Will Feather

Dude the freaking twist method is fine, myself and plenty of other people do it all the time.

Roman if the car started and ran thats a good sign, but even 1 tooth off can result in a bent valve.

roman944

well, me and my dad went with the "twist it" method, not entirely sure if we did it right

he had a box truck in Russia and he said this is how they did/checked belts on their cars

we're being careful

once the battery is charged up and the balance shaft belt is on, we are going to try and start the car again and see if it runs - it might need to "warm up and get the juices going" since a whole year of just sitting there untouched can and does take its toll ... I've seen that happen when I was helping my uncle around his shop

kinda happy it atleast started, it was such a joy to hear the engine work again, LOL

we are not writing off the valve noise onto absence of the balance shaft either, but with that belt on, a lot of noises are going to go away and once the car warmed up we'll be able to tell much better if something is wrong (I think)

944Ross

Used the twist method on both my cars, no problems. It is the spec'd method for many other kinds of OHC cars/engines. I used to be afraid of the 944's whole timing system, but now I believe the key to success is not tensioning near as much as having tensioners/rollers that are in good shape.

75ohm

And a good water pump...

roman944

hm for me right now, the starter spins but the car doesn't start, I hear it click and the car starts to turn over but doesn't start; going to try and clean all the terminals and try again

the car sat outside and I read on Clark's that the starter is supposed to have some kind of a cover over it - well, mine doesn't has it ... so rain/sleet/snow/ice its always "open"

meh, more stuff to do, LOL

roman944

hm for me right now, the starter spins but the car doesn't start, I hear it click and the car starts to turn over but doesn't start; going to try and clean all the terminals and try again

the car sat outside and I read on Clark's that the starter is supposed to have some kind of a cover over it - well, mine doesn't has it ... so rain/sleet/snow/ice its always "open"

meh, more stuff to do, LOL

75ohm

Well... I know some folks that have run one tooth off since their last belt change, not me, and no names involved... oh yes, without valve damage.

75ohm

Curious, how do you do yours?

roman944

well, like it was expected, I need to either rebuild my cylinder head, or get a good used one

thx for the help dudes!

car started, and ran, really rough and really loud, and nothing to do with warming up or anything

anyone makes a cylinder head rebuild kit or something? or piece one together? or is it better to buy a used cylinder head?

thanks!

Will Feather

Really? I guess I didnt know that. Good to know.

OntarioTurbo

Since your in northern New York, try looking up Chris White (New York) or Markus Blaszak (Ontario). They are both on the Rennlist forum, so you should be able to do a search for them. Markus had a rebuilt head that was in "ready to go" condition, so I just traded mine in. Both of these fine gents are excellent engine builders and should be able to help you out.

As far as belt tensioning, I used the twist method after first installing the belt and then retensioned with an Opti-belt tool (similar to the Kricket, but better quality). When I retensioned, I noticed the belt was slightly tighter than specified with the Opti-belt tool so that tells me the twist method probably sets the tension a little on the tight side, but I wouldn't hesitate to use it. It does take a few tries to get a good "feel" of the tension when twisting the belt 90 deg., but done right it should be fine. many other manufacturers tension their belts this way and it is used in industry as well.

944Sknight

Well guys, "the car ran really rough and really loud." What does it tells you? I rest my case.

JohnKoaWood

It tells me a few things...
1) He damaged his head when the old timing belt broke.
2) he got it back together properly, but didn't fix the prior damage done when his old timing belt broke.
3) It sat for a YEAR, and rather than swap out all the fluids, pull the DME relay, and crank for 15 seconds at a time to pump up the oil pressure prior to starting, he cranked it and it started, with 0 Oil anywhere but the oil pan...
4) He should have cranked it to get oil pressure prior to trying to start he car.
5) He should have rolled the engine a full crank rotation by HAND prior to cranking it on the starter, to make sure the T-belt tension was set correctly..
6) His noise has ab-so-frikin-leutly nothing to do with the belt tensioning meathod, It is all about the lack of oil in the lifters and his excited starting of the car.

The twist method is well accepted method of tensioning a timing belt...period.

anyone who is willing to take their 20+year old car (that has been parked for a year waiting for a new timing belt) to a porsche specialist is a glutton for punishment, but whenever you find yourself in need of work to be done, there are more than enough people here, who would welcome your money..I mean car... to their shops...

Roman,
Do a compression test, if it fails the compression test perform a leakdown test.. the leakdown test will tell you WHAT is broken... based on where you hear the hissing sound (exhaust (valve), intake (valve), or oil fill neck (piston/rings), bubbles in the coolant tank means a bad head gasket) do this BEFORE removing the head. Knowing what needs to be fixed CAN save you money in the long run... I would hate for you to pull the head, have all the work done for a rebuild, re-install the head and all the other bits, only to find out it didn't fix your problem.

IF it passes the compression test, you need to fix your vacuum leak, drain the gas, change the fuel filter, change the oil, clean all the electrical contacts up, get a fresh battery and restart the car...

75ohm

If you are resting your case as the "defense" as to why you shouldn't use the twist method, you've lost your case.

roman944

woah woah woah

we did manually turn the engine before starting it

I didn't just "start it" - turned the key in the "on" position etc. and then "off", pumped the gas pedal, etc etc etc - this wasn't a "5 mnt process" plus the battery is/was really dead

anycase, ready for the LS1 swap now, LOL

but really, we'll see where this is headed, definitely fixing the car though