I have a 1979 928 Euro 5 speed. I started to replace the timing belt and water pump this weekend. Roger talked me into doing it with the incredible instructions someone from this forum put together. This is definitely out of my comfort zone. We had the timing belt marked at TDC and the notches on the cam gears lined up fairly close. The passenger side cam gear was almost dead on to the market. When we released the tensioner and pulled the belt off the passenger cam gear we felt it spin. Now the marker is about 5 grooves off from where it was. It rotated towards the inner fender on the passenger side 5 grooves. The driver is one groove away from the marker at this point. I have no clue how it spun. We have the tool in the flywheel locking that in place. It doesn't spin freely when we try to adjust it. I'm hoping somebody can guide me on how to fix this. Thanks for any help!

 

Use a wrench on the cam gear bolt and rotate back until the marks line up. It is a none interference motor so no harm done.
So when you come to string the belt use the wrench to line up the marks.

 

I don't think that's a problem. The spring tension on the cams will move the cam a little. When it comes time to reinstall the belt, you can put a wrench on the cam gear and turn it back a little to the correct notch.
Someone tell me if that's wrong. Good luck,
Dave

 

NOTE when you go to turn the cam back to the line up marks,
make sure your turning the cam with the 30 or 32 MM washer under the 17mm bolt head .

DO NOT turn the cams with the 17 mm bolt

Since the crank is locked first turn the driver side cam to its line up position,
put the belt on so its tight, then use a ziptie to hold the belt onto the pulley you might need a helper for this.

Then thread the belt under the WP pulley,
then turn the right side cam to its line up point then put the belt on.
Then pull the pin.
NOTE you might need help holding the DS cam in place while you fit the belt to the PS cam

DO NOT turn the cams with the 17 mm bolt

 

Good point Mr. Merlin

 

Try not to panic. It's no harder than any other car and much easier than many.

The important thing is when it's all together and tensioned up you can wind it over a couple of times and the marks still all line up.

 

Always listen to Mr. Merlin! It's gold!

 

You guys are awesome! We kept working once we saw the response but it was real peace of mind knowing we weren't in big trouble yet. I'll make sure we line up the cam markers with the harmonic balancer at TDC. Since we had to pull the distributor to do the cam tower seals, do I need to make sure that the distributor is pointing at #1. When we took the cap off I noticed it was pointing between 3 and 7. When we pulled it out then it rotated back and was pointing more towards 1 as it slid out. Before I seal it up and crank it over and potentially cause major problems, Is there any other pieces of advice? I just want to double check and make sure I didn't miss something major. Thanks again guys!

 

The Euro 16v motors are non-interference too? Thought they weren't with the higher compression and higher lift cams?

If you look closely at the rim of the distributor there should be a scribe mark that the rotor should point toward. It's on the top edge so only visible with the cap removed. Because the distributor gears are angled, you'll actually have the rotor pointed a bit counter clockwise of that mark when installing it and as it goes in and the angled gears mesh, it will rotate a little. It needs to end up pointing at #1 and that indicator mark when fully inserted, not start out pointing at it.

 

Pete I think the Euro interference motors started in 1980. The 78 and 79,s were the same as the US engines and the power differences only had to do with the pollution controls. Maybe Jim or Droo will chime in on this to verify.

 

Thanks. That makes sense looking at the engine type chart from 928 Specialists. The 300 HP Euro engine started in '80. Before then, it was only a 10 HP difference (229 vs 219).

 

Quick update on the car. I waited a couple days to get two additional seals that needed to be replaced when we dug into the camshaft seals. The step by step instructions that Douglas Brownridge put together are incredible. I wouldn't have even attempted this had the detailed instructions and photos not been so incredibly well done. This was very satisfying to get more familiar with the car and also take the chance to thoroughly clean everything while we were at it. I went through a serious amount of brake cleaner just pulling off oil that had made it's way into every corner of the engine bay. I was fortunate to have a lift which also makes this job so much more comfortable. I just wanted to say that we did get everything lined up and got it started. The timing is off and I am waiting on a timing gun I can borrow soon but for now it starts up and idles smooth. I probably lost about 10 lbs in excess oil that was stuck to the car. Thanks for the advice and helping ease the nerves.. I greatly appreciate all the enthusiasts who took the time to help out someone they don't even know.

 

I'm wondering what can be done during intervals before a timing belt/water pump replacement?
Any thoughts on the below mechanically as well as the costs and/or ability to DIY on the early non interference 16v 928s:
-balance belts every 4 years?
-front oil seals?
-does a ratty valve train indicate a damaged camshaft or severe vale train wear?
-are the intake and exhaust valve joined? what proactive maintenance can be done here?
-is the tensioner oil fed where the pads on the tensioner can wear out over 50k miles/time?
and belts,tensioners and water pump every 8 years or 50k miles?

 

I'm a little concerned about your questions, many of these don't make any sense for an early 2 valve motor:

928s don't have balance belts
Define 'ratty'
No, intake and exhaust valves are not joined.
There are no tensioner pads on the 16V motor cars.
50K miles is a reasonable TB interval, probably overkill for tensioner and waterpump as long as neither is leaking.

I think you might have better results for all of your requested help if you open a thread on your 1980 and keeping all your questions about that car in that thread, rather than randomly bumping old threads that may or may not be related.