911Dave

I'm getting ready to buy a car that needs the timing belt and water pump service done. How expensive is this service? I'm wondering how much to deduct from the car's value. I know this is a basic question but I did a search and couldn't find a dollar figure. Thanks!

Bill Ball

It varies with geographic economics and quality. Figure $1200-$2000, depending if all the gears need changing (at some point they do). Usually it's a good time to do the front crank and oil pump seals. Every car with 100K miles or more should have that done. Same with radiator hoses and accessory belts. Oh, distributor caps and rotors since they have to come off. It adds up. I've seen quotes as low as $800 on the list, but that must not involve many parts, just the basic TB/WP and/or $50/hr labor rates. Rates here in Nor CA are commonly $125/hr now.

Ketchmi

Sheeeeet Bill, if you find someone "qualified" to work on 928's that only charges $50 an hour shop time, I'll eat my hat! (My chocolate covered bread one anyway.....)

hinchcliffe

I was quoted with 9 hours at $75/hr I think. Took me all of two months to do it myself, and that's just at an hour here and there then one full Saturday. Depends on where you are and if you want to do it yourself, someone might stop by to help you out. About $800 in parts for standard stuff, rebuilding the tensioner, belt, water pump, rollers and standard assorted stuff. Check out DR's site www.928gt.com for a price on parts (they have it in a package)

IcemanG17

Prices vary quite a bit by what parts you need & what year your 928 is....Bill hit the number about right...if you do everything right and change out a bunch of stuff then it will be very pricey....heres a rough estimate I use to figure out the cost...get the prices of all the needed parts then just double it for labor.... Not the most exact, since a T-belt is only $40...but you get the idea by the time you add up all the other parts! Also find a shop (or local 928er) that knows 928's, its worth a bit more per hour, since they will get the job done faster!

Bill Ball

I think there is a guy hidden in the hills of West Virginia unaware of the rest of the world who charges $50/hr. It wasn't that long ago that someone reported an $800 WP/TB job. Not sure if that car is still running.

michaelathome

$400 Parts
$100 Beer and food
$250 Tools that you don't have
$160 Barbecue
$18 A membership and a few posts on Rennlist

______
$928

Michael

Bill Ball

Good one, Michael. We have done just that locally several times. Tool costs decline after the first time, but beer and barbacue goes up as the crowd increases.

Vilhuer

Did change once for about $150 just for heck of it. Owner did most of the labor himself though. Really could have used time to fix GTS but wanted to see in what condition belt and tensioner were on that S4. Car had stayed outside all year round including winters and been of the road for four years. Belt itself looked surprisingly good. Engine had obviously run some time without oil inside tensioner. Tensioner washers had eaten center shaft quite badly because of lack of lubrication.

EDIT: No, make that $0 as owner hasn't payed me yet.

Jim bailey - 928 International

Bill has it right assuming that the job is actually done correctly ...the real cost is when it is DONE incorrectly and there have been far too many examples of that. So not only does one pay $1,200-2,000 you have to deal with the subsequent engine damage. By doing it yourself at least you know who screwed it up should it happen. The 32 valve engines are very easy to bend valves ,the 16 valve engines a too tight belt shears off the drivers side camshaft. The use of a tension tool is the only way to know that the belt is correctly tensioned ask the shop to let you see the tool before letting them touch your car. If they do not use a tool ....RUN AWAY . They may be nice guys ,well intended, and honest but if they lack the tools and workshop manuals to know how to do the job ,let them learn on someone else's car.

911Dave

As usual, a torrential flood of advice! Thanks. The car is an 86.5 5-speed, with 47k miles. The low mileage makes me a little nervous, but the car is otherwise in nearly perfect condition.

I'd love to work on it myself, but this is my first 928 and the only Porsche wrenching experience I have is with my 911, and mainly just easy stuff. For the first service I'd want a pro to do it. I have the good fortune of having two shops near me that know the 928 well and are very honest. I was expecting 1k - 2k including tensioner.

The car's already been inspected and the tech said it's the best one he's seen in 10 years. No problems except the remote hatch release is inop and the passenger side mirror needs to be tightened.

worf928

Far more important than speed and more important than an extra hour or two of labor charges, is knowing that the job has been done correctly. We've seen, recently, too many t-belt jobs done at considerable expense that were not done correctly. Some result in a 'headless' shark, some just result in paying for the work twice.

deliriousga

All I had done were brakes and a little suspension work on my other cars before the 928, none of them Porsches. The 928 is a pretty easy to work on if you are patient, have the FSMs and follow people's advice on this forum.

After buying mine, I did the whole TB/WP etc. job plus the clutch and it was great. I think I really appreciate the 928 more since I've been inside and seen how things tick. The advice I got here was invaluable and the write-up I followed by John Pirtle was easy. Consider doing it if you have a day or two.