Definitive S/S2 Belt, chain and tensioner maintenance schedule

[zcacogp]

Chaps,

There seems to be a number of different ideas about these things going around, so can we see what is recommended in terms of S/S2 top-end maintenance. (When I say 'recommended' I mean an informal recommendation - not a recommendation from Porsche, as they never published a schedule for these things as I understand it - which is causing the lack of clarity.)

The message I tend to get is as follows:

Belts - every 40k mile or 4 years, whichever is sooner.
Pulleys/tensioners - every belt change
Waterpump - every other belt change (i.e. 80k miles).
Chain - inspect every 50k miles (what are you inspecting for? Missing teeth on the cams will be obvious but can you measure chain stretch in-situ? If so, how?) Change every 100k miles?
Chain tensioner - ?
Tension slipper (plastic piece) - ?

Is this accurate? Please fill in the '?'s and correct any mistakes ....


Oli.

 

[pauljmcnulty]

I thought the recommended was 4 years/48K miles. I'd always play safe and go for three years/36K as there have been a couple of belt failures not long after the 4 year mark. I'm also a bit of a wuss, and feel more confident knowing it's been done.

 

[zcacogp]

Paul,

A fellow-wuss. Good to know. Mine was last done in Nov '06, at 120k miles. Now June '09, so a whisker under 3 years later, at 150k miles. (Blimey - that went quickly!) I guess that means I am coming up to another belt change then ... and a waterpump as well, this time. Hmmm. Can you shed any light on those other '?'s in the post? (I expect that Smith will be able to - where's he got to?)

Scotty,

No, I don't know. [8|] Hence this thread, funnily enough.


Oli.

 

[mik_ok]

Belts - every 40k mile or 4 years, whichever is sooner. What Paul said - 48k miles / 4yrs

Pulleys/tensioners - every belt change Yes

Waterpump - every other belt change (i.e. 80k miles). never did it. Sounds reasonable

Chain - inspect every 50k miles (what are you inspecting for? Missing teeth on the cams will be obvious but can you measure chain stretch in-situ? If so, how?) Change every 100k miles? Yes to 100k change. You're inspecting for any cam sprocket teeth damage, any sign the tensioner is damaged or at max travel, and whether the slipper pad is cracked, badly worn, scored, broken up or spilling your pint or generally giving you a funny look

Chain tensioner - 100k

Tension slipper (plastic piece) - 100k

 

[Diver944]

The only official Porsche scheduling covers the cam and balance belts and states 4 years or 48k miles whichever comes first.

This is what I have personally followed with my S2 and is really based on recommendations by the Indies who have looked after it over the years (JZ Machtech, RPM and now Promax)

Belts - every 36k mile or 3 years, whichever is sooner.
Pulleys/tensioners - every other belt change unless the Indy fels one is noisy
Waterpump - every 3rd belt change unless the Indy feels its getting long in the tooth.
Chain - change the chain and slipper pads every 50k miles and inspect the tensioner whilst in there

I'm now at 190k miles, the waterpump was first changed at 150k, the chain tensioner and cams are still original

 

[zcacogp]

Chaps,

Thanks for the replies. All helpful. Purely out of interest, given that the chain/tensioner thing is an issue, have Porsche ever issued any retrospective advice about changing them? I'm guessing not, otherwise we would have heard about it.

The chains and tensioners have replacement intervals based purely on milage, whereas the belts have a time factor in as well. Presumably this is because the rubber perishes over time, even if little-used?

This is telling me that I need to have my belts changed, but possibly not the tensioners (new last time) or the water pump (new the time-before-last). Also the chain was changed shortly before I bought the car, so it's about 40k miles old, and has some life left in it. BUT I would be well advised to take the cam cover off and have a look at the cam teeth and tensioner (not sure when/if it was changed) and to look at the slipper pads on there as well. Mik - how can you tell whether the tensioner is at full travel? (I can probably cope with a few funny looks, but it if spills my pint then there will be words!)


Oli.

 

[edh]

ORIGINAL: sc0tty

ORIGINAL: zcacogp

Chaps,

There seems to be a number of different ideas about these things going around, so can we see what is recommended in terms of S/S2 top-end maintenance. (When I say 'recommended' I mean an informal recommendation - not a recommendation from Porsche, as they never published a schedule for these things as I understand it - which is causing the lack of clarity.)

The message I tend to get is as follows:

Belts - every 40k mile or 4 years, whichever is sooner.
Pulleys/tensioners - every belt change
Waterpump - every other belt change (i.e. 80k miles).
Chain - inspect every 50k miles (what are you inspecting for? Missing teeth on the cams will be obvious but can you measure chain stretch in-situ? If so, how?) Change every 100k miles?
Chain tensioner - ?
Tension slipper (plastic piece) - ?

