Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Finally got my car back from the mechanic, new water pump, trailing arms and belts and rollers.

There is a whining noise coming from the belts at the front of the engine, it reminds me of when you've got your radio on am and it whistles when the engine revs - is this normal, maybe the belts are too tight/loose? - i never noticed it before but might be being paranoid...

The other thing is a slightly damp rear passenger footwell, not sure what this could be as i havent got a sunroof. Any ideas of things to check?

Apart from that very much enjoying having it back, albeit a bit twitchy in the Brussels winter (rain) with summer tyres on...

Thanks

Mr Paranoid!

If it sounds like a washing machine on final spin then the belts may have been put on wrong way round according to Mark from JMG. Mine did it and apparantly you fit the belts differently to how the book says to do it Might be worth phoning them to check for more details on this issue though.

Andy

More than likely the balance shaft belt is too tight. Is the mechanic familiar with 944's? The balance shaft belt should be a lot looser than most belts and it is common to overtighten it if you are not familiar with the car

New belts do whine a bit more when first changed, but it shouldn't be THAT loud. Or as the others say they could be too tight especially the balance belt.

Rear seat being wet, rear hatch seal or a weep from a door seal or a rear window.

What Paul and Jim said, it sounds like balance saft belt they run quite loose surprisingly, there is no load on them when you think about it.

Thanks for the responses. I'm not sure if the mechanic is a 944 specialist as all i seem to see in his workshop is 911 porn, he's a porsche racer and tech for the Belgium Porsche club.

Will the car be ok if i drive it for a week and see if the noice settles down or should i go straight back?

Providing the noise isn't too bad I'd let it settle, they do quieten down once they bed in. The belts should be retensioned after 500-2000 miles anyway.

Where's Mr. Salmons when you need him? Instead of using the twist technique for tensioning the balance belt, get your mechanic to check the tension with a feeler gauge. How many mmm the clearance needs to be I am not sure (I'll check the forum/articles but I think it's around 1.0mm, although some garages do initially set them at 0.5mm when the belt is initially put on).

I had the belts changed on my 968 earlier this year by an independent. The balance belt was tensioned way too much and it whined like hell. I took the car to another independent in Leeds called Porschetek and the guys re tensioned the belt for me and showed me the belt tension before and after. It's quite amazing how slack the balance belt actually needs to be.

KT