2 cab

 

[Copperman05]

4 years is the norm, although some do at 3yrs for extra piece of mind, if only 10,000 miles old I would leave for another year.


Edd

 

[Lowtimer]

Calendar time is the more frequent limitation now that most of the cars do only a few thousand miles a year.

Mine will be done at the next major service, which will be late autumn 2013. That will be just over three and a half years and probably around 13,000 miles since they were last done. I would be happy going to four years providing I knew that the rollers were fairly recent and the tension was OK.

 

[robwright]

40000 miles or four years regardless of mileage. If it is in for service an the car is new to you might be worth getting done for peace of mind.

 

[Gordon Attar]

ORIGINAL: Copperman05

4 years is the norm, although some do at 3yrs for extra piece of mind, if only 10,000 miles old I would leave for another year.


Edd

Ditto

Don't forget the cam guides

 

[ChasR]

ORIGINAL: Copperman05

4 years is the norm, although some do at 3yrs for extra piece of mind, if only 10,000 miles old I would leave for another year.


Edd

This. I would say to leave it another year . Replacing the pulleys at the same time would also be a wise idea.

If and when you do get it changed, ask if they check the cam timing when doing it. I know that EMC do in Saltley, with some customers noticing a marked improvement . It seems to be more of an issue on the twin cam engines over the single car cars.

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Booking my 944 S2 in for its annual service with the local Porsche specialist and they have advised that even though the belts on my car were changed less than 10,000 miles ago the fact this this was 3 years ago means they should be done again!

Would welcome peoples thoughts on this one, should belts be changed every 3 years regardless of mileage?

Hi,

I don't know where they get the three years from, unless they are just being over-cautious. The service schedule (in your handbook) says 4 years/48K miles, whichever comes first.

The dilemma is that three years might well be a safer bet, but as belt changes often involve water pump, seals, rollers, tensioners etc. it can be a big bill. Of course, if this all needs doing it will then be a basic belt change for the next few times. My instinct would be to either get it all done for peace of mind, particularly if it's a long-term car, or to have the specilist take a qick look at the belt. My reasoning for that is that there is often oil weeping from the old seals, and this contaminates the belt. Mine needed changing after only a year on the old car, and would certainly have failed if I'd left it for the full four years. Not trying to panic you into thinking that it's about to blow up, just that it might be safer to have it inspected at least.

 

[flashx]

I purchased my car the very beginning of 2012. Its a 1987 Turbo. I put 12,000 miles on it in a year and heard a noise like a bearing vibration. So I went through the records that came with the car and at 98,000 miles had the belts and rollers done. The car had been sitting for a while and now has 137,000 on it. So almost 40 miles and 15 years time the belts are loose but still looked good. Im doing belts rollers and water pump at this time

 

[pauljmcnulty]

So almost 40 miles and 15 years time the belts are loose but still looked good

I know i'm a bit of a "doomsayer" when it comes to the 4-year maximum for belts, but I base that on about ten years of feedback and reports, and that being the last ten years; when the engines tend to be leaking oil a bit, and servicing might not be as thorough as on a new Porsche.

There have only been a small number of cars where the engine has been terminated due to belts failing just over the 4-year point. But, that's not the whole story. 944s that are owned by the enthusiasts won't tend to be in this category, and many, if not most, of the cars that suffer total failure will be un-loved examples outside of the forums and the two Clubs.

From the info I've collated, there is a real risk of belts failing if left over that four-year maximum on otherwise good cars. I think it's partly down to contamination, and also possibly the risk of belts that are already several years old being fitted by people with lower turnover of parts.

There does seem to be a "spike" in failures between 4 and 5 years; perhaps due to either cars with oil leaks, or some inconsistency in the quality of the belts leading to early failures? I suppose there is also the argument that most belts that are reported to be perfect after many years, are actually belts that have been sat on cars that are laid-up and are replaced before they get a chance to fail?

 

[zcacogp]

All good stuff as has already been said, but there is the element of a gamble in it as well; the cost of changing the belts is (comparatively) low, the cost of a belt failing and causing valve and possible piston damage is very high - probably in excess of the value of the car, unless you are DIY-ing the repair. I'm sure someone could put some figures together and come up with a statistical analysis of the Mean Time to Failure and associated costs, but for a less intelligent chap like me then it's simply cheap insurance to change the belts more often. Every three years sounds like overkill but every 4 years/48,000 miles sounds about right, presuming no other factors (known oil contamination, for instance.)

I like McNulters' point about buying belts from a supplier with a good turnover of stock. I hadn't considered that a belt that has been sitting on a shelf for 2 years is effectively 2 years old before it's even been attached to the car.


Oli.

 

[Copperman05]

As already stated I would be more inclined to check the cam chain and tensioner has been replaced sometime in the cars not too distant past, not a every 4 year item but one thats often been overlooked in the past for this reason. It should at least be inspected and even replaced for piece of mind.



Edd

 

[J4CKO]

Mine is on 4 years and six months, its booked in to be done next Monday now it moves under its own steam again.

It has only done a few thousand since the last one, hopefully it will last a week longer, if it doesnt, lots of nice cheap S2 cab bits for sale !

 

[ChasR]

I would not suggest for anyone to chance it, but my old S2 was running on its cambelt for 5 years. It was very oil soaked and the engine itself was shot hence I left it (bore was severely damaged). When I checked the belts they seemed a little loose. My specialist confirmed the very same thing.