roman944

is it worth going with a late kit vs early kit?

early car, wondering if I should upgrade the pump and get late timing belt kit

also, any place you guys know that has a good deal on a timing belt kit? or any place like Pelican/Paragon is just fine

thanks!

its been so warm! next time it gets this warm I want to have the parts ready to go on

PorscheDoc

Are you sure you don't already have a late pump installed in the car? It is getting to be very rare to see an old style pump anymore. Upgrade the pump and roller and get the belt guard.

roman944

no, not sure if its already a late pump or not; so I'm ***-uming that its an early pump, and wondering if its a good idea to upgrade everything in there to a late style (starting with pump and belts with rollers)

also, anything else that can be done "while in there" - probably thermostat, new fan switch too

anything else?

do pump and thermostat come with seals (do I need/is there a seal of some kind?)

Mike C.

Do you see a metal guard between the opposing teeth of the cam belt hwere they come close to each other above the water pump pulley? If not, it has probably not been upgraded. Unless you are looking for a 100 point concours original 944, upgrade by all means. The belt guard gives the timing belt more margin for incorrect tension.... so you are less likely to snap the t-belt and bend valves.

alordofchaos

Because a picture is worth 1000 words
(and because i'm at home and have access to pictures)

the guard is between the two studs on the pump (arrows)

roman944

oh I definetly have that guard thingie

m73m95

Where the hell was that picture when I asked this same question a week ago????? lol

Also.... I discovered on my car, I had a late pump with an early belt kit. The small cam roller on the early timing kits is smaller than the late kit with the belt guide..... meaning I have a belt guide on my new pump with the smaller cam roller from the early belt kit. My PO was a cheap/dumb ***.

roman944

so what did you do?

my car had little overheating problems; kind of fixed when plugged the fans in (yah, p/o)

but I'm still wondering if I should do the pump or not? I don't k now how old it is or anything, its not leaking though

leave it as is? and just do the belt? then for me, its safe to say, I buy a late timing belt kit

alordofchaos

I blame IB for some reason, I don't see a bunch of posts and then they (sometimes) show up later. In OT, I went back a couple of days and saw a bunch of old posts that I had never seen before.

There are only three things that I know for sure about 944s; how to tell a late-style waterpump, where the two grounds are in the interior by the driver's left foot, and how to fix the door plunger to stop a battery drain.
Believe me, if I had seen your question last week, I would have been all over it

m73m95

Its time for my yearly belt change, so I ordered a kit from paragon.... the correct kit for my late water pump.

I'm not one to do the pump every other belt change like some people on here. Not that thats wrong, but in my years of being a mechanic, water pumps last longer than a couple of years. If it doesn't leak, and there isn't any play in the pulley shaft (a TINY amount is ok), then I'd say run it another year. Usually when the bearing goes out, the seal goes with it, so it will leak..then you change the pump out.

roman944

ok

I wonder if Vertexauto still has that deal, they had some percentage off, like a big sale

I'm being really dumb about this, I just want to make sure I'm all set lol
things seem to work out for me only on the 2nd try - time to break the pattern

so I'm going to order a late style timing belt kit

also, whats the deal with brands? from some other threads, seems like some brands are better then others? just want to make sure I get quality for the $$$

Mike C.

Nice photo!

alordofchaos

Not mine Is it yours?

snagged it off RL, iirc, and thought it would be useful later.

I'm still a timing belt virgin, so I grabbed all the photos I could for when the big moment comes, so I can practice in my mind what I need to do...

kinda like being a teenager again

m73m95

I'm not sure about vertex's timing belt kits. I just ordered about $800 in brake parts from them, but they were all brands I recognized.

For my timing belts, I always go through Paragon. I don't know if it matters, but they are priced well enough, and I'm sure of the contech (spelling?) quality.

m73m95

I'm not sure about vertex's timing belt kits. I just ordered about $800 in brake parts from them, but they were all brands I recognized.

For my timing belts, I always go through Paragon. I don't know if it matters, but they are priced well enough, and I'm sure of the contech (spelling?) quality.