timing belt

[nep75]

Hello everyone! I have been sent on a mission by my fiance to find out what I can about timing on a 1984 944 porsche. It's actually our buddy's car, but he's good at computers and my man is good at mechanicing on cars.

There are 2 belts, a balance thingy and the timing belt. How does he go about getting the timing belt in the correct alignment, the one on there is stripped (which he already took off)? And does the balance belt have to be set to the timing belt or a certain position?

Sorry I can't be much clearer.... I'm just the go between (and not as mechanically inclined).

Thank you in advance!
~Niki

[Techno Duck]

If the timing belt has teeth stripped off of it, its likely (probably 99% sure) that there are bent valves. The head will need to be removed, resurfaced and new valves put in. Either that find a good used one.

Show your hubby the shop manual section here..

http://www.clarks-garage.com/

Look up the balance belt and cam-belt stuff.. it has all the information you need to change, align and tension the belts.

Good luck.

[Schumi]

The link provided above will give you all you need to know and I am just going to reiterate what was said about the valves. If there are teeth stripped, you have a very very slim chance that the valves arent bent. AKA the engine will not run after replacing and tensioning the belts. Well... I mean you can crank it... but its not going to sound pretty.

I take it that either the car wasa reccently bough as-is now or your friend doesn't know about what happens when a 944 timing belt breaks.

Since he's diving into replacing the timing belt himself he should be mechanically inclined enough to remove the head and inspect the valves. If the timing belt is stripped go ahead and do this before going any further.

I wish the best of luck.. sounds like you will need it.

[Bill Lucas]

If he didn't set the engine to Top Dead Center and lock the flywheel down before removing the belt you have another set of issues to deal with. Best of luck with the belts. Sounds like ya'll might need it.

[Razorback1980]

Welcome to the board Niki....the lingo may sound a little Greek but you explained that well enough that we understood. Good job.

With stripped teeth, setting the flywheel won't matter, it's already off. As the others have already said....the chances of it NOT having a bent valve are pretty much zero. They are going to need to pull the head and fix that. You can tell for sure by pulling the cam tower off and try pushing each valve open and closed and one or two will not return to the top.

There are several posts on here that show the alignment of the balance shafts and the timing belt is really easy to align also. There are a couple of ways to do that. First you can set the TDC on piston one by placing a wooden dowel (some use a screwdriver) in the spark plug hole and bringing up the piston to TDC. I think there are timing marks on the flywheel at the back of the motor as well that tell you when the engine is TDC on 1. Then align the timing mark on the camshaft and put the belt on. I'll search for the diagram on the balance shaft as the picture is worth a thousand words.

Good luck.

[SoCal Driver]

Maybe it will run without the timing belt.

[GMingst]

Why not, they run without the Fuel Pump..

[SoCal Driver]

And the reference sensor.

Socks!

[nep75]

Thank you so much for all the info. I will show all these answers to him tonight after work. I'm hoping nothing is bent but it would be worth it to check the valves. Thank you again, and I might be back with more questions!!

And yes, my man is mechanically inclined. He rebuilt his '77 Cougar engine, I believe a 351 modified. His big car likes to go fast!

~ N

[Razorback1980]

SoCal....sad and embarrassed to say....I tried that and it didn't work. No (good) timing belt...no run. Guess I should have ordered the 666 option on mine when I bought it!

[SoCal Driver]

I'm still wearing my garlic necklace.