Changing The Fanbelt? - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

More · 03-20-2014, 06:16 PM

I popped into the Mechanic today for a minor service and he advised me that my Fan Belt has a small tear on it and that I should change it. He wants to charge me $500 Australian dollars for the job so I'm just wondering if anyone has a DIY for me to do it myself seeing you can buy a brand new belt for $30 odd dollars.

Cheers!!

jc986 · 03-20-2014, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by More

I popped into the Mechanic today for a minor service and he advised me that my Fan Belt has a small tear on it and that I should change it. He wants to charge me $500 Australian dollars for the job so I'm just wondering if anyone has a DIY for me to do it myself seeing you can buy a brand new belt for $30 odd dollars.

Cheers!!

Hi More,
Do you mean Drive Belt? If it's the drive belt you can get to it from behind the seats, under the carpet there is a front engine cover that you can remove. Once it's removed the drive belt is right there. Here is a video on how to change it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B68RTFIjbE
Hope this helps.

More · 03-20-2014, 06:58 PM

Fanbelt/Drivebelt is it the same thing?

Can someone please clarify?

The mechanic said something about having to remove carpet etc..

clickman · 03-20-2014, 07:08 PM

More, run away from that mechanic as fast as you can. Changing the belt is a half hour job, which you can do yourself quite easily. How did he see the tear if he didn't get in there in the first place?

You can save a boatload of money doing a lot of these simple jobs yourself. Get a Bentley manual, the 101 projects book or just search this site's DIY section.

jc986 · 03-20-2014, 07:20 PM

I believe it's the same thing, the carpet behind the seats needs to be removed to get to the front engine cover. Here is a more detailed step-by-step procedure from pelican parts:
Pelican Technical Article: Boxster Drive Belt Replacement - 986 / 987

particlewave · 03-20-2014, 07:28 PM

The 986 doesn't have a fan belt, so...yeah. Run away!

It has a serpentine belt, but the fans are electric.

More · 03-20-2014, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by clickman

More, run away from that mechanic as fast as you can. Changing the belt is a half hour job, which you can do yourself quite easily. How did he see the tear if he didn't get in there in the first place?

You can save a boatload of money doing a lot of these simple jobs yourself. Get a Bentley manual, the 101 projects book or just search this site's DIY section.

You took the words right out of my mouth Clickman. I was thinking the same thing before how did he see it when all he did was put the car on the elevator to change the oil and oil filter. Could he have seen it from there?

He charged me $23 for the oil filter.
$126 for the oil and a $126 labor.

Thanks for the links guys

lkchris · 03-20-2014, 08:18 PM

i've had mine up on a lift only once so far--is there a way to view the belt, at least over the water pump pulley from below without taking off panels? Wouldn't have to take any off to do an oil change of course.

More ...

the link provided above nicely shows how to change the belt but unfortunately doesn't contain links to preliminary procedures.

That is, if you have it you have to remove the storage box behind your shoulder and the carpet it sits on to uncover the fasteners to remove the vertical carpet behind the seats. I don't think you can do this without getting your top to "service postion."

Your owners manual should contain "putting top in service position," plus the procedures to remove storage box, etc., so you can uncover the fasteners for the carpet in front of the front engine access panel.

It's all simple, but having the Bentley manual is a really good idea.

particlewave · 03-20-2014, 08:37 PM

You can see lots of stuff with this "inspection camera" without taking much of anything off.
I paid $10 for mine and it's definitely paid for itself many, many times over

2M 7mm 6 LED USB Borescope Endoscope Waterproof Inspection Tube Video Camera New | eBay

More · 03-21-2014, 03:29 AM

On the bright side I got to hear that wonderful purr the engine makes when you've just changed the oil and oil filter.

jc986 · 03-21-2014, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by More

You took the words right out of my mouth Clickman. I was thinking the same thing before how did he see it when all he did was put the car on the elevator to change the oil and oil filter. Could he have seen it from there?

He charged me $23 for the oil filter.
$126 for the oil and a $126 labor.

Thanks for the links guys

More,
You can change your own oil for about $60 (just need to order filter and crush washer on line - here in the States I used Pelican Parts. Also got my oil from Walmart - Mobile 1 $26 for 5 quart bottle, times 2 - you need about 10 qts)
It's actually very easy, I did mine and it only took about half hour. Here is another link for you. Give it a try yourself next time, if you've ever changed oil in a car, the boxster is actually very easy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0m-hDzvfns

More · 03-21-2014, 03:26 PM

Thanks JC.

I'm hoping to buy the ramps in the video pretty soon I found some on Amazon but they don't ship out to Australia.

jb92563 · 03-25-2014, 06:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by More

You took the words right out of my mouth Clickman. I was thinking the same thing before how did he see it when all he did was put the car on the elevator to change the oil and oil filter. Could he have seen it from there?

He charged me $23 for the oil filter.
$126 for the oil and a $126 labor.

Thanks for the links guys

Jeez, 126 for labor.

Here is what I paid last weekend for an oil change.

$109 for 10qts redline oil online, shipping includded.
$12 oil filter

Used 2 jack stands under the rear end with a floor jack to get on the stands.

Jack up car ~7 min
Drain Oil while replacing oil filter ~7 min
Examine filter for debris (None) ~7min
refill with new oil while taking rear off stands ~10min
Put stuff away/clean up ~5min

Totals $121 & 36 minutes at a leisurely pace.

I would run away from that mechanic, he is taking extra money out of your pocket for no good reason.

CoBeerToad · 03-30-2014, 07:26 AM

I'm having a hell of time replacing my belt. I put the old one on, and it went on fairly easily. But the new one... Wow. It just don't want to go on. I tried saving the lower idler pulley for last, and I've tried saving the A/C for last.

Do you think heat expands these much? The new belt has been sitting outside for a few days. I'm thinking about putting it in the microwave!

It's a Dayco 5060833. I checked that first.

qwerty · 03-30-2014, 09:18 AM

To put the belt on you have to loosen the tensioner by turning it clockwise about 45-90 degrees. If it freely turns and tension does not slack then reach behind with a 15 mm wrench and hold the nut in place while you tighten the tensioner. Then try again 45-90 degrees clock wise. Install the lower idler/tensioner last I think. The belts should not change with heat and should be the same length.

kjc2050 · 03-30-2014, 11:05 AM

Follow these instructions; it's easy: Pelican Technical Article: Boxster Drive Belt Replacement - 986 / 987

CoBeerToad · 03-31-2014, 05:07 AM

I finally got it. I left the belt on the hood of my other car in the hot Chicago sun. All the people in the know say that wouldn't do anything, but after an hour I was able to get it on.

Actually, I think I just paid more attention to making sure the belt was seated perfectly in all the pulleys the second time around.

Also, I used the method in the video of seating it on the A/C last. It took some muscle, but it finally went on.