RobbyK

Is there a way a certified Porsche mechanic can look at the timing belt and know its ok, also what is the going rate for timing belt replacement now ?

Ethan

Mine was $550. I think it is tough to tell if it is on its way out.
-Ethan

Adam Roberts

I'm in the same kinda' situation. The guy I bought my car from said the timing belt was changed, and has been a pretty honest guy (told me there was a cooling problem straight out) but he doesn't have any receipts for it.

Is there a way to look for cracks or something? I agree it would be cruddy to spend $500 to change a belt that is perfectly fine.

potent951turbo

Pull the front cover off the front of your eninge and just visually inspect the belt. The cover is held on by several 10mm bolts and then pops right off. You will most likely have to remove your power steering and a/c belts. If your front seals are leaking at all this can shorten the life of the belt so you will want to look out for that. Also check the cogs on the belt and make sure you can't flip them off, some of the old belts I have seen the cogs would just pop off one by one with your finger. And just look for the freshness of everything... does the belt look new, do the tensioners look old or new? I found changing the timing belt on a 944 is the easiest car I have done one on.

MichelleJD

The best axiom: No receipts=it wasn't done. Timing belts are too important. You can do them yourself for a couple of hundred bucks. It's well worth the piece of mind. There are som many things that can go wrong: the rollers can seize, the belt can break, if it's a non-updated 86 or older, the belt catch on itself and break....it's better to do them if you aren't sure. My 2cents worth - knowing that advice is worth what you pay for it <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

Robert D

Simple job. I recommend attempting to find the tensioning tool and do it yourself for assurance.

pete944

I changed mine last summer. They only had 11,000 miles on them but they were installed in 1996. They still looked brand new when I removed them.