zorbas23x

Three months ago i was driving on I-4 north of Orlando going to Daytona beach to meet a buddy of mine when during a downshift acceleration my timing belt tension light came on.Pulled over turned the engine off wasted a couple of hours to check the belts loosness and retighten(thank god i carry tools with me and the kemph tool too).Every thing is been fine every since until today when on my way back from dinner with the wife it did it again.My shark is a 86.5 tb was done 3yrs ago with the wp at the same time and the tensioner was rebuild at the time too.Since then i`ve done about 17.000 miles on the car.Anybody has any idea what`s going on because as soon as i got home i took of the pass side cover and at first look the tensioner was cleen and no leeks of oil

Thaddeus

I'd say it's time to do your timing belt, water pump, and rollers again. I wouldn't drive it until they're done.

The car is 20 years old... stuff wears out faster on an old car.

ErnestSw

There's one of two things happening, either you've got something failing like a bending bolt, a roller bearing, or some other part of the timing belt system, or you've got a broken warning circuit. The warning circuit depends on an intact ground connection.
If you check your tension and it's OK suspect the warning circuit. Don't drive the car until you positively identify the cause.

Rick Carter

You might want to consider removing the cam covers and inspecting every component of the TB system. It might not be a bad idea to replace the bushing in the tensioner arm. A search for bent valves might be informative.

Normy

Is your car electric blue?

-There was a car in Zotz garage in Orlando with problems for months. It was an S2, or "Euro", with the odd lights. Young guy was trying to sell it about two years ago.

[you should put a basic description of your car in your signature; roll the screen to the top and look for "UserCP", and then click on "edit signature". Tell us what year you have, and at least the transmission: auto or manual.]

If your timing belt light came on, it means that you have an '85 or later car, and that the timing belt tensioner has reached the end of its travel, and cannot continue to keep the belt tight. If the belt stretches further, then it is either possible for it to jump a tooth or break altogether.

THIS IS A DISASTER!!! This means rebuilding your heads, since the valves will hit the pistons, and you are looking at $8000 in repairs!

Make sure the sensor system is not falsing first....

The moral of the story: Tomorrow, December 27th, you will either drop your 928 off at a Porsche shop, or a Porsche shop will start work on your timing belt change, or YOU will pull out your WSM for the car and via these and Rennlist figure out how to test the warning system to preclude that before you tear the front of the engine off.

THIS light is serious business on this car dude! I can't emphasize this enough.

N!

zorbas23x

When i did the tb three yrs ago i rebuild the rollers and bearings also changed the rubber boot and that little expensive gasket.Also back in april i did a major replacment of all the hoses on the engine and the resealed the fuel injectors with both small and large o-rings replaced the mounts for the fuel injection breather and tt and tranny rebuiledand in the end i did a compression test that gave me the results of an engine that hasen`t been broken in yet

zorbas23x

My car is meteor grey metallic and is an auto.I bought it of a doctor who was retiring back in 2000 in St.Petersburg FL and it was in good condition exept for a few cracks on the dash and pod.It`s been my daily driver on and off since then with no major problems and i live in sebring and not Orlando dude

MGW-Fla

Heyyyyyy George, you gonna let Angelo look at the your car tomorrow or what??? I dont wanna hear you cryin if your timing belt does break, you'll be buyin that 83 with 52k miles on it thats for sale there near you if that happens!! Probably just a faulty sensor like has been said. Better to be safe than sorry right?

Jim_H

zorbas23x

you bet Mel and from what i gan see it`s probably a faulty sensor

Bill Ball

My TB did this once - two retensions needed within a few months. That is not a good sign. Normally a retension at 1500 miles on a new belt is about it. It should be stable from then on out. My suspicion - the belt was stretching probably because the tensioner was not holding oil, allowing the tensioner to over-tension and stretch the belt when the engine got warm. The oild lubricates ans transmites engine heat to the washer pack inside the tensioner that is repsonsible for reducing the tension applied to the belt as the engine heats up and expands. I replaced the belt and serviced the tensioner extra carefully, and I have since been checking the tensioner oil often. The new belt has been fine for two years. Tension check at 1500 miles and that's it. You say no sign of leaks. Top off the tensioner oil anyway and see if it is full.

Also, I am suspicious that some of the brands of aftermarket belts are not as good as others. Don't go cheap on the belt.

If it is a faulty circuit, it should not cancel unless ths fault is intermittent, which would be hard to diagnose. I've never heard of anyone reportoing an intermittent fault. Usually the false alarms are due to a broken tensioner arm wire. Of course, a truly loose belt will not allow the warning to cancel either. I get really scared if the warning will not cancel. I check the belt and belt tension immediately. If it is OK, then I test the circuit for a break.

heinrich

If it happens only on very violent kickdown, and everything (under all the covers) looks fine and the tension does not need alteration, I would say it can be only cam timing. But it isn't IMHO dangerous. You should check path and state of all components. Pay attention to the water pump roller for play.

zorbas23x

Well guys just to be on the safe side i orderd a timing belt the tensioner boot from DR today.I checked the shark more carefully and it look fine so since i have the covers off i might as well put a new tb on but no wp since the miles i have done on the shark since the last change does not justify it.I did measured the tension on the belt and it was with in specs but just to be on the safe side i will put a new one on

Randy V

It sounds like you have a good understanding of the TB and related tensioning system. As others have indicated, I'd also say it's - probably - a faulty tension warning circuit. The 86-87 model years are notorious for it.

ErnestSw

It doesn't sound like you've discovered the cause of the warning. Look at your connections carefully and check all wires for continuity. You don't want to get the car buttoned up and have the warning come beck.