Krikit Belt Tension Tool - How to Use & Recommended Settings

Bruce over at Arnnworks used to have a write up for how to use the Krikit belt tension tool on his site but recently I have been no longer been able to find it. To help others who may still use this tool like I do I have re-posted the tutorial on how to properly use it.

 

Using the Krikit

Below is the Krikit and the belt setting that should be used with the Krikit. 

 

 

Recommended Belt Settings

New Cam Belt: 40 lbs

Used Cam Belt: 37-38 lbs

New/Used Balance Belt: 27-28 lbs

AC/Alternator Belt: 80 lbs

 

I don't have studies or lab analysis to prove that this tool works but there are many, many 944 owners who use this tool and they frequently recommend it in the Porsche community discussion forums.  While I personally don't recommend the Krikit, I will help you to use it. 

Note: You should be familiar with the specific steps for setting the tension of your belts - I'm only touching on  the general steps  here to demonstrate the tool.  

 

 

 

First, a couple of photos of how to orient the Krikit along the belt. Above photos are of the cam belt and the balance belt. Note that on the photo of the balance belt (which has "nubs" on both sides), the contact portion of the indicator arm is directly over one of the belts nubs.  This is important for an accurate reading. When you apply thumb pressure the belt will deflect and you will see the indicator arm raise up and a click can be felt/heard. When you feel this click, immediately release the pressure and read where the indicator arm intersects the scale.

 

The above reading is 27 Lbs and very close to the correct setting for the 944 balance belt. 

Side note: when I first used with this tool, I was concerned that the Krikit would not accurately measure below the lowest scale mark of 30. This should be a concern by anyone considering the Krikit as it is seldom good to use a pressure measuring device at or near it's limits.  If you haven't used the tool before, you should make several readings (without altering the belt tension) until you begin seeing consistent readings - it may take a few tries to get the hang of it.

 

Now, on to the actual belts. The ideal place to measure belt tension is at the center of the longest span. To create a long span,  I have removed the upper timing cover (for access), the timing belt idler pulley and water pump guide rail (available only with the updated water pump). Notice how that when I apply thumb pressure through the Krikit, there is a space (see arrow) between the spanned portion of the belt and the other area of the cam belt. This small space is important, without it, you will not be accurately measuring the belt's tension. 

The Krikit quickly tells me that my timing belt tension is correctly set at 40 lbs.  I make a this reading a couple of times to be confident that I am getting a good reading. If the reading is low or high, I make the needed adjustments and use the Krikit to make another reading. Note too, how easily the small size of the Krikit works to fit into this very tight area. This is a noteworthy advantage over the other tools.

 

I haven't mentioned it but you should have your cam positioned at about a tooth before TDC. If you're making changes to the the timing belt tension, it's best to rotate the crankshaft backward  until the cam is at the 1-1/2-tooth-before-TDC position.   Doing this moves the small amount of belt slack to the upper span of the cam belt. Then recheck the tension using the Krikit. This "back-positioning" of the cam is not needed for adjustments to the balance belt.  My photo above is only meant to show the different marks. In this photo, the marks are not correctly aligned. 

 

Above, you can see my attempt to get a reading of the balance belt. As before, I've removed the balance belt idler roller to create a long, unobstructed span. In this case my tension was so low that I got an invalid reading. This is apparent because the indicator arm is extended against the stop, see below.

 

This was easily changed by tightening the balance belt tension and simply rechecking with the Krikit. I then repeat this tighten-then-measure cycle until I had the correct tension. Most people are surprised at how loose the correct tension on the balance belt is. I've found that it should be no higher than 28 pounds else there is a distinct (and irritating) belt whine. With that, I re-installed the idler roller and prepared for a engine-running inspection of belt operation.

 

With the balance belt re-tensioned, I only need to get the idler back in place before starting the engine.  Here you can see that I'm re-setting balance belt idler roller to the specified .5mm - it should not actually touch the balance belt (except during operation). 

Battery Tray

Couple photos of the battery tray area for a Pelican member to assist in a repair. The drain hole is circled in pink in the first photo, it is hidden slightly under the straight metal and leads toward the passenger wheel well.

Torqueing Strut Bearing Hat Top Nuts

Torqueing the strut bearing hat top nut onto the strut is one of those things you don't really think about until you have to do it. Essentially, the issue here is that the strut shaft will spin if you try to just tighten the 22mm-7/8in strut nut alone. This means you have to use some way to counter hold the strut shaft. The factory Sachs struts have a hex head keyway, on Koni's that space is occupied by the adjusting tab and instead you have a 11mm nut. Of course all of these counter holding spots are blocked if you use a traditional socket and ratchet.

A lot of people suggest using a impact wrench here to spin it fast enough and that often works (and is a great method for removal).  However, there is very little chance of getting the nut close to 55 ft/lb and instead it will likely be way over tightened. On the flip side, others suggest a strap wrench but it is unlikely it can counter hold the necessary torque on the slippery strut shaft.