Is this accurate? Please fill in the '?'s and correct any mistakes ....


Oli.

You mean you don't know??

More "pearls of wisdom" adding to our collective knowledge [8|]

 

[si30boxsters]

very useful for a new 944 owner if a little scary....at 67k I'm expecting to have to get some of this stuff done......just hopefully not all at once. I want to be able to afford petrol! From my research water pump every other belt change seems to be the way to go. Will be following this thread closely

 

[Alpine]

the advice I've had on the water pump is to leave it alone, unless it looks worn or on its way out. I'm still on my original pump at 138k miles.

 

[zcacogp]

At the risk of sounding cynical, that is one of the reasons why I am looking to the forum for advice on this; ask an indie when stuff on your car needs doing, and you won't get an un-biased answer.

Very useful replies here chaps. Thanks.


Oli.

 

[ChasR]

I'll be watching this thread considering that mine is due (done in 2005, it has covered 15,000 miles since then).

However, which kits do you recommend on the car? The ones from Porsche or something from the Porscheshop, GSF or ECP etc. and any brands in particular? When I was in the Pug 306 GTi-6 OC, Gates and Dayco (The genuine belt manufacturer) were generally considered safe bets on the cars).

Furthermore, which tensioning methods seem acceptable? On CVHs and the Pug XU10 engines I have done it via the belt twist method with no problems, but it seems that it is not wise to do that with the S2. Is the Krikit tool a viable alternative or the 9200 tool the only real way to tension a belt?(I'm wondering how many specialists have this tool...)

Also, to muddy the water a little, the Porsche 911 magazine article from April 2006 suggests that the schedule is 5 years and 48,000 miles, whichever comes first, something which sounds scarily similar to the schedule on a Volvo 740 with the B230 engine.

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Furthermore, which tensioning methods seem acceptable? On CVHs and the Pug XU10 engines I have done it via the belt twist method with no problems, but it seems that it is not wise to do that with the S2. Is the Krikit tool a viable alternative or the 9200 tool the only real way to tension a belt?(I'm wondering how many specialists have this tool...)

Join the Club, borrow the free tensioning tool we have (actually we have 2), borrow it again to re-tension at 1000 miles, and sleep peacefully at night. [8|]

 

[tref]

ORIGINAL: ChasR

(I'm wondering how many specialists have this tool...)

The two I recomend in Dorset do... But thinking about it - what is £500 for the tool compared to having a customer come back with a broken belt?

 

[zcacogp]

Bit of a blast from the past, but it seems there is a bit of interest in the topic of belts on an S2, so it may be worth updating this thread.

I did the belts, rollers and cam chain slippers on my S2 a month or so ago, it being almost precisely 4 years and 40,000 miles since it was last done. The job wasn't hard, and is DIY-able.

The outgoing rollers looked fine and spun fine (no grittiness I could detect), but I changed them all anyway. The belts looked equally fine and were - to all appearances - the same length as the new ones (but any stretch would be hard to spot with the naked eye, I'd guess.) That makes them all 40k miles old, and now changed.

The cam chain and cams also looked fine - I had a replacement chain but couldn't shift the camshaft nut, so couldn't change it. However, measuring the chain across 5 links showed no detectible stretch when compared with the new one and the sprockets looked fine to the naked eye. That brings the milage on the chain to 80k and the cams (and hence sprockets) to 160k - they are original.

I changed the slippers, although they also looked fine. The top one was fractionally scuffed, but not to any extent that made me think it wouldn't do another 40k miles. The old ones were also 80k miles old - changed at the same time as the chain (before I bought the car.)

I inspected the waterpump very carefully but there was no sign of any leaks, and there was only very fractional (longditudional) play on the shaft. It was so fractional I could almost convince myself it wasn't there, and it was certainly not worth changing the pump for. I know that the pump isn't the original one, but don't know how old it is. I do know that it has now lasted at least 80k miles - two belt changes.


Oli.

 

[sulzeruk]

Oli, you won't be able to get the camshaft nut undone as it is not a nut. It is held on with a key and there is a Torx bolt up the middle of it!
Alasdair

 

[peanut]

ORIGINAL: Alpine

the advice I've had on the water pump is to leave it alone, unless it looks worn or on its way out. I'm still on my original pump at 138k miles.

I'm inclined to agree with this. However the problem is that a perfectly good water pump can be ruined by new over-tightened belts. The increased and unaccustomed tension of new belts on the water pump and alternator pulleys load the bearings which frequently fail shortly after belt renewal.

Its a brave (or rich ) owner that doesn't replace the waterpump whilst new belts and tensioner etc are fitted.