drew

Here is another question, exactly what are we checking for? I understand that any evidence of cracking on the pad requires an immediate replacement, but what about simple wear, what is acceptable? Mine has 125,000miles and the wear is about half a finger nail thickness. I am assuuming the PO replaced it.
What about the tensioner itself, how do we indicate acceptable wear on this part. An what to look for on the chain?

rpm's S2

When I changed out my pad at 118k it was not too badly worn, but once I had removed it I discovered that it was developing a crack that I had not noticed on the initial visual inspection. I was glad to have it out of there.
On the chain itself you are looking for evidence of wear, broken or worn areas, etc.
At 118K mine looked fine.

Crackhead944S

I followed the procedure in the link in "rpm's s2"'s first post. I replaced the tensioner and both pads, because in an old post I was told you can't get the bottom pad. I found out today you can get it for about 300 bucks. Someone from the UK posted that he could get for about $3. But I had already bought the tensioner and both pads from Paragon for about $280.00.

I didn't, but I know I should have replaced the crush washer's on the J-tube that feeds the tensioner. There are four of them.

Just be careful not to lose the little crush washers in your engine. I almost did.

My car had 123K miles on it. No service records after '93 and I think the part was original. It didn't look bad at all, but 123K and $2,000+(I've heard) to replace the head, I figured its cheap insurance.

Now, I just need to lift the intake cam to change out the chain.

Mark
'88 944S

Tom Pultz

My advice is if you don't know when your tensioner was changed, and you have more than 50K on your car... change it. It's not just mileage that eats these, it's the heat and stress over the years that makes the pads brittle.

Any weekend mechanic can change the tensioner with simple hand tools, just be sure to torque the bolts to the correct torque of 7 ft-lb.

rpm's S2

Crackhead's advice on being careful with those little washers is on the money! I dropped one and it almost went all the way down through one of the gaps. Had a hell of a time finding it in the oil.

jim968

Does anybody know if there's a replacement chain available that uses a master link, as opposed to one that's all in a continuous loop?

Jim, "There is a fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness'."

Casper

Are thes part numbers for the plastic pads the same for the '87 S and the S2?

Tim

Johan928

Guys,
I am curious as to how many failures of the pad on the tensioner have been documented. Is there a definite number? I am asking because I am looking at purchasing a 90' S2 for my wife. The car in question has over 85k miles on it. I've had my 88' 928S4 for 3.5 years, and have never once heard any rumble of a failure of this part within the 928 community. The S4 has a tensioner for each bank of cylinders, and I belive the set up is very similar if not the same as that of the S2 engine. My 928 has 84k miles, and my neighbor's 89' 928 has 150,000+ miles, and I do not know anyone who drives their car has hard as he does. He's driven the car very hard since he purchased it with 80k miles on the odo, some 5 years ago. Is there an archive for the documented failures?
John

pete944

Here's a thought on why 928's may suffer fewer tensioner problems. Correct me if I'm wrong (I probably am) but wouldn't the 928's cams be turning at a slower rpm relative to engine rpm than a 944's cam due to having two banks of camshafts vs. one?

Johan928

944Pete,
That might be true, but I wonder if they do turn slower, how much slower. Higher RPMS would increase the wear and might well increase the possibility of failure. Is there a comprehensive list of the folks who have had the tensioner or pad fail, or have a few people had this failure, and shared it with the board? There can always be a failure of a part, I've heard of a fellow 928 owner, who had the oil pump sprocket come loose, causing the T-belt to quit doing it's job resulting in crashed heads times two. Everything is prone to failure, I was just trying to get a feel for a percentage of folks who have had this failure for the S2, or S engines.
John

thedyingiraffe

944Sboyeeee:

My chain tensionner let go @ about 75K... Be afraid... be very afraid

drew

I can support the suggestion that it can be replaced in two hours and some very basic tools. Going from memory a metric allen wrench to remove the tensioner and J tube (replace the crush washers) Two bolts hold on the tensioner, and two bolts hold on the J tube. The tensioner slides right out from underneath the chain after the J tube is removed. As long as the cams don't move relative to each other the replacement is just as simple. If the top pad is being replaced it's held in place by a guide that the old slips off of and the new slips on. The bottom seems held on by some sort of rivets >??
Mine was developing a crack in the plastic that wasn't there a year and 4000 miles ago, replaced the top pastic only.
And yes the part numbers do begin 928....

Jeff928S4

Changed my top pad 4000 Klms ago......

....doing the entire tensioner this summer.

My new top pad is white - looks very neat.

Does the bottom pad ever "go" and cause problems??? When we replaced the top pad, I could see groove marks in the bottom pad.

944S Boyeee

Micah

I commented on this before; my mechanic informed me that he will not work on a 944S with over 100k if the tensioner and both bads have not been replaced in the vehicle's history. He believed it was generally a good idea to replace at 90-100k anyway.

His take was to simply cought up the money and replace the pads, tensioner and chain at 100k. I mean, realistically... if you own one of these cars, you're probably only going to do that twice (at the most) so I don't think it's that big a of a deal considering the consequences of a complete failure.

Micah

Tom R.

Boyee,
did your timing belt break or your cam chain break?

John R,
I posted on the 928 board, and it is a non issue for 928s. The consensus on the 928 board was replace it if you are in there, otherwise leave it alone.

The pad is a $3 or $25 part depending where you get it. The tensioner assembly is about $250.

Answering your direct question, there is no list of failures, just a failure here and there, and a lot of people preaching preventative maintence.

Here is my recommendation for the S2 from what I read.

Replace the pad every 60-80k and replace the tensioner every other pad. Some say it is ok to replace the tensioner every third pad.

Porsche has not published anything on this topic, so the above is just my paranoia driven opinion.

I replaced my pad at 69k, the old pad was solid, but had a nice grove about 1mm deep. For me the $25 for the pad gave me peace of mind.

It seems the bottom pad is not an issue.