Questions

[MikeCT]

1 What is a good solvent for cleaning/degreasing the engine bay?

2 Other than changing oil, fuel filter, plugs, dist. cap and maybe flushing the radiator, what other things should be done for maintence? I don't have many records from the P.O.

3 I have an invoice for some labor done to my car for cam and bal. belt adjustment that was done in Feb. '02. Is that the timing belt? The P.O. said the timing belt was changed not to long ago but should I replace it or just have it checked out (the odometer is busted)?

4 Also, on the invoice it says "cam housing gasket leaking, also crankshaft seal". Which should be fixed first?

Any help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. -- Mike

[Luis de Prat]

Hi, long time 944 owner, short time poster.

Any idea whatsoever as to the mileage on the car? What does the title say, and what date is on it?

The invoice saying "adjustment" would pertain to belt "tensioning," but not replacement of the timing/balance belts themselves. If the PO says they were indeed replaced, then other items would have/should have been checked/replaced as well, such as rollers, sprockets and potentially the water pump totalling around $400 in parts alone, on average.

Basically, the leaking crankshaft seal sounds more serious than the cam tower gasket leak. The former can cause the timing belt to slip and cause major disaster. The latter will cause smoking, mainly, but should be repaired as well.

HTH and welcome to 944 ownership. It's like playing hardball, but they're great cars.

[MikeCT]

The odometer says 14803 but it has approx. 130,000 miles on the car. The invoice doesn't list anything for parts but it was at a dealership I would guess it would be more expensive for parts throught the dealership so it might have been purchased online or though a different store.

[interglossa]

The PO should have had all the seals done at least while the belts were done. If they were just re-tensioned, then it's no wonder they weren't done. Personally i'd replace the belts, seals, rollers and tensioners. It's cheap insurance compared to a 1200+head job.
The speedo works, but the odo doesn't? Maybe the PO decided to reset the trip odo while he was moving? Anyway it may be the gear. Do a search on odometer gear.

[MrPants]

1. automotive stores sell "engine degreaser" in a spray can
2. that seems good to me as long as the car is acting proper.
3. as interglossa metioned, thats just the tensioning
4. dunno which is more important. crank seal sounds more expensive though

[interglossa]

Actually the crank seal is easier than the cam seal and roughly the same price for the part. However, the crank CAN be more expensive if you have to replace the oil pump drive sleeve which can run you 50+ for the part.