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Belt woes

There seems to be a bit of confusion (or is it just me..?) as to whether this post relates to the possibility of the belt tensioner seizing on it`s pivot point.... or relates to the failure of any of the pulley wheels, as seems to have been the unfortunate case for both the OP Mike74 and Cannop...?

BTW thanks for posting the Pelican parts pic kurlykris given it displays so much and so clearly. :thumb:
 
Luddite said:
There seems to be a bit of confusion (or is it just me..?) as to whether this post relates to the possibility of the belt tensioner seizing on it`s pivot point.... or relates to the failure of any of the pulley wheels, as seems to have been the unfortunate case for both the OP Mike74 and Cannop...?

BTW thanks for posting the Pelican parts pic kurlykris given it displays so much and so clearly. :thumb:

It's the tensioner that seizes and not a idler pulley failure on the gen 2 997 .. see the link here please , hopefully it will answer any questions but if not then feel free to ask :)

http://911uk.com/viewtopic.php?t=132158

This thread is about the gen 1 , i was mentioned in a post so answered my comments are about the gen 2 which is a totally different beast :D
 
Iain, many thanks for taking the time to reply... It does seem that there may be confusion as on this particular thread..?

"Belt woes" the first post was that of Mike74 describing hearing a clunk and the steering becoming heavy..? It seems that he describes pulleys 7 and 8 as in the Pelican Parts image as "gone."

Adding to those "belt woes" it seems Cannop had pulley failures where he provided a pic of broken pulley wheels, which may or may not be a similar failure to that which caused Mike74`s car to suffer "gone" pulleys... ???

My interest was in trying to gain understanding as to what caused the plastic pulleys to break up..?

I think I understand from that which you type that the tensioning pulley pivot point on the Ver.2 997 is more prone to seizing than on the Ver.1 due to the difference in location in terms of exposure to corrosive influences, though wonder how that relates to possible belt failures or pulley destruction.. :?:
 
Luddite said:
Great pics Cannop, thanks for sharing, though they say a pic is worth a thousand words, but (like 160dmb) not having found the advantage of Mr DeMort`s earlier contributions on the matter, might I ask if you think/know that the pulley destruction was as the result of the bearing failing to some degree causing the plastic pulley to slip on the outer bearing surface and overheat to eventually fracture... or that the pulley material was not up to the job long term, or is it possible that any belt issues might have been the original source of the problem.

It's difficult to say for sure but the when I checked all the pulley bearings were turning with no roughness after I'd removed them. My belt wasn't that old (three years) so I can only assume the plastic pulley had a fault or had been damaged by something eventually causing it to disintegrate. The odd thing was I had no loss of power steering or overheating but at the beginning the final 90 mile journey I had a bit of belt squeal when I started the engine. I just happened to inspect the engine the next day before using the car to check there was nothing seriously amiss and found the upper idler pulley disintegrated and the belt a lot narrower from missing two of it ribs.
 
Is there a specific pulley/bearing or idler that is prone to potential failure on Gen 1 engines? I would like to change my drive belt and while I am there might as well change anything else that is known to be suspect...
thanks
 
Cannop, thanks again for updating us on your findings re your belt and pulley failure issues.

I can appreciate when left with no more than a pile of parts, trying to identify the actual cause of the damage can be difficult indeed, though that you spun the bearings, felt and listened to them certainly helps in advancing understanding of the situation...

As you typed that the belt had squealed on start up, it may have already begun to tear and had the torn part of the belt been flailing around somewhat whipping at pulleys of doubling up at times under the section of belt that was still running the systems potentially increasing tension on the pulleys and damaging them...??? Just guessing, perhaps clutching at straws..? Though note that one pulley has a bit missing out of it, which would seem to suggest it may have been hit with something..as opposed to breaking up due to age, heat, or other as yet unknown stresses..?

I note that you did not notice any failure of systems even with two pulleys damaged...? I suspect that given you show the parts of the broken pulley in your pic that it had cracked to the extent that it broke apart easily once removed during the replacement process..?

IF.. the pulleys were still intact though damaged prior to removal, perhaps that explains why the systems were still operational to some degree and you did not experience the system failures as did Mike74...??

Perhaps worthy of note and as you mention is that your belt was three years old, the question arising might be.. was it a genuine O.E. part, perhaps hard to determine given there are so many knock-off components out there masquerading as O.E... ???

Of course even with O.E belts it is important to check adjustment and as Iain has determined there can be issues in that department too..

Hertsdriver... I suspect it would be well worth trying to gain further understanding if there is indeed a requirement to pay closer attention to the pulley condition on any and all Porsches fitted with plastic pulleys, alongside checks to ensure that the belt is in good condition and can be properly adjusted given that the detail relative to the issues Iain has highlighted..?

There is no substitute for experience in fault diagnosis relative to equipment failures and I bow to others like Iain and Baz who kindly share their hard won knowledge relative to Porsche engineering... :worship:
 
The interesting part was I picked the broken parts of the pulley from out of the engine bay, they had lodged in various crevices from below to above the pulley position on the engine suggesting a failure of the idler pulley during running. Even more interesting was the fact I had no systems failures during the 90 mile trip. When I inspected the engine the belt was still looped around all the pulleys and the remains of the idler pulley, it must have just had enough purchase to be able to turn the various pumps even though it was very, very loose and narrower than it should have been. The engine bay was also full of strips of belt so I consider myself very fortunate.

I read my receipts incorrectly, the belt was actually 6 years old and was fitted by Hartech when the engine was rebuilt so I imagine it would be a genuine part. However, Strasse fitted a new idler pulley 3 years ago which was where I was getting confused, it's possible that wasn't a genuine part.

I replaced the belt and pulleys with genuine OEM parts
 
Thanks again for the important update Cannop. Trying to understand what might have caused a failure is entirely dependant on accurate information.

That you managed a 90 mile journey without loosing the parts of the pulley out of the engine bay may just hint that the break-up could have occurred very near to the end of your journey as opposed to nearer to the start..?

Given you heard the belt squeal during start up would seem to indicate there was an issue.

It seems normal that the strain on the alternator and drive belt would be high at start up, in that the power taken out of the battery to bring all the systems to a stage where they are up and running normally, including restoring the power utilised in these processes to the battery....

Once the initial high belt loading has been reduced during a journey, then much depends upon the systems in use and the condition of the battery.... the electrical load and thus belt loading can vary considerably dependant on which systems are in use, headlights, air-con, wipers, etc.etc.etc.

Wonder why you needed a new idler pulley 3 years ago..?

I agree that you were very lucky indeed not to end up at the side of the road as did Mike74...
 
Luddite said:
Wonder why you needed a new idler pulley 3 years ago..?
I've read the invoice again and Strasse did actually replace the belt at that time, although it doesn't appear itemised in the parts list. It was all part of a major service and MOT, the plugs, coil packs and vacuum pump were replaced along with the belt and idler pulley. The front suspension received new top mount bushes, coil springs, bump stops and bellows and the PCM even received 2 new buttons!

In conclusion the belt may not have been an OEM one and the I suppose the idler pulley may not have been although from what I pieced together it seems to have had the same part numbers as an OEM one. I'm leaning towards something getting thrown up into the belt and being dragged around the pulleys because the bottom idler pulley had a small chunk taken out of it too.
 

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