jbrill

Hey guys,

I was driving home from work the other day and my car started making a "clacking" sound, i knew it wasn't good.

Today i pulled the valve cover and found that both cams are missing some teeth on the sprockets and my timing chain is broken at one link, but only on one side.

Clearly im going to have to replace both cams as well as the chain. any idea as to what could cause this? how about the best way to find parts? Anything else i should look at replacing while im in there?

I need help here!

The car is a 1990 944s2 only has 80,000 kms on it

I'll be doing all the work myself. I really need help finding parts as I am doing this on a tight budget!

Thanks in advance guys!

FRporscheman

www.autohausaz.com has low prices. I shop with them often and they run a good business.

For things I can't find at autohaus, I love to try www.paragon-products.com. And for those dealer-only parts, it has to be Sunset Imports, a Porsche dealer in Oregon with the lowest prices in the US (only 15% markup).

You should replace the chain, cams, tensioner, tensioner pads, tensioner tube washers, cam oil seals, valve cover gasket, spark plug hole gaskets, valve cover bolt o-rings, and the big cam sprocket bolt.

You should think about also changing the timing belt and BS belt. For the cam job, you'll have to take out the old belt anyway..... Good luck!

jbrill

Hey thanks for the quick reply.
I have recently (last 6 months) done a timing belt, balance shaft belt and all new rollers/tensioners.

But I will definitely be buying:
- 2x Cams
- Cam chain
- Tensioner pads
- Cam oil seals

also i had a concern about the tensioner itself, how can i tell if that failed and was the cause to the broken sprocket teeth and chain links. Or would a tensioner failure be more catastrophic? I would reall prefer not spending $450+ on a tensioner that didn't need to be replaced.

joemis

I would change everything FRporscheman suggested plus the tensioner oil tube as they have been known to fatigue over time and break. I know it's a lot of money for parts, but this way you do it once. Sounds like you were lucky since the chain did not totally fail. These things sometimes destroy the cylinder head when then break.

Joe M.
89 944S2

FRporscheman

There's no way to know how good or bad the tensioner is. But one day it will fail, and it can destroy your cams and your valves. Believe me, I understand how much it sucks to add $450 to a repair just for "insurance" but it sucks even more to have to buy 2 cams again and a set of valves. These tensioners have been known to last past 100,000 miles, and some fail at 50,000 miles.

Wallace

wow dude, wtf.
You're scaring me now...

I'm glad I replaced my whole tensioner when I bought the car.

Is there any evidence of cracked j-tube, worn down/cracked tensioner pads, or any else that could cause this?

If you need any help repairing it, let me know.

As for parts:

Uli at Weissach is a great guy to deal with. Parts are expensive, but usually in stock, and he ships them to me for free (I tell them to just drop them off the next time the delivery truck is in my area). Sadly, I'm on a first name basis with him because I order so many parts....

Jerry at Burnaby Auto Parts is also a great guy to deal with. They're cheaper than Weissach, but usually only have common replacement parts. Also free shipping. They often have discounts on brake pads and stuff.

I've also bought parts from Scan in North Van. James is super nice. A little expensive, but they know their stuff.

The crappy thing is, with our dollar at below $0.80 US, with shipping, duty, and conversion, parts are about the same price from the States.

Both 944online.com and Paragon are very knowledgable and should have everything you need.

I usually call all these companies, as you never know who might have sales, specials, or old stock they want to get rid of. Just last week I needed all new brakes (front and rear pads, rotors, and sensors). Priced it out to be about $1000 all in from most places, but by calling around and working out some cash deals, I was able to get everything for less than $500 all in. Front rotors from Scan (cross drilled), pads and rear rotors from Burnaby Auto Parts, and sensors from Weissach.

ballysdad

go to www.944online.com and look in their tech section.. Ian posts the disclaimer anytime someone picks up a dual overhead cam..He has pictures of what happens and why..http://www.944online.com/cgi-bin/for...num=1209471555 link

Chads996

I agree with Ian. YOU MUST CHECK THE PADS. I advise every 60K if not sooner.

Be sure to check EVERY inch of that head for damage. You could have also potentially damaged the cam retainer bolts.

C.

jbrill

Here are some photos of the damage. please let me know what you think:

Overall shot ( notice the broken teeth on each cam)


Just a show of the tensioner, the pads are a tiny bit worn but they don't look to horrible


The broken link (on the right side, but the inner link)






The Wear on the tensioner

b5audia4

Might as well replace with a new tensioner while you are in there.

I got an OEM tensioner (with new rails) and timing chain from Paragon.

Wallace

Hmm, the top pad looks fine, but you'll have to check the bottom pad as well.

jbrill

i think either way i will replace the tensioner pads, but i just REAAAAAAALLLY don't want to buy the whole tensioner if i don't have to....

ballysdad

The problem is they look fine but get very brittle with age.It may just crumble when you remove it..

FRporscheman

Those grooves look fairly deep... I changed the pads out of my 220k mile car and the grooves were about 0.5mm deep...

reno808

Jbrill what kind of wheels are those? any pics of them?