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Yes. Depending on what month of manufacture your car is you will have one of two tensioner versions. The early version you can't buy new pads for, the later S4 style you can. You can also convert the whole tensioner from early to late. A couple of threads on that here.
This is a couple pics of disaster just waiting to happen;
I wouldn't say they are a problem area, but they should be inspected / replaced at some point.
In the 944S (same design and parts) they are a problem area and fail prematurely causing catastrophic damage. I got lucky when the chain failed in my 944S, no bent valves, the head was not damaged but both camshafts were destroyed. Thankfully Porsche had new ones on the shelf for only $1,000 each.
The 944S2 (also same design) and 928's do not suffer the same frequency of failure as the 944S. I've read various theories as to why, not sure which one I believe.
With the 944S it's generally accepted they should be replaced by 100k miles (mine failed shortly after). So take that into consideration when setting out a plan to replace them on a 928.
So I've seen some mention of the cam chain pads tossed around. Some say change them others seem to say leave them. My car has 230k miles, and I have no idea if they've ever been touched.
I've read that the 85-86 pads aren't available anymore and that you have to retrofit S4 tensioners. I also saw somewhere that some late 86 cars had S4 tensioners from factory. Is there any way to tell short of pulling the cam covers? The car is an 86.5, vin ending with 1700.
04-18-2019, 10:56 PM
