aglaes

A couple months ago I posted that I was about to do a timing belt change on my '87 951 (just bought it in Oct) and was looking for any advice. I just got around to doing it this past week.

Thanks to those that responded to my original post. It was by far the most involved DIY project I've ever tackled on a car, but it went pretty well. It took me about 16 hrs spread out over 3 days, but I think if I did it again tomorrow I could do it in 8-10 hrs. Car runs great and there does not seem to be any issues with strange sounds or vibrations. I did not use any kind of tool to measure the belt tension, but went off of a combination of observation of the old belt tension, videos I watched on the 944foottothefloor web site, and other information I read on the internet, etc,... For the timing belt I pretty much left the tension up to the spring tensioner, which seemed to be in good working order and the belt tension felt very close to what the old belt tension was, maybe a little tighter.

There is one problem however that I am now experiencing - a VERY STRANGE PROBLEM. After I connected the battery, every so often, maybe about once every half hour or so, the starter is energized for a split second - this is with no key in the ignition !! The car does not start, but the starter does engage very briefly. The first time it happened, the car was in gear and it lurched forward an inch or two. During the timing belt change, I did remove the starter from the car to install a flywheel lock, and re-installed it just the way it was - there's only 3 wires connected to it - 2 on the larger terminal and 1 small red wire on the smaller terminal. There's no way I got the wires mixed up - it's very straight forward.

I think it happened once while I was test driving the car with the new belts - at first I thought I had accidentally scratched the gear because I didn't have the clutch fully engaged when putting the car into first gear, but now I think what happened is the starter tried to engage at the same time I was putting the car into first gear and the gear scratching I heard was the starter.

Anyway - I have not tried to troubleshoot it yet. Just disconnected the battery for now. Electrical problems scare the hell outta me.

Anybody have any ideas on what's causing this and how to fix it?

jc85G

The small terminal is making contact with the large terminal (battery+) either through the connector or the wire is broken and rubbing it. The car will not start because the ignition is not on (no power to computer or ignition) but it will crank. The small wire is the feed wire (battery +) from the ignition switch. Power to the small terminal engages the starter.

Slow Project 951

Have annworks tool and possibly the ability to borrow the factory tension tool. Putting mine back together again slowly. Have rod-bearings , balance shaft seal in progress. In Richmond TX if ya wanna swing by some time. PM if interested, would hate to see ya lose due to improper tension , Complications are way too scary.

aglaes

Thanks JC - got it back up on the ramps last night and had a look. The terminal connector on the white wire that goes into the starter had twisted a little bit on it's post had come in contact with or was VERY close to the connector on the end of the little red wire. Fixed that and it seems to have corrected the problem.

Mangonesailor

I have seen in other posts that the solenoid on the starter is prone to shorting. It's a random thing from what I've found. I'd recommend getting a new starter and ALWAYS parking your car in N with the handbrake. After hearing about it its what I do now. Plus I wouldn't want the risk of a fire if it overheated.

LuigiVampa

You'll get it sorted it and congrats for doing the belt change. I felt like I climbed Mount Everest when I did mine.

The videos on YouTube by Van are the best. Literally could not have done it without those videos.

superloaf

wow, you really need to set the correct tension. i have to do mine but wouldn't dare to try without the arnworx tool which i still need to buy. it's just not worth it if something goes wrong as then you'll be out a a couple thousand $$$. even better slow project 951 is offering use of the tool. you can check tension in minutes without too much disassembly; i watched a porsche shop check mine once and couldn't believe how quickly they were able to get in there to check, literally less than 5 minutes.

wish there was someone like project 951 in LA with an arnworx to let me use (hint, hint.)

aglaes

I do hope to connect with Slow Project soon and possibly borrow the arnworx tool. However, I really think my belt tension is good.

As far as checking it - not sure it can be done in 5 mins, not in my garage. Can you check the tension by only removing the top portion of the belt cover? If so, then maybe I can do it without getting the car up on the ramps and removing the bottom cover in order to access the screws for the bottom half of the cover. Also not sure how easy it is to check the timing belt tension with the balance shaft belt in place.

To get to the top belt cover screws you have to remove the air intake/filter, intercooler pipes and AFM - that goes pretty quick. I think you can check the belt tension and put everything back together in under an hour, however, if you have to adjust the tension, and re-check, or adjust the balance shaft belt tension (which would require removing the bottom half of the belt cover) then it could end up taking quite a bit longer.

CyCloNe!

for your starter check to make sure the cables at the solenoid aren't touching or are close to each other. I had the same thing happen, car would be off and no key in and it would engage itself.

For belt tension I use the twist method, almost 2yrs now no issues.

aglaes

CyCloNe - I've already corrected the starter issue - just what you said - see my explanation above.

I used the twist method as well - along with just a mental comparison of the tension on the old belts and the perception of tension I got from the Van YouTube vids.

Turbodan

I know Van...great guy, and an excellent driver. I plan to see him at cups and saucers at watkins glen. he since wrecked his 951 and has a 924 I think now.