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Belt tension
Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2025 7:35 pm
by 944TurboS
Replacing a water pump on my 951.
Just bought the cam belt tool from Tom in lieu of the P9201.
Now I just need a foolproof way to set the tension on the other 3 belts as newbie.
Balance shaft belt apparently very floppy with 270 degree (?) twist. Any other, more quantitative P9210-less way of going about it?
And what about the power steering belt and the AC / Alternator belt? Could I use a Kricket tool instead of the 90 degree twist method?
Going through the forums, many different opinions…
Re: Belt tension
Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2025 8:03 pm
by Tom
944TurboS wrote: Sat Jan 04, 2025 7:35 pm
Replacing a water pump on my 951.
Just bought the cam belt tool from Tom in lieu of the P9201.
Now I just need a foolproof way to set the tension on the other 3 belts as newbie.
Balance shaft belt apparently very floppy with 270 degree (?) twist. Any other, more quantitative P9210-less way of going about it?
And what about the power steering belt and the AC / Alternator belt? Could I use a Kricket tool instead of the 90 degree twist method?
Going through the forums, many different opinions…
It's time-consuming, but you can reliably set the balance shaft by making it just loose enough that it stops whining. At the high end of the factory spec, 4.0, it will make a slight whine. By 3.5, the mid-point of the spec, the whine is all gone. I've been meaning to do a tool for the balance shaft -- need to get on that! For the p.s. and a/c belts, I'd just use your best judgement. When tightened to spec with the 9201, they are both super tight. So much so, that I don't use the 9201 on those belts and instead tighten them until they feel like normal fan belts.
Re: Belt tension
Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2025 8:32 pm
by 944TurboS
What would that tool look like? Similar to the cam belt one?
Re: Belt tension
Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2025 4:04 am
by Darwin
Tom wrote: Sat Jan 04, 2025 8:03 pm
944TurboS wrote: Sat Jan 04, 2025 7:35 pm
Replacing a water pump on my 951.
Just bought the cam belt tool from Tom in lieu of the P9201.
Now I just need a foolproof way to set the tension on the other 3 belts as newbie.
Balance shaft belt apparently very floppy with 270 degree (?) twist. Any other, more quantitative P9210-less way of going about it?
And what about the power steering belt and the AC / Alternator belt? Could I use a Kricket tool instead of the 90 degree twist method?
Going through the forums, many different opinions…
It's time-consuming, but you can reliably set the balance shaft by making it just loose enough that it stops whining. At the high end of the factory spec, 4.0, it will make a slight whine. By 3.5, the mid-point of the spec, the whine is all gone. I've been meaning to do a tool for the balance shaft -- need to get on that! For the p.s. and a/c belts, I'd just use your best judgement. When tightened to spec with the 9201, they are both super tight. So much so, that I don't use the 9201 on those belts and instead tighten them until they feel like normal fan belts.
I'll start a gofundme for this! I have the arnworx tool and while I am confident in the quality of the installation I've never been able to get rid of the whine.
Please help me Tom!
Re: Belt tension
Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2025 7:37 am
by Tom
Darwin wrote: Sun Jan 05, 2025 4:04 am
Tom wrote: Sat Jan 04, 2025 8:03 pm
944TurboS wrote: Sat Jan 04, 2025 7:35 pm
Replacing a water pump on my 951.
Just bought the cam belt tool from Tom in lieu of the P9201.
Now I just need a foolproof way to set the tension on the other 3 belts as newbie.
Balance shaft belt apparently very floppy with 270 degree (?) twist. Any other, more quantitative P9210-less way of going about it?
And what about the power steering belt and the AC / Alternator belt? Could I use a Kricket tool instead of the 90 degree twist method?
Going through the forums, many different opinions…
It's time-consuming, but you can reliably set the balance shaft by making it just loose enough that it stops whining. At the high end of the factory spec, 4.0, it will make a slight whine. By 3.5, the mid-point of the spec, the whine is all gone. I've been meaning to do a tool for the balance shaft -- need to get on that! For the p.s. and a/c belts, I'd just use your best judgement. When tightened to spec with the 9201, they are both super tight. So much so, that I don't use the 9201 on those belts and instead tighten them until they feel like normal fan belts.
I'll start a gofundme for this! I have the arnworx tool and while I am confident in the quality of the installation I've never been able to get rid of the whine.
Please help me Tom!
Ok, I'll put it at the top-ish of my list. If it is whining, it's tight. The scale is 3.5 +/- .5 on the 9201. If you set it to 4.0, you will have a whine -- not super loud, but it will be there. By 3.5 it seems to stop whining, or at least that's been my experience.