I picked up my 86 951from its timing belt, water pump replacement. Other than hearing how many problems the mechanic had (cross threaded bolt in the water pump, balance shafts in wrong) and how he's thinking of no longer working on 944's, it went pretty smooth and the car runs great. (The lower radiator hose did blow on the way though).

My question is, what is the proper mileage for the re-tension?

The mechanic said thatI should come in at 1500 miles then 2500 more miles and then at the 15000 mile service.

Thanks.

 

Call me crazy, but with a 15K mile change interval that I follow religiously I don't even bother to retension. Same goes for the counter-balance shaft belt, especially when the tension is set properly at the change interval using the Porsche tool.

If you have a mechanic who is cross-threading bolts on your aluminum block engine it is most likelytime for you to locateabetter one.

 

Thanks for the information. This mechanic discovered the mistakes ofmy oldmechanic who had disappeared off the face of the earth. Now I know why.

 

One should always consider retorquing etc or re tensioning after fitting new parts.
The initial bedding in will take place quite quickly, and I would think you could do better with a check after 1500-2500 miles rather than wait the full 15K.
But that is based on general experience rather than specific 944 belt knowledge.
Big Bob

 

In my humble opinion 15K just isn't enoughmileage to worry about. Considering "general automotive experience" think for a moment how many other manufacturers, German, Japanese or U.S. that require a retorque or retensionafter a timing belt replacement on their cars. Few, if any. And most of thosebelts go 60K- 90K between replacement.

I think it's a waste of time and money. My cashstays in the wallet in this instance.

 

Never confure Engineering principles with Customer Driven Service Intervals. Belts stretch most in the first few miles. 15K wont be a problem. But the engineering issues remain the same.
Big Bob

 

I don't have a clue what you're talking about. [sm=wtf.gif]

 

Dont worry about it, it was probably bull sh** anyway.[sm=badidea.gif]
Regards Big Bob

 

Jeepers I'm a decent home gamer but $500 factory tension tools pretty much scare me. I read that on the later models the self-tensioner did all the work for you with no need for this porsche tool propaganda? Is this false?

 

Self tensioner is deployed on later models.