The solution I devised was to use a offset deep oxygen sensor socket. Make sure you get a deep well that is at least 25mm long as it needs to go down decently far if you are using the factory style strut bearing hats. These are available from eBay and other places for ~$10 or less. With this socket I could use a torque wrench while at the same time having a 11mm deep socket on the Koni strut nut.

Hopefully this helps some people out who have encountered this issue.

Turbo Auxiliary Coolant Temperature Sensor Pipe Modification - Part 2

In my previous post on this subject I outlined how to fabricate/modify the coolant pipe and fittings for the GT series turbo. In this post I'm going to discuss plumbing it into the cooling system.

For the coolant "Y-pipe" we have to make two connections. The longer arm passes under the intake manifold throttle body to intercooler pipe coupler and connects to the middle of the coolant reservoir about 6 inches away on a fairly straight path. The tricky part here is the input on the reservoir is considerably larger then the Y pipe. The Y pipe can use a 5/16 ID hose while the reservoir needs 3/4. Thankfully there are some Chevy and other applications that use a preformed straight 3/4 to 5/16 hose of 6 inches or longer. I was able to get one for less then $10 at the local Advance Auto. Then all the remained was to cut down the reducer hose to the appropriate length

The short arm connects to the coolant crossover pipe at the front of the engine bay. Both ends of this connection are the same size; I used 5/16 straight heater hose to make this connection.

Some additional notes regarding clearance with intake manifold, intercooler pipe and coolant "Y-pipe". The fit of all of the components in this area is very tight, even slight changes in the type of clamp, clamp position, thickness of silicone couplers, brand of fitting used in Part 1 of creating the pipe and other factors play a significant role in having enough space for everything to fit. In the worst case scenarios you won't have enough space, propping up the throttle body side of the intake manifold and the inside edge of the intake manifold will not sit flush with the cylinder head. The gap here can often be difficult to see; you can get a decent idea by shining a bright flashlight into the fuel injector port of the intake manifold in a dark garage and see if any light leaks out the inside gap. Make sure to cover or install a spark plug to block that source of light.

If during the test fitting you have additional clearance between the hood and the highest point of the intake manifold I would recommend either using a 1/8" phenolic intake manifold spacer or 2 factory gaskets on each runner. This will give you a bit more height to clear your plumbing and will make subsequent removals/re-installations a lot less finicky.  

For the turbo auxiliary coolant pump side all that is required is to cut a small amount off the factory 90* hose to make the slightly tighter bend to the new 10 push loc barb.

DIY Oil Line Fitting Shopping List

If you are planning on building your own oil cooler lines you'll need a couple of adapters to make it happen. The AN to metric adapters are definitely a bit expensive at around $20 each. Below is the short list of items required:

2x -12AN 45 Degree hose end
2x -12AN 90 Degree hose end
4x -12AN male to M22x1.5 male
1.5M -12AN hose

Tial Wastegate Vacuum Hookup and Orentation

I made a quick graphic to show the correct way to setup vacuum hoses for Tial brand wastegates with a manual boost controller. Since the Tial valves work in reverse of the stock/Lindsey units the vacuum port orientation it reversed.



Figure of Tial 38mm installed in car. Borrowed from Rennlist

Intense Wheel Restoration (Ammo NYC method)

Not long ago, I picked up a set of BBS Carrera 3 wheels for a really nice price on the second hand market. As with the majority of used wheels they had there share of imperfections this included some mild curb rash, black buildup (brake dust, dirt, asphalt) on most of the rim interior and scratches from improper cleaning maintenance on the front faces. I figured I would try my best to bring them back to life and if I was still unhappy I would consider sending them out for professional repair and repaint.

I mainly followed Larry's procedure from Ammo NYC on how to go about cleaning them. Larrys video here. The only major difference for my method was that since I do not own a RA polisher I had to do all the compounding by hand. I took some photos along the way to document how it came out.

Cleaning Materials (Wheel Cleaner, Dish Soap, Spray Wax, 105 Compound, Ultimate Compound, Sponge, Soft Brush, Clay, Microfiber Towels)

In addition to the cleaning materials pictured above I also used a respirator (during compounding), nitrile gloves, old towels and a large plastic storage bucket.

Pictured below is the initial condition of the rim, I don't think the camera was able to pick up the fine scratches that resulted from poor cleaning technique but trust me they were there on the majority of the outer lip and between the spokes.

Initial Condition - Front

Initial Condition - Back

Since it is winter and cold here in the northeast I attempted to do everything in my bathroom. And aside from having the sit on the floor while doing the manual labor that location worked pretty well.



Wheel in dish soap bath

Resulting water after dish soap/wheel cleaner bath and sponge cleaning

Rim after dish soap bath

Rim after clay bar treatment. Some of the black stain was removed and the clay was good at removing stuck asphalt

Rim after compounding. 105 worked well by hand.

Final Result

After I was finished with the compounding I did do one additional step which was to use Klasse All-In-One to add a layer of protection back on the surface to help prevent/reduce future build up. I did not take a photo after that. Total time per wheel for all 4 steps was about 6 hours, with a large portion of that being devoted to hand compounding.