Your engine uses a serpentine belt to power the accessories like the power steering and water pumps. Over time, the belt gets worn out and can slip or even break. Visually inspect your serpentine belt for cracks, fraying, and other damage. In any case, it is a good idea to replace your serpentine belt according to the manufacturer’s recommended service interval.
Fortunately, replacing the serpentine belt yourself on a Porsche 997 Turbo is very straight forward. To get an overview of the procedure, you can check out the above video from Jim Wong. While the video covers the 997.1 Turbo, the procedure on the 997.2 Turbo is similar but with a few differences. Detailed steps can be found below.
Tools Required:
Parts Required:
Torque Specs & Fluid Capacities:
Engine Spacer Bolt: 27 ft-lbs
Intake Air Hose Clamp: 7.5 ft-lbs (or hand tighten just snug)
Step-by-Step Instructions:
Step 1: Prepare your vehicle and work area
- Ensure engine is cold, so you don’t burn yourself.
- Put on eye protection and gloves.
- Gather parts and tools.
- Open engine cover.
Step 2: Remove the engine air box
- As shown in the video from Jim Wong, start by removing the air box cover by grabbing it on both sides through the air inlet holes and pulling the cover straight up.
- Next, the following steps will differ on the 997.2.
- Using a 7mm socket and ratchet loosen the hose clamps on each end of the silver y-shaped intake manifold pipe.
- With the hose clamps loosened, work each end of the intake manifold pipe off the intercooler hoses.
- Lift the intake manifold pipe up, which will reveal the hose clamps attaching the air box to the intercooler connection hoses.
- To remove the air box, use a 7mm socket and ratchet to loosen the hose clamps.
- Disconnect the air box from the hoses and wiggle the air box out of the engine bay.
- You should now have a clear view of the serpentine belt.
Step 3: Remove the engine spacer bolt
- To remove the old serpentine belt and install a new one, you’ll need to remove the engine spacer which is a cylindrical metal spacer that sits in between the engine and the engine carrier.
- Here’s an overview of how to remove the engine spacer from irena25661. While the video is for a non-turbo model, the procedure is the same.
- Remove the rear license plate which will reveal a hole that gives you access to the engine spacer bolt.
- Use a 16mm socket, long extension, and a ratchet to remove the engine spacer bolt. If you are unable to get the engine spacer bolt out with the socket, use a magnetic pickup tool to remove the bolt.
- With the engine spacer bolt removed, you can grab the engine spacer and remove it by hand.
Step 4: Remove the serpentine belt
- IMPORTANT: Take a picture of the arrangement, so you know how the new serpentine belt should go.
- As shown in this video from irena25661, you will need to take tension off the serpentine belt to remove it.
- Use a long 30mm open ended wrench to rotate the tensioner pulley clockwise.
- With the tension off the serpentine belt, move the serpentine belt off of one of the pulleys. Then slowly allow the tensioner pulley to rotate back in place.
- Work the serpentine belt off the rest of the pulleys then remove it; the lowermost pulley will be the trickiest.
- With the serpentine belt off, inspect each of the pulleys by rotating them; if any pulley has excess play or binding, you should replace it.
Step 5: Install the new serpentine belt
- As shown in the video, loop the new serpentine belt in the exact same fashion as the original one, but don’t loop it around the alternator pulley (upper leftmost pulley) just yet.
- To get the serpentine belt over the alternator pulley, rotate the tensioner pulley clockwise which will give you enough slack to get the serpentine belt over the pulley.
- It will take some effort to get the belt over the alternator pulley, so be patient and apply a lot of force.
- Once the new serpentine belt is in place, slowly release the tensioner pulley.
- Ensure the serpentine belt matches the original routing and sits correctly over each pulley.
Step 6: Reinstall everything in reverse
- Reinstall the engine spacer and torque the engine spacer bolt to 27 ft-lbs.
- Reinstall the license plate, air box, and intake manifold pipe; torque the hose clamps to 7.5 ft-lbs or just snuggly by hand.
- Clean up your work area and put away your tools.
- You’re all done!
