Yet another Timing belt question

nutzforporsche · 05-29-2005, 04:08 AM

Hey all,
It has been a while since my last post here on the bird. I'm usually out on the 914club site. Anyways thought that maybe some of you could help me out. I recently purchased a 87' 944S with 61k original miles for $6000. This is a really awesome car, but I didn't have any maintenance records, so since I have been reading many posts about the carnage of what a broken belt can do, I went out and picked up the belts. I pulled the covers off and took a gander at the condition of the belts. The balance shaft belt was a little loose, the timing belt is in good shape but it is getting changed none the less.

My question is this. I tried to mark the position of all the adjustor cams for the balance belt. However in my haste I forgot to mark the bottom one and now I don't know what position these adjusters need to be in for the new belt. The adjuster seems to have moved and it appears that some sort of counter weight has turned it. Am I screwed? As the Haynes book does not seem to cover what to do when these move. I'm afraid to put the belt on and have the car all out of balance and the engine beat itself to death. Help a po old teener fella out will ya?

Britwrench · 05-29-2005, 06:05 AM

Why would you need to mark the adjusters? They have to be moved to adjust the timing belt or balance shaft tension. Do the timing belt first. Absolutely make sure the engine is on TDC as the engine will run rough if it's not. Once the belt is on, crank the engine over twice (with a socket on the crank puley) and go back to TDC firing on #1. the release the two 13mm adjuster locking nut and bolt and the adjuster will then set the tension. Make sure every thing is aligned and the timing blt is done. Then install th balance shaft belt and make sure the pulley notches align as in the book. Set the adjustment with either the "Krikit" or Porsche 9201 tool and again crank the engine over another two revolutions (with a socket on the crank bolt) and re-check the tension.
If it is not adjusted correctly, then follow the sequence again. Never just do up the adjuster nut without holding the large eccentric nut as both the tensioner will move or you will bend the stud.

Why does the car have no service records? With that sort of mileage..which, without any records in not provable, it should have everything with it...unless you bought it from a dealer.....

nutzforporsche · 05-29-2005, 07:21 AM

The mileage is confirmed as actual. The maintenance records were misplaced as the doctor that owned it recently passed away and the records have not sufaced as of yet. Hopefully when they go through all of his things they will pop up. The car even looks new inside and out of which is amazing to say the least for the year. He always kept it in a garage covered up. Even the engine bay and underneath look prestine. I was just a bit confused on the process of replacing the belts. Pain in the butt for certain. You would have thought that the Porsche factory would have made getting to the belts without pulling the crank pulley a bit easier, since they have to be tensioned or changed so frequently. Appreciate the help and advice.

SoCal Driver · SoCal Driver's Garage

You also need to pull the valve cover and check the chain and pressure pad. Most likely you will see some wear but not need to change the pad. Some do anyway at 60k intervals.

Here is a better diagram for setting the balance belt.

Britwrench · 05-29-2005, 12:23 PM

There's no need to remove the crank pulley just to change belts. To do a water pump and crank seal it does.

nutzforporsche · 01:19 AM

Fellas I sure do appreciate the help.

Hugh:
That is a great diagram! Now I feel much more relaxed in doing this task. I ordered one of those belt changing kits off of ebay, i.e the tensioner, and the two wrenches. Not bad for 80.00 bucks. That should make this chore a snap in the future.

Brit:
I believe you when you say that I can get the belt in there without pulling the pulley, but It sure looks like a super tight fit. I still have to figure out how to loosen and adjust the auto tensioner, just to get to the gear on the bottom behind the pulley. Maybe I can get a Bentley book for this car, as the one I have now really stinks.

SoCal Driver · SoCal Driver's Garage

You twist the timing belt and it will slide in/out of the gap between the pulley and the back belt cover. Done it many times.

mlue · 05-29-2005, 08:41 PM

If you need to buy the tools to tension the belts you can get them here at a reasonable price.

http://www.arnnworx.com/

Britwrench · 05-29-2005, 09:33 PM

There is no Bentley book (as yet) for this car. To loosen the belt tensioner: loosen the two 13mm bolts/nut and compress the tensioner. Once the belt is off the pulleys you then need to remove the tensioner off the crankcase. There are three 13mm nyloc nuts holding it on and they are difficult to see and undo. Use a 13mm 3/8" drive socket and ondo them, making sure not to loose the washers under the nuts. Then remove the tensioner. And go from there. I would suggest you get a workshop manual, or CD or copy of the belt replacement part of the manual as broken belts mean the car is worth $500 complete.

nutzforporsche · 05-30-2005, 01:08 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by mlue
If you need to buy the tools to tension the belts you can get them here at a reasonable price.

http://www.arnnworx.com/

Mark,
That is the very place I bought from off of ebay.
Without those tools it looks like a very un-fun way of
performing this task. Other than that the process looks simple.

Brit,
Thank you for the extra procedure on the auto tensioner
I was more than a bit perplexed on how that thing came off and how to set it back to do it's job. Not so bad now. I think I'll get my tail back out on ebay and check to see if there is a CD for the 87' 944S. There is no way in you know where that I'm going to tinker with this car without one. There appears to be too many little things that can hose you up without it.