Yummybud924

I say just go for it. When I first did the belts it was the first time working on a 944 and previous to that I had barely done any kind of mechanical repairs on any car (spark plugs / water pump on a 924).

clarksgarage has a detailed and good writeup on this.

seriously if I could do this I'm sure anyone else can you just go to stop being scared.

if you're not doing the water pump it should be pretty quick even if you're going real slow.

the water pump can add significant time considering the likelihood of breaking water pump bolts.

Landseer

I've done 3 928's and a 944 in the last 13 months.

My tensioning tool for the 928 doesn't work on the 944, so I just used hand calibration. Set the 928, did the 944 to feel same. Turns out, when done, was able to rotate to just about 90 degrees. No problem. At least with tension

Bought the angled wrench and the tensioner spanner wrench from one of the sponsors here.

I have some photos, for what its worth, but not great ones. Clarks garage write up was mediocre for me.

Had squalling rollers and tensioners, replaced all. Got tensioners switched by mistake, refit them, then missed a washer under one that caused TB to track against block shroud. 5 miles, terrible whine, disassemble and fix. Great now.




What I think a lot of folks on 944's miss is the double-acting thermostat. When it opens, it also closes. People miss the seal behind the stat. Then they run hotter than they should, I think.

Here's a shot before diving in.

Yummybud924

what I did was use the 90 degree method plus 40 pounds on the kricket tool. then I took it to my porsche shop and they told me it was very close to proper tension. I doubt if you are off a tiny bit it will have any effect.

now for the balance shaft belt the kricket and twist method are useless. you can kind of use a twist method on the balance shaft as well I think it's a 180degree twist vs 90 degree twist for the timing belt.

then just take it to your porsche mechanice and they'll charge you like one hour labour to adjust your belts.

V2Rocket

yummybud whos the girl? lol

did my TB early '06...maybe time soon for another..

Darwantae951

Definitely not afraid to tackle this one.

Done my car twice and a friends car once. There really is no major difference (regarding difficulty) between the turbo and NA. Just the itty bitty turbo thermostat in the water pump really. (It's a block off plate on NAs) but I can't speak for the 16v guys. I wonder whats all involved.

FRporscheman

I've done so many I've lost count but I think it's around 10. I even did one using the twist method instead of the kricket. It's no big deal if you're the type that pays attention to detail and cares enough to be thorough. On a 968 it's too easy, with the hydraulic tensioner. No need to tension or retension. I don't even bother checking the tension. But with the spring tensioner I have to at least check it.

I first got into 944s with this ultimatum: "Son, fix this 944 clutch and you can have the car. Or else we take it to a mechanic, pay $1500, and you mom keeps the car." Since then I've always felt compelled to maintain and repair the car myself. After 7 years though it has gotten tiresome and I wouldn't mind being able to take it into a shop once in a while.

marky522

Can i vote more than once if I am the "Professional" that the people in group 1 and 3 take there cars too??? LOL Belts are simple, next time i do them ill try to remember to do a really good writeup.

Mark

gregeast

One headgasket, one set of belts and 3 turbo installations (don't ask).

Trust in Arnnworx for all the tools, gauges and procedures that you need.

http://www.arnnworx.com/

Mark944na86

Yeah, my first time coming up in the next few weeks (still assembling some of the tools... I have all the parts now.) Like Luis, I've done a reasonable amount of of amateur mechanic stuff on these cars (a very similar list to Luis', actually!), but I've never had to do the belts until now, and was always a bit uncertain if I would actually end up doing this myself. Serious consequences: doubly so when you have 16 valves to bend instead of 8! Not the sort of job you do just for the fun of it.

But part f the ownership experience for me is a slow but steady increase in my confidence to do more technically difficult jobs on the car. Rennlist certainly helps in this regard. Actually, I can't imagine trying this without some friendly expert help, and of course, that's what Rennlist has lots of.

Like Luis, I have fairly limited facilities to work on the car, and when in the midst of it all I can develop a bad case of "workshop envy"... those guys with a hoist and a full set of workshop tools don't know they're alive! grrr.. But even if I'm not having fun while I'm actually under the car, I enjoy the fact that I've taken a bit more direct responsibility in keeping the car running well while I'm driving it.

And of course, I can make the budget go further in terms of parts if I'm providing the labour myself. So much so that when I got a quote to do the belts from the local expert P-shop, I decided instead to do it myself and spend the same money on new shocks/struts all around. Also, I'll be replacing the rollers at the same time, which the basic shop job didn't cover.

Thanks Rennlisters!

yellowline

I got my hands on 3 sets of belts with my old 83. Really easy in that car...no PS belt to remove, and there was plenty of room to work from the top. Add the right tools (the offset wrench is well worth the price), and a belt job is relatively easy wrenching as these cars go. No lie, the most annoying part was removing the airbox and undertray.

Not as easy on the 3 liter cars.

theykallmekem

thats an awesome picture landseer !! so that is what it looks like lol.

i dont think ill ever do something like that.....you guys make it sound so easy to do !!!! i have the haynes repair manual on me and i saw the way the belts were and the step by step directions, it was soo much material !! clarks-garage made my head hurt =...(

Landseer

I just read, research, and then let the wrenches lead me, don't be too **** about the instructions..

Did the injectors and some other stuff while in there --- since you liked that pic --- 2 more....

Techno Duck

Witnessed the first done on my 924S by the mechanic who worked at my fathers shop. I read all the awe behind it on the forums, printed out directions for them. He glanced over them at the start and never picked it up again. He finished the job in about 4 hours with water pump replacement and said "its really nothing special, ive done worse cars. The intervals are kinda short though". That i guess was an eye opening experience. Many people make the timing belt on these cars out to be something designed by the devil..but honestly it really is nothing special. And there are many cars around now days with interference engines! Like what was said to me, there really isnt anything special..its just the interval for the belts on one of these cars is a little shorter than most.

Did the timing belt myself on my '87 about 3 weeks after buying it, replaced it once more on the car prior to selling it. I have also done quite a few belt jobs on the side for people, i think about 5 other people total. I have used almost ever derivative of Bruce Arnn's tension tools and all of them worked very well. The newest one in my opinion is easier to use and provides more consistent results than the factory 9201 tool. I try not to do the belt jobs on the side for people however.. too much liability i guess you can say. I dont mind standing there as an adviser though.

Having done it on my 951 also, i actually think its a little easier especially with a MAF setup. With the factory airbox out of the way you basically have a straight, relativley unobstructed shot right at the belts. The n/a requires removal of the airbox and the j-boot making it a little more time consuming.

I remember working on iloveporsche, it was hot as hell out and we ran across an issue with the alternator tensioner. And on Mello's white '86 951, my first time doing the belts on a 951... that starter heat shield was a nightmare and we ran of out light pretty quickly .

bjzorn

Nope, Ive done one belt job on the car, and I had the P-car dealer I worked at do the last one, this next one, I think I will do it, but have one of the techs help me on it as well, I figure since I work for Porsche again, might as well, take advantage of the skills

schwank

It is soooo easy. I bought the Arnnworx tools the first time around and was super nervous. But since then I've done them probably a half dozen times using the finger method with no problems.

It really is easy and I can't fathom paying for a belt job. Though it does take a little longer with belt covers!