[john deere]

Hi all, new to the forum. Time for new timing and balance belts, and was wondering if anyone has used the Gates racing camshaft belt instead of their standard belt? Supposedly 3x stronger, seems like a good idea, but is it as durable over time? Recommendations welcomed.

I havent figured out the search feature yet, so apologies for bring up a well worn topic. I just havent seen it mentioned in the old posts i have read.  Thanks.

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[Chris Vais]

I just installed on last fall. The fact that is stronger doesn't permit you to extend the period of time between changes according to my PM. There are other factors that would cause a belt to fail, such as improper tensioning, water pump seizure, a broken balance shaft belt taking out the camshaft belt. This is the first time I've had a racing belt installed so I don't have any other information to share.

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[ds968]

I also have one but no way near enough time and mileage to provide any feedback whatsoever.   Both Gates and the PMs to whom I have spoken will take issue with Chris’s PM opinion but then again neither Gates nor any of those PMs will rebuild your engine if the belt fails “ prematurely“ .   Like Chris said, there are also a lot of other factors which can cause failure , and he listed most of them, but of course all of those will do that even you replace your timing belt with a new one every month, lol.   That said, and absent any of those other causes occurring, the construction of the high performance belt should give you far greater longevity / durability vs. the regular one, and with no downsides.. for me that’s an easy decision..  The price difference of the belt should never be a consideration when you’re talking about a $ 6,000 - $ 7,000 top engine rebuilt cost risk. 

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[john deere]

Thanks Chris and Dan  for the input. I dont really expect it to extend belt replacement intervals, but it does seem to me it would provide even greater peace of mind during that time. Easily worth $100 difference in price. Too bad a BS racing belt is not available.

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[J.Elenbaas]

Peace of mind is just sticking to the interfalls, make sure you change them in time.

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[ds968]

Yes, it is too bad about the lack of an equivalent BS belt, not sure why that is ..I recall some old posts talking about a Kevlar reinforced BS belt ( not sure it was Gates , may  have been Dayco,  but it was not Continental “ Conti “  )  although I think they ceased production soon after they started.   Wasn’t selling I guess.. 

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[scenturion]

I used a Gates racing belt. Seemed fine. No idea if it would change the service interval (+1 to what Chris said about other failure modes), but it was not much additional cost for some peace of mind.

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[ds968]

According to Gates ( I called and spoke to one of their manufacturing engineers )  the recommended replacement interval for this belt is at 100 K miles , or 15 years, whichever comes first ..  Of course the regular belt is supposedly  a 60 K miles / 8 years replacement interval  ( Porsche also indicates 60 K miles interval , but does not reference a number of years limitation  ) although we know there have been cases where failure prior to those parameters have occurred.  They are rare failures  but they do happen .,and you don’t want to be that one case where you have to shell out a ton of money for repair.  So if replacing the belts , rollers, etc. , at more frequent intervals than Porsche or Gates suggest , it’s good “ insurance “  IMO.  

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[MCL968]

I just had one installed, along with the other associated parts, water pump, and motor mounts. All is well, I am planning to drive the heck out of the car for the next 5-6 years to make up the difference in cost! My mechanic was factory trained when these cars were new, and he is amused by the paranoia of 968 owners regarding their belts, especially given how much better the new belts are when compared to belts from the 1990s. But, he appreciates the work, and I appreciate the peace of mind.

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[john deere]

Thanks Dan for sharing your conversation with the Gates engineer. So Gates basically thinks it is twice as good as the standard belt, given their almost double service interval. I am convinced to try it, just probably at a four year interval. Any recommendations on where to purchase belts? I dont have any experience with these specific belts going back to the 1990's, but i do agree that belts in general are better quality now than then.

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[ds968]

After my timing belt broke  ( very long story, but it’s on some old thread here somewhere ..) and not thrilled at the thought of spending another $ 6,000 + anytime soon ..or ever again.. I have conducted an exhaustive, very extensive research on these belts .  In addition to the available written information from multiple sources, I also called and spoke to Gates, ( this was even before the latest conversation on the racing belts and yup, I called the Scotland factory where most were made at the time  ), I spoke to my friend who was a manufacturing engineer at Goodyear , and of course my mechanic who had spent 30-some years working on Porsches .  I wanted to built as much comfort level as I possibly could with the durability and longevity of these belts, so I can understand the risk of breakage difference between paranoia and reality.  I have shared some of the information with the forum but in general terms and with a major YMMV disclaimer as I don’t want to give anyone a false sense of security and then regret my words if that individual suffers a premature belt breakage and the ensuing disastrous repair cost .   But leaving all that aside, one surely must realize that technology advances in the manufacturing of these belts, particularly the ones designed for “racing / track use“ are heads and shoulders better than any regular ones, or belts produced in years before.  Having said that, I could not emphasize any more and echoing what Chris listed as the other risks so whenever you choose to replace your belts, check that everything else related to that operation is in perfect working order .   We’ve had a couple forum members whose balance belts were either sheared or jumped the roller, one of which was incredibly lucky and it did not catch the timing belt, and another one ...not so lucky . 

 

I don’t remember where I bought my racing belt, but will look to see if I can find anything on that today and will post the info .

( I want to say either Rennbay, or Rock Auto but not sure ..actually could have been EBS racing, I’ll check . ) 

 

post edit :   Could not find the info,  but if you enter  Gates racing timing belt for Porsche 968, in your search engine,   a bunch of sources which sell them will pop up. 

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[gtolou]

Where are you guys sourcing  this belt?

 

I've looked at the Paragon website - I think gates is the base belt - and to upgrade it cost more to go to a conti belt and even more to go to a Porsche belt.

 

I've read** (no clue where...) that Gates was the original maker of OEM 968 timing belts. 

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[Waylander]

Factory belts have been made by all three big players over the years


Dayco

Gates

Continental


The racing belt is blue sometimes, and made by gates

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[ds968]

I don’t want to deal with a libel lawsuit, so I’m going to state this very carefully ;  if you’re considering a Conti belt, PLEASE  search this forum , as well as RL forums , for information on Conti timing belts before buying it. 

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[Waylander]

I dont like them either

I have Gates on my car

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[J.Elenbaas]

i read the threads, and choose Gates last year

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[gtolou]

Where do you guys buy these from ? Paragon has a kit with BS and timing belts and rollers. 

 

You *have to pay more to upgrade to conti. Base belts are Gates (I'm sure not the racing line). I've always like Gates for any application.

 

Anyone use the Paragon kit?

 

Appreciate the help. 

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[scenturion]

I used the Continental kit and bought a Gates Racing belt from Rock Auto separately.

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[dlearl476]

So it's belt time again so after seeing the Gates Racing belt on Pelican, I checked in here and, lol and behold, a thread!

Based on your info, I decided to pull the trigger. I can't believe Rock Auto sells it for $50 less than Pelican. The bad news? One of the leaking power steering hoses I need to replace is the cooler/reservoir. Anyone know of a cheap(er) source than Porsche? ($329)

TBH, I think. Just going to have the shop remove it and take it to Evco and have them press a new end on it.

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[dlearl476]

 Of course the regular belt is supposedly  a 60 K miles / 8 years replacement interval  ( Porsche also indicates 60 K miles interval , but does not reference a number of years limitation.)

Well that's good news. For some reason, I had it in my mind that it was 60K/5 years, so I've kind of been on pins and needles as my last service was 2014. Sad to say, I've only driven 10,000 miles in that 7 years, a quarter of which was my trip back from NYC when I retired. I opted to just renew the belts, as the associated hardware only has 10,000 miles on it. Hopefully, that doesn't prove to be false economy.

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