does this look normal?...timing and tensioners
 

ok, so the story goes, 1980 930 3.3 euro. i am the thrid owner, i have paper work from past two owners...

at 69xxx Kilometers the first owner had a MPH gauge put in. The MPH gauge had 19xxx miles when it was installed. I now have 29xxx miles. I have original gauge with 69kil. Again, i know a story is a story and i have no real proof.

wondering if anyone can look at this pic and give me any insight...it appears to be really really clean. Timing chain has about 1/8" movement up and down, and seems pretty tight. I know it has mechanical tensioners, but i just dont have the money right now to upgrade. Is that tensioner out of travel?

any way in hell to guess at mileage?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1329256656.jpg

Jim,

Those aren't mechanical tensioners. (Mechanical tensioners are basically immobile, and are adjusted by screw or not adjustable at all.) They're considered hydraulic, and are oil-filled. They're just not oil-fed by an external supply, like the carrera tensioners. Those are the 930 tensioners and are generally fairly reliable. Since it's nearly impossible to tell how much life they might have left in them, I would recommend rebuilding them while you have easy access. The rebuild kits consist of a few o-rings and springs, and can be obtained through Porsche dealers. It's not too hard a job. At the very least you can and should put safety collars on what you have (available from our host). They clamp onto the exposed piston and will prevent a total collapse if the tensioner does go bad (which is usually due to loss of internal pressure due to bad o-rings). Replacing the chain ramps is also generally recommended. They are relatively cheap and become brittle with time.

Good luck,
Mike

play is normal i have worked on porsche cars for over 40 years and have never rebuilt a chain tensioner not worth the risk. there is an old saying if it is not broken do not fix it. best thing to do is replace the tensioner if you are that worried but 930 tensioners are just as expensive as a oil fed update tensioner kit. saftey clamps are cheap to put on but every time i have seen them on a bad tensioner and the engine is downshifted into a gear that puts the engine in a over rev situation { using the engine as a brake transmisson now driving engine rpm} those clamps just ride up on the shaft letting timming chain have too much slack and causing valves and pistons to collide and bend or break off valve heads so there is no gaurentee that what you have will go another day or ten years but it is working now. it really depends on what makes you sleep better at night and how much money you want to spend. hope my experience helps you out. regards tom

The tensioners look good and the chain looks very good. It really doesn't look like that engine has been opened up previously. I don't see any marks on the cam nuts, etc.

The real story of that engine can only be told with a compression test.

The advice I have received from experienced mechanics is that the original hydraulic tensioners are as good or better then the externally oil fed tensioners. So don't sweat keeping what you got. I did update mine though.

Just listen to the engine and note any changes, you can usually hear a tensioner going bad.

I would not replace them either. To be safe, I fitted safety collars, cheap and a good insurance:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1329295344.jpg

I'll be the contrarian here and say replace them. Not the tensioners. Replace/upgrade the idler arms. I say that because those chain idler arms are the old style w/out a bronze bushing. I recently had an idler arm seize on the shaft. Upon disassembly, I found both arm bores & the shafts to be galled. One of them had to be pulled off the shaft with a gear puller. It pulled off easily, but it still needed to be pulled with a significant amount of leverage afforded by the two jaw puller.

You can get used original Porsche arms with the factory bushing update built-in, or you can have yours upgraded by Supertec.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1293819420.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1293819434.jpg

You can use your existing tensioners, despite them having a mounting boss that is excessively wide. Just have the boss milled down an amount equal to the extra width of the updated idler arms?