nedkelly

Aha he said finally finding the hydraulic tensioner lying in a plastic box in the corner of the workshop, along with the guard rail and bits and bobs. The mechanic had lined my trunk with plastic sheeting and put all the large parts in there but the small parts into a bucket. Anyway the tensioner looks like a rusty nail so will be replacing that rather swiftly. Looking at the seal it all looks okay but as it is probably the original it is 12 years old now so time for fresh legs in there. Now here is the frightening part....................when I asked about the hydraulic tensioner and it's condition the mechanic said"it is not hydraulic sir, just a big spring inside" Yikes I thought is this true?surely not so we spent the next 20 minutes discussing the possibility that Joe (protecting his identity)was really only having a stab in the dark at the properties of said tensioner. We even looked it up on the PET system but this only describes it as a tensioner. Fortunately the manager let me onto his PC so we visit the Clarks-Garage site and there is a nice description of the HYDRAULIC tensioner with accompanying diagrams. Anyway I'll cut to the chase, new hydraulic tensioner on it's way to be fitted with new belts and roller bearings. I'm going to stick with the hydraulic tensioner this time round Raj but I am considering the 944S2 set up. Is it just a straight swap onto the existing lugs? A little bit off topic here guys, does anybody have a soft copy of the PET for a 968?

BruceWard

Scary! Makes me wonder if this guy should be doing your belts. I ordered my replacement fron Sunsetporsche.com they had the best price by a wide margin. Not sure about shipping to UAE though.

nedkelly

Bruce,
Shipping costs shouldn't be an issue as working for Emirates Airline qualifies me for 75% discount with FedEx and they'll even pick it up for me at Sunset once they have the address. i felt the same way about having them work on my car but to be fair this guy wasn't their Porsche specialist. They guarantee their work for 12 months so shoudn't be an issue i hope. If I can get a loaner of the belt tension tool i'll probably have a go myself next time. In fact I'll probably redo the belt tension after 3Km anyway. From what i've seen at the shop it looks straight forward enough and with all the help i've had off you guys I feel pretty confident there will be no dramas........famous last words. By the time I put it back together it could resemble a lawn mower!