sjfarbs

Hey gents. Time to change my drive belt, MY 1999 with 39K , new to the 986 crowd, coming over from the 928 forum.

While the process is simple one, I was hoping for advise on where to buy and which brand of drive belt to install. With the Porsche belt at $60 and OEM at $30 and lots of in between!

Any advise from the group here on good quality belt and where to go for one?

Thanks!

robot808

I was wondering where you've been...

sjfarbs

Hi Bob! Still here ! Howz your roof

robot808

Roof is great, and better be for like the next 30 years.

Good luck with your Boxster. Hope she treats you well!

ECS Tuning

I'm sure some other memebers will chime in soon, but we offer a few different options for 986. For more information Click Here.

Mark Hubley

On the one hand, I'm always happy to save $20 or $30.

On the other hand, you're not going to be changing this belt that often. If spending an extra $30 saves you some worry, then spend the extra $30.

I'd probably go with the lower priced belt. It's not like your engine will implode if this belt breaks. I don't put miles on my car that quickly (I'm about to hit 50K), so I do my maintenance based more on time than miles, and I'm not that worried about the part wearing. Yes, I know that time is not kind to a belt, but I think 6 years and 20K miles puts less wear on a belt than 6 years and 90K miles.

For added security, keep the old belt stashed in your toolkit (or somewhere). Should you be away from home and the belt breaks, all you need is someone with a wrench.

Macster

If the belt lets go the water pump stops pumping right now. If you happen to be hammering on the car the engine has a lot of heat to shed.

While the engine won't implode it could suffer some collateral damage -- like a head gasket failure -- from the loss of coolant flow at an inopportune time.

sjfarbs

Thanks guys!

Mark Hubley

Macster's comments got me thinking . . .

I've never had a drivebelt break in any car (knock on wood), but I've assumed you would know right away (noise or some other drama). Perhaps that's not the case???

Macster

Maybe. But maybe not.

When the V-belt on my VW broke it sounded like something hitting the underside of the car. Since the car was moving down the freeway at 75mph (NM freeway speed limit) that's what I initially thought. But I noticed the battery warning light was on.

I'm not sure what my thoughts were then but I do recall keeping an eye out for any signs of overheating though it soon occurred to me the water pump was driven by the timing belt. So I was able to press on.

The noise was really from the alternator pulley which came apart which I found out later was a known problem. There was no collateral damage from the pulley coming apart nor the belt flying away. I can't recall now if the belt was still in the engine compartment or was last on the road along with the remains of the pulley.

Really the best course of action is to replace the belt *before* it comes apart. And to inspect the belt occasionally. I wish I had checked the belt before I hit the road. Whenever I fail to do this or have it done I regret it.

gfl

The factory belt is conti ( continental) at $60. The conti belt is conti at $30.

Not a hard choice.

Grant