mick944

For the second time in 3 yrs I've experienced the disaster of a broken timing belt.The first was soon enough after a belt service that I was able to shame the shop that performed the work into to eating most of the expense(of the top half rebuild).This time though, is going to be tough to swallow.I am still low-milage(20 something thousand) since the last belt change.What the #%&*!The car(83 944) was running great.Pulled into my spot at work and just before I shut it off I heard weird noises and then boom.I am having different shop do the work(haven't pulled the head yet to tell me the whole bad news) but I am expecting the worse.This is my 4th 944 and the only one that has had this issue.Do the earlier units have a reputation for this problem?It leaves me in no-mans land.Got to fix it or give it away(it looks to be in almost perfect conditon) but enough is enough.

tod84944

Mick,
If you decide to sell, let me know. Just don't part it out. If you need a head for it, I have a few good ones, ready to bolt on. Make sure they are using good belts. I always use the conti belts. Did you have it re-tensioned after driving it 2k miles after the last go around. I have never had one break with only 20k on it.

Chris_924s

20K is indeed rare for belt failure. Really rare. did you change the rollers as well?

fezz

try to find out how it failed.
was it a manufacturing defect, bad belt
tensioned too loose
tensioned too tight
deteriorated belt, any oil or coolant leaking on belt
when was the last time you had it tensioned?
make sure your shop knows to tension when the car is bone cold, ambient temp (optimum 70 deg.)

tod84944

I'm with you guys, I don't think it must have been done right.

Chris_924s

I suspect it was too tight at the onset- killed a roller or 2, and the belt sheared.

michaelathome

tod84944, you have a PM.

Jfrahm

Was the belt retensioned after 1500 miles?

-Joel.

NeedPorscheSpeed

Man, I'm so sorry to hear about your terrible luck....

michaelathome

There are quite a few things that could have lead to the new break. I guess the things to look at as several have mentioned are:

1. When was the last time it was visibly inspected and by who.
2. When was it last physically inspected and tension checked. You can pick up a tool to do it yourself in about 30min. Of course not the most accurate to some it will give you an idea.
3. Was it something else that lead to the failure roller, tensioner etc?
4. How does the belt look, is it missing teeth or just plain broken?
5. Do you check it or do you have others check it?
6. How are the other belts and most importantly the balance shaft belt?

As there are several different ideas about when to change, for the price of a new belts you could choose the earlier the better theory of 15-20K vs the 25-30K or 30-35K.

Sorry about the misfortune, I happened to pick mine up w/a btoken T-Belt for a song and a dance and I am trying to get it back together one step at a time.

As Fezz and Mick said look at what caused it and fix it don't give up. I know it is frusterating but to get it back on the road it couldn't be more than a payment or two of a newer car and you are back on the road.

Michael

Mike C.

If the person who changed the belt did things properly (as far as tensioning) and assuming you had it retensioned ater 1000-2000 miles, then it could be a defective belt (I've never seen a confirmed case), or more likely, a roller siezed up. Other possiblities are the balance shaft belt broke, fragments of which have a good chance of taking the cam belt with it. Did you also have the B/S belt done? A siezed water pump would do it but I'm sure you would see the car running hot before that happened. Another possibility, leaking seals getting oil on the belt. Did your car have the updated water pump with the additional cam belt guard? If not, you should really update this.

Jay W

Mick, PM me if you want to sell it. I may be interested and I am local.

icat

I'd side with those who suggest it's due to a roller failure. The last time I had my belts done the rollers were all but seized. I was VERY fortunate. The car had been sitting for a year or so and I decided to have it towed in for the belt service. If I'd have driven it I would likely be several thousand dollars poorer.

mick944

I stopped by the shop(Westport Autohouse) to see my sick 944.They had the TB cover off and showed me the belt.It was missing about 4 inches of teeth and looked very worn(this could have come during disasembly though).The point about about the retensioning the belts is a good one and I don't recall doing that but its been almost 3 yrs since the prev.belt service so who knows.They were going to pull the head tomorrow and start the operation so I should know more then.I have come to grips with the situation so now its just a matter of how fast can they get the damned thing fixed(he said 7-10 days),I miss it not sitting in my garage.Thanks for all the sympathy and support.I'm better now.

89magic98

So, the belt did not break?

If that's the case, wouldn't we all vote that it was a loose belt that skipped a tooth, and the sheared teeth happened during the failure, and was not a cause of the failure? Teeth don't just fall off.