Charlie944

Hello all, this the thread I hoped I would never have to write! My Timing belt broke on my way to work in the 84' NA. I was in between a shift of third and fourth when it happend (not on it hard and shifted out a below 3600rpm), and all of a sudden the car lurched and then NO power! Not sure if I damaged any valves or pistons at all. I did not hear any clanging going on, but I also had the radio on as well. I just got it towed back here a few min ago, funny thing it looks so good sitting there but it won't wake up, kind of like a baby who stopped breathing.

I am going to clean up all the belt pieces WED and see what happened and if it tore apart the Balance shaft belt as well. I have an old T-belt that still looks real good so I will slap it on tension it up and re-time and see if I have compression or not. If yes, get all new belts and roller (funny I did this 17k ago!! with a new H2O pump) and see if it works. If not I will be looking for a used but nice engine....any suggestions on where to get one from????
Or I have a Chevy 350 SB?

I just checked the belts here a few months back and retensioned them a bit using the P9201 tool. I have done belt changes 3 times now so I am at a loss what happened. I did not hear any rollers wearing out or anything of the such. No warning!!! Better check the belts on the Callaway just in case!

I'll keep you all posted, thank you for listening
~ Charlie

Uranium-235

Depending on the condition of your head, you may only need around $500-600 in parts if you do the labor. I did a head job on my '83, lost a roller the day after I bought it. We had the head off in 1.5 hours, everything back together in around 3 hours. The parts came from Vertex. The head was reassembled, no machining required. I also resealed the fuel injectors while they were out. I bent 6 out of 8 valves.

Chris_924s

Ouch.. Bets of luck Charlie, Hope it's only the belt

Porsche-O-Phile

That truly sucks. How long had it been since the last replacement? I know you said you retensioned them, but did you replace them recently?

I guess you just have to drive the Callaway now, right?

Charlie944

Thank you Uranium I will look into that, that price is not real bad at all. And thank you Chris and Jeff for the support....you guys Rock! They were replaced 17k ago IIRC, but I will have to double check that. Yep I will drive the Callaway for now (at least it is not snowing!) How is your beast coming Jeff? Take care everyone!

Uranium-235

Charlie, for what its worth, I bought 4 exhaust valves, 2 intake valves, a full head gasket set, a set of injector seals (from Rennbay), and a timing belt set (both belts, four rollers). Given the circumstances of what you said happened, I would assume you have some bent valves, sorry.

What's a Callaway 944? Like a Callaway Corvette?

Mongo

Callaway 944 is a turbo-converted NA back in the early days of the 944 before the factory released the 951 in 85 as an 86 model.

I'm sure those valves are bent for sure, but I don't think you warped the head. Only one way to find out. If you need a used motor, you can check the rennlist classifieds. Good luck

Danno

Sorry to hear about the belt. Did you get it re-tensioned after the initial install? I hate it when the manual doesn't give you a time or mileage interval and all it says is "inspect and replace if necessary". What are we looking for when we inspect it?

BTW - does anyone know if there were any articles written on the 944s with Callaway turbo kits?

tifosiman

Here ya go Danno:

http://members.rennlist.com/tholyoak/callaway.html

I think there are some articles there....

Porsche-O-Phile

Yep, you beat me to it. BTW anyone know what happened to that car? I heard he sold it.

I'm currently working on the brakes (I want to be able to stop once I'm able to go fast!) and a couple of "little things" while I wait to get the last few pieces I need. I still need rod bearings and to get a compression / leak down tester, head gasket & head (Danno is currently working on it), and the external oil cooler & Lindsey after-oiler. I'm pretty sure I'll be investing in a MAP kit & exhaust also. I'm 99% sure the engine in the car is fine, but I want to nip any potential problems in the bud before going ahead with it. I will likely also upgrade from the n/a injectors to larger 951 ones or possibly even 75# injectors, which would free up both ports on the intake plenum (fifth & sixth injectors) for other fun things - like water injection and nitrous.

But you didn't hear that from me. . . I still want it to be a "SUPRISE, YOU'VE BEEN OWNED BY AN N/A!!!" kind of sleeper for a while. In another year or two I'll change the body style, wheels, and paint and it's true nature won't be quite as concealed, but that's a longer-term plan. . .

tifosiman

Yep, he sold it earlier this year, for a cheap price, IMHO. The buyer got a great car for the money....

Bill

The 944 engine is an interfearance engine. If you loose the cam belt, you bend all four exhaust valves. End of story. Sorry.

Note to guys on the "Who has the oldest timing belt" post: This is what happens when you push the limit.

marky522

Really Bill, cause I only bent 2 exhaust valves when my belt went!

Mark

Scuba Steve

The PO bent one exhaust and four intake. Interferance engine doesn't mean which valves will bend.

I'm curious why the belt broke - can you spin the rollers or water pump, or did one of those freeze? My car's PO had a roller freeze up on him, but honestly I don't think he kept up with that kind of maintenance.

Edit: I bought the car with bent valves and a broken belt, but the PO had just replaced the rollers and water pump before selling. Things I had to replace were:
-1 exhaust valve
-4 intake valves
-Head gasket set (head, intake, exhaust, camshaft, ... gaskets)
-Timing and balance belts
-Water pump gasket

Machine shop work for head work, valve, and valve guide installation came out to a hair above $200.

Charlie944

Thank you all for your replies! Danno: I did retension after 1500mi of intial break in. Looking here at my records I replaced all belts, rollers/tensioners, and water pump on 12/05/03 at 171,306 miles and I last checked/retensioned them on 07/25/04 at 187,206 miles. Right now I have 194,989 miles so there is 23,683 miles on all the belts, ect and is has been only 7,783 miles since I last checked them. Back in July I did adjust the T-belt to 2.6 and the BSB to 2.9 on the P9201.

I will take off the belt covers tomorrow and see if I can diagnose what caused the belt to fail.
MY BIGGEST FEAR IS: DAMAGED PISTONS!!!
Has anyone had piston damage as a result of a broken T-belt??

I can surely live with a valve/head job, but piston damage will lead me to look for a different engine.

Thank you again and I will keep you all updated on what I find.
Please take care!

P.S. Jeff seems like it is coming along nicely, good to see you doing it up right!
Also IIRC Todd Holyoak's Callaway went to ebay and sold for ~$6,500.00. Someone has a nice car to ride around in! Here is a couple pics of the 83' Callaway