Has anyone ever tried to repack the bearings on these things or is that a bad idea as heated grease could contaminate the belts? What about a moly lube? Just curiouse, I haven't checked mine yet, but I too am betting they are all on the blink.

No problem, check out the remanufactured ones, (http://www.***********/acatalog/Water_Pump.html).

Thanks for the link. Helps alot.

I checked the pulleys on my engine and I seem to have some wear on my idler pulley for the cam, it has some end play. If I'm not mistaken, on the timing belt loop there is a crank pulley, cam pulley (neither of which have bearings) the tensioner and the idler. The tensioner will be replaced. So that leaves the idler on the "important" loop. Balance shaft failure is not as scary as timing failure, that is unless it causes the timing to fail! I think the idler will be ok. It doesn't experience the same stress the tensioner does (at least I don't think it does).

^^^^ Correct for rotating the crank and cam separate. You do not have to take the cam off. Also ditto for the rest of the rotating belt tensioner pulleys.

Also checked the waterpump and it feels real good I think. No end play, no "dry" feel, just smooth and free of play.

Got my new tensioner today, not to impressed with it. It cost $30 from thepartsbin.com. Can't recall the brand and I'm to lazy to go out and see. But the cog is made of plastic/composite something or another. The bearings felt nice, it's just obviously not the same as the original. Did Porsche change the part or is it an aftermarket part? I am assuming aftermarket. I'd like to start on fixing it tonight, but I have to get up in four hours to help my brother move, so no such luck tonight. I'll keep ya'll posted.

All of the new type tensioners are less metal, more compsite types and have been for several years. The new tensioner uses a 27mm hex, the old ones 22 or 21 mm (so long ago since I've seen one, forgot the size) We always replace all of the tensioners and rollers unless there is history of being changed recently (as in the last belt change). Water pump change every second belt change.

These cars, as with all cars, need proper maintenance, which costs money.

if one of the rollers is bad, they are all bad. using worn out rollers will cause failure and can cause the belt to cut into the balance shaft pulleys, etc., and will cause the belts to wear out prematurely.

Thanks Brian! Your post now has me paranoid! I tired to take the car out last night for a nice drive, and watch the girls in the short skirts... and I didn't get to enjoy it very much. I always notice any new noises on my cars. Now I am hearing every noise every car in the world near me makes! Squeeky brakes and bad wheel bearings on other peoples' cars are haunting me! Not to mention the fact that I have muted the crazy stereo system I put in the car!

Hahaha! Sorry to be a kill-joy John!

It happens... I feel better when I personally use this tension tool on the belts. Then I will know that I have no problems for sure. :)

Finished the job tonight. Nice to have the machine up and running!

imagine how comfy you'll feel with all the rollers, belts and seals done in the front end.

Off course you will notice a new sound after. When you do all this you'll have the customary roller whine that sounds like a turbo. They all do this for awhile.

LOL, yeah, I took my buddy for a cruise last night and told him it sounded hotter with the temporary whine. I punched the gas and found out it only sounded that way, dang it!

Hi, my car had the exact same symptons as yours, but i am confused on why does it knock from the cam tower if the bearing was a bad timing beraing? sry im new to working on these types of engines.
joe

Put your hand on the cam tower and see if you can FEEL the knocking. In my instance I could. The knocking was actually the timing belt slapping the cam tower housing because the bearings went out on my tensioner rendering it useless. Also mine tended to stop making noise after the motor picked up a few rpm, I supose because the load or maybe frequency the belt was exposed to changed. In any instance, if you suspect this is your problem do not drive it or start it! It could result in alot of damage and work. Pull the front cover off and inspect the timing belt, it is the belt closer to the engine block. Check it for cracks and see if it has adequet tension. The tension should be checked with the engine on top dead center. There is also a tool that you should use to check the tension, however if you're familiar with how tight a timing belt should be you can tell if that's your problem. If the belt seems OK start the motor with your cover off and look for the timing belt to vibrate excessively. Also check your tensioners and idlers, especially on your timing belt, but also your balance shaft belt. Your balance shaft belt is not as important, but important none the less. Good luck. Let me know how things turn out.

Engine doesn't have to be on TDC for belt tension.

If you're not setting TDC, just don't take the belt off. :) Setting TDC is always safe yet time consuming.

I would tend to disagree with the engine not having to be at TDC for a tension check - if the cam is in some other postion with valves part way open/closed, and the tension of the valves closing is 'pulling' the cam over one way or the other on the cam lobe, then that may put a false tension on one side of the belt. With the accuracy required to get these belts tensioned right, that would probably be enough for you to be off.
For the sake of moving the crank round to TDC I wouldn't take the chance.
DK

Also, if the balance belt breaks it can take out the timing belt leaving you in the same bad spot. The balance belt is not required to be in place for the engine to run properly, but if it is bad and does break it can, and in many cases does, take out the timing belt. There's not a lot of room in there for things to be flying around at a high rate of speed and the timing belt needs to be protected.

If the balance belt is bad AND for some reason you cannot replace it right away AND you need to drive the car then you are better off to take the balance belt right off. The engine will not be "balanced" but you will not cause damage to the timing belt. There are some people that have taken off the balance belt for different reasons. The car is 100% driveable, but there would be a little extra "shaking" with the engine being "unbalanced."

Check out Clark's for more info and the history of the balance shafts. The timing belt is a very important part of the engine and will cause major damage if it is broken or if TDC is not properly matched on the cam and the crank.