Belt Replacement - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

porsche986spyder · 05-09-2007, 08:57 AM

At what milage should the belts be checked and replaced if required? My 01 Boxster 2.7L has 55K on it. Anyone know what the maintenance book says. I did not see anyplace in it about replacing any of the belts, like the Serpentine Belt or Polyrib Belt. Only to check the condition.

Boxtaboy · 05-09-2007, 09:42 AM

Polyrib belt is supposed to be changed at the 60K mile service interval. I just changed mine a couple of weeks ago with the help of a friend. Very simple job. I have an 01 w/ 49K miles on it. I figure the belt is cheap insurance, and don't want to be left stranded somewhere because of a failure.

porsche986spyder · 05-09-2007, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boxtaboy

Polyrib belt is supposed to be changed at the 60K mile service interval. I just changed mine a couple of weeks ago with the help of a friend. Very simple job. I have an 01 w/ 49K miles on it. I figure the belt is cheap insurance, and don't want to be left stranded somewhere because of a failure.

Is the Polyrib belt and Serpantine Belt one in the same thing?

Boxtaboy · 05-09-2007, 09:50 AM

Same thing. Here are great instructions of how to change it:

As a side note, I noticed that prior to the belt change, whenever I turned on my A/C, there was a hiccup in the idle for a few seconds, but after putting on the new belt, the hiccup was gone. Maybe the old belt stretched a bit over time.

http://www.realtime.net/~rentner/Blog/B600322026/C1691662107/E397927809/index.html

porsche986spyder · 05-09-2007, 10:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boxtaboy

Same thing. Here are great instructions of how to change it:

As a side note, I noticed that prior to the belt change, whenever I turned on my A/C, there was a hiccup in the idle for a few seconds, but after putting on the new belt, the hiccup was gone. Maybe the old belt stretched a bit over time.

http://www.realtime.net/~rentner/Blog/B600322026/C1691662107/E397927809/index.html

Thanks for the link. The link however shows a 2.5L engine. Are the pulleys and stuff all in the same place for the 2.7 L?

MNBoxster · 05-09-2007, 10:25 AM

Hi,

The pulleys are the same. But, the Service Interval also has a time component - 5 yrs. - 60k mi. or 5 yrs. whichever comes first. The Belt may look fine, but contains internal cording for strength similar to a Tire. A simple visual check will not confirm the Belt's integrity. Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

porsche986spyder · 05-09-2007, 10:53 AM

Can anyone recomend a good belt at the cheapest price and place to buy? I don't mine paying more for a good quality belt. Just want to get my money's worth and want to make sure I get one of O.E.M. quality.

Boxtaboy · 05-09-2007, 10:54 AM

Concur with Jim. The pulleys are the same, as well as the part# for the belt. I bought mine online from Suncoast Motorsports.

porsche986spyder · 05-09-2007, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boxtaboy

Concur with Jim. The pulleys are the same, as well as the part# for the belt. I bought mine online from Suncoast Motorsports.

Thanks, that's a good price for an O.E.M. belt, only $25.00 at Suncoast. I wonder how much they charge for shipping? Can anyone else recomend a place that can beat this price?

djomlas · 05-09-2007, 11:29 AM

i got the belt from sunset, with 6 sprkplugs and belt they charged me $42 i believe, $8 for shipping.

changing it out was a freeze, actual swap takes like 5 mins, once i got the cover open from the inside i figured out that i dont have a wrench that is big enoug (pepboys, napa,home depot, or lowes didnt have the size available), i found it at autozone for $8.

heres a pic of my 2.5 change, and what the belt looked like at exactly 60k (well, 60,032 hehe to be specific)
here is the before

and after, you can clearly see the cracks on it

Perfectlap · 05-09-2007, 01:12 PM

looks clean in there for a nearly 10 year old car.
WHat size wrench did you use to change the belt?

porsche986spyder · 05-09-2007, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Perfectlap

looks clean in there for a nearly 10 year old car.
WHat size wrench did you use to change the belt?

If you click on that link posted earlier it say to use a 10mm socket and a 24mm socket with a long wrench to drive it.

porsche986spyder · 05-09-2007, 01:52 PM

I'm surprised no one makes a light-weight underdrive pulley for our Boxters. Looks easy to get to after looking at all those pictures. A nice A.E.M. or Un-orthodox Pulley made out of alluminum would be nice and take off some stress on all those accessories, i.e. coolant pump, generator, power steering, ect... The O.E.M. one looks like it's made out of cast-iron. Very heavy.

CJ_Boxster · 05-09-2007, 02:21 PM

Your right, i wonder why it hasnt been made for the boxster. Depending on the total weight savings, were looking atleast 7hp increase. My TwinTurbo Z got one of them and the incease was 13hp at the wheels, dyno tested.

porsche986spyder · 05-09-2007, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CJ_Boxster

Your right, i wonder why it hasnt been made for the boxster. Depending on the total weight savings, were looking atleast 7hp increase. My TwinTurbo Z got one of them and the incease was 13hp at the wheels, dyno tested.

Sounds like we need to start up a petition and send it to A.E.M. or some other well known maker of Underdrive Pulleys.

CJ_Boxster · 05-09-2007, 02:54 PM

I went to the AEM website and WTF.... I live 5 minutes away from the factory LOL

CJ_Boxster · 05-09-2007, 02:59 PM

Just talked to them They are phasing our the Tru-Power pulleys due to demand issues, the tooling and machining of the aluminum was too costly for the demand. They are also phasing out shift knobs...