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Just bought an 88 with a new Timing Belt and water pump done by PO. Was driving the other day, the belt light came on. Took off cover to check tension, the belt was a little lose but not by much. Did notice that it was a Conti belt but that it was also tracking pretty far forward of the cam sprocket. After doing some research it seems that the usual cause of this is either bad bushings on the idler arm or a bent pivot bolt. After taking everything apart neither of these items appear to be bad. As I already have everything apart I am going to replace the Conti with a Gates as Ive read the Conti belts are not good. Are there any other possibilities of why the belt is tracking forward ?
That's actually a very normal place, for the belt to run.
Your tensioner boot looks pretty flat. Make sure it is full of oil, as the lack of oil will also light the tensioner warning light.
The aluminum oil pump gear was superceeded to steel in 1989. Yours looks like it still has the coating....just check it for cracks coming out from the holes, which is why it got superceeded.
There's no question that the Gates belt is better by some percentage, but there are a many of the Continental belts running around, without issue.
Since everything appear fairly normal, I'd consider leaving the Continental on and getting some value out of it.
There's also a missing 6mm bolt/washer on the inner timing belt cover, to the right (as you look at the engine from the front) and up from the crankshaft.
The current generation of timing belts are thicker than the original belts. This allows some of the lower right rollers (again, as you look from the front) to touch the belt and spin, which can be a very annoying noise. (You can see your roller is "polished" and has been touching the belt. Porsche went back and forth on using that roller and not using it. The GTS engines do not have that roller. I remove all of them (I cut that entire ear off of the bracket that holds the right roller on the bracket), to avoid having to so the job a second time, from a noisy roller....which I've had to do several times.
That's actually a very normal place, for the belt to run.
Your tensioner boot looks pretty flat. Make sure it is full of oil, as the lack of oil will also light the tensioner warning light.
The aluminum oil pump gear was superceeded to steel in 1989. Yours looks like it still has the coating....just check it for cracks coming out from the holes, which is why it got superceeded.
There's no question that the Gates belt is better by some percentage, but there are a many of the Continental belts running around, without issue.
Since everything appear fairly normal, I'd consider leaving the Continental on and getting some value out of it.
There's also a missing 6mm bolt/washer on the inner timing belt cover, to the right (as you look at the engine from the front) and up from the crankshaft.
The current generation of timing belts are thicker than the original belts. This allows some of the lower right rollers (again, as you look from the front) to touch the belt and spin, which can be a very annoying noise. (You can see your roller is "polished" and has been touching the belt. Porsche went back and forth on using that roller and not using it. The GTS engines do not have that roller. I remove all of them (I cut that entire ear off of the bracket that holds the right roller on the bracket), to avoid having to so the job a second time, from a noisy roller....which I've had to do several times.
Hope that helps!
Thanks for the help Greg. Quick follow up question.
Im not sure which 6mm bolt, you are referring to thats missing. Could you elaborate. I dont see anything missing in the picture.
Also are you saying to leave the left handed roller and remove the right. If so, is there a reason I can't just remove the roller instead of actually cutting of the ear that holds it ?
Thanks for the help Greg. Quick follow up question.
Im not sure which 6mm bolt, you are referring to thats missing. Could you elaborate. I dont see anything missing in the picture.
Also are you saying to leave the left handed roller and remove the right. If so, is there a reason I can't just remove the roller instead of actually cutting of the ear that holds it ?
thanks again
Directly below the red timing pointer, in your picture, there appears to be the aluminum bushing in the plastic cover, without a bolt....might just be a camera thing...or my old eyes.
Yes, you can certainly remove the right hand roller and leave the pin it mounts on.
I just try to make it look exactly like the factory bracket for the single roller.....because I can.
Admittedly, I'm a bit "over the top", with what I do...."OCD" would be an understatement!
Directly below the red timing pointer, in your picture, there appears to be the aluminum bushing in the plastic cover, without a bolt....might just be a camera thing...or my old eyes.
Yes, you can certainly remove the right hand roller and leave the pin it mounts on.
I just try to make it look exactly like the factory bracket for the single roller.....because I can.
Admittedly, I'm a bit "over the top", with what I do...."OCD" would be an understatement!
perfect thanks for clarifying. I’m definitely OCD myself so I guess I will be cutting it off. now I need to see how it looks with only the one bearing. I want to make sure I cut it so it looks exactly the same !! -
perfect thanks for clarifying. I’m definitely OCD myself so I guess I will be cutting it off. now I need to see how it looks with only the one bearing. I want to make sure I cut it so it looks exactly the same !! -
Simple!
I'll take a picture of a bracket with a single roller, for you.
And a picture of a double roller, with dotted cutting line.
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New Timing Belt Tracking
