New 3D-Printed 944 Timing Belt Tensioner Tool

[ALEXtheGREAT]

I think I maybe the first one who has had a bad experience with this tool.

I made a post in this thread on June 28th, 2023 located at this link: viewtopic.php?p=20901#p20904.

I had mentioned a concern of the belt feeling way too tight. The belt had very little deflection at the longest run and could barely be twisted past 45 degrees. The water pump could not be turned by hand no matter how hard I tried (I know not a good metric to measure belt tension by). I had mentioned a concern that the timing belt may prematurely wear out the water pump bearing... well I think my water pump bearing is showing signs of premature wear. I followed the Youtube video that was made for the tool, had my torque wrench set to the correct 7ft lbs and had the tool installed correctly.

I've put 700km on my car since my restoration was finished in the summer of 2023. It's been driving flawlessly up until a couple of days ago when I noticed "the sound" during a quick inspection around the vehicle. I could hear a metal/ metallic type clicking sound coming from the left side of the timing cover. It was a constant sound, no variance in its frequency. I put a stethoscope onto the water pump body and could hear the sound reverberating through it. I placed the stethoscope on an area of the timing cover where the water pump pully sits behind, I could hear it there too.

I haven't verified this yet as I haven't had a chance to remove the covers and physically inspect. But the sound I'm hearing is eerily similar to other water pump bearing noises I've heard over the years as a professional auto technician. I'll make a new post in this thread or update this post once I've got the covers removed to 100% verify the noise.

I just wanted to make a post in case others have found this to be the case.

[Tom]

Sorry to hear of you engine noise. Never fun. Not sure what to tell you about the tool though. When made and used as designed, the tool gets you quite close to the factory spec. If you ended up with a belt that's so tight it took out the water pump, something obviously went wrong somewhere -- just very hard to say what happened from this side of the Internet... Was it the same after re-tensioning the new belt? Maybe see if you can feel someone's properly tensioned belt, or post a video of yours (maybe in its own thread) -- as step 1 would seem to be determining whether it was actually over tight in the first place. Twist methods and turning the pump are not good indicators -- just way too many variables and too much subjectivity. I wrote the Panorama article on that very topic...

[ALEXtheGREAT]

Sorry to hear of you engine noise. Never fun. Not sure what to tell you about the tool though. When made and used as designed, the tool gets you quite close to the factory spec. If you ended up with a belt that's so tight it took out the water pump, something obviously went wrong somewhere -- just very hard to say what happened from this side of the Internet... Was it the same after re-tensioning the new belt? Maybe see if you can feel someone's properly tensioned belt, or post a video of yours (maybe in its own thread) -- as step 1 would seem to be determining whether it was actually over tight in the first place. Twist methods and turning the pump are not good indicators -- just way too many variables and too much subjectivity. I wrote the Panorama article on that very topic...

I'm going to try and take the timing covers off today to inspect, I'm hoping it was user error on my part as the tool itself was super easy to use! Like I had mentioned, twist/ turning pump aren't good indicators I agree. I just remember the deflection on the long run of the belt was pretty tight when I originally tensioned the belt with the tool, more than what I would've considered "OK" based on personal experience.

If I find the water pump pulley has play, I'll be replacing the pump and timing belt. I'll record a video with the tool in use and show the deflection on the belt. I'll post that video here and maybe get some insight on if it's done correctly or not.

[sullivanocean]

Thrilled to be able to have access to this 3D printable file!

[ALEXtheGREAT]

Alright so I got fooled.......... the tool is great and wasn't the cause of the noise I was hearing...

Long story short I removed the front covers and visually inspected the belts and pulleys. Belts were good, pulleys were good and nothing was loose. Water pump looked good as well. I ran the vehicle without the covers on and the noise wasn't there, belts were quiet. Reved the engine a bit and the noise returned.

I crawled underneath and eventually got to the transaxle. I could hear the noise coming from the tailhousing side where the reverse/ fifth gears would reside. I went inside the car, depressed the clutch and the noise went away. Let off the clutch, noise returned. I put the covers back on and did some low speed driving, the noise would go away as I'd drive.

So I suspect my transaxle now has the normal fifth gear/ reverse gear rattle. Safe to say I'm super relieved that my water pump is good!

Apologies for the other post, super happy with the tool and glad things are good!

[Tom]

No apologies needed. User feedback is very helpful. I have confidence in the tool when printed and used as designed, but if there are common mistakes or misunderstandings that that might cause issues, it helps everyone to sort those out and share so that others can avoid the same. Sounds like this one was a false alarm, however, which is great. Glad all is well!

[Zander951]

Great thinking, can't wait to try it out.

[Ville944]

Great, will download and test this!

[Speedyellow944]

Cam tower gasket on my 951 is leaking oil. It is going to be changed so I am looking forward to try this tool.

[Galaxy944]

I will definitely be using this tool! it's going to save my day!