Brett Jenkins

It was 75f here and stopped raining long enough Sunday for me to get out and tear into the front of the engine. If you recall, the car broke down in Nashville at Xmas time. After removing the cover, I could see a lot of slack on the top run of the belt and I could see that the tensioner wasn't applying pressure at all. It does look like the timing is still on the right marks with the pull and both gears, so hopefully all the noise I heard was the belt slapping or something less destructive that piston/valve intercourse.

I pulled the tensioner and right off I saw that the rubber boot had a 2" tear in it and the tensioner was dry. I guess I'll get the parts to refill and reseal the tensioner, reinstall it and hope for the best.

What's the best place to get those necessary parts?

Also, does someone have a link to the best method to make sure my timing is spot on?

deliriousga

www.928gt.com www.928intl.com www.devek.net

Garth S

Brett,
There is a reason that the TB is slack .... and it is not due to an oil loss from the tensioner.
If you do not intimately know the history of your TB and all the tensioner and rolling bits, it is time to read up on the procedures available here in the search function or on John Pirtles and Greg Nichols sites .... and prepare to do the entire TB replacement deal.
Basically, you need to apply some belt tension and remove the plugs: then, carefully hand rotate the crank (27mm nut) to confirm that turns easily - and that the marks still index correctly on TDC.
If these conditions are met, you have likely dodged a $5K bullet .
The next steps would be to turn to the 45 deg marks, insert a flywheel lock, drain some coolant, etc ... until all the front accessories and fans are out of your way. Then the search begins to see what caused the belt to go slack ... and to replace all worn items.

http://members.rennlist.com/pirtle/svc.html

Gretch

Listen to the man.......for the good of your shark........

SharkSkin

Yep, as Garth says, leave nothing to chance. Slack belt = complete teardown & inspection of the timing system.

Jim bailey - 928 International

One thing is certain the tensioner did not "fail" it is mechanical not hydraulic and without oil it actually gets tighter since the bimetallic cup shaped washers do not heat up as quickly and relax tension as the engine expands. It is possible that the belt was just improperly tensioned but that does not really explain the noise. As others have suggested your car is talking to you... LISTEN. This also points out the need for everyone with a 32 valve engine to CHECK the tension so you know that it is correct and not simply assume that it is OK since the car runs and the prior owner said he had the belt changed. He does not own the car anymore and if the car jumps time he is not going to pay your repair bill typically $4,000 to $7,000 .

Tom. M

words of wisdom again from Mr. Jim Bailey....the cars do talk to you....mine did..on the way to our Sept 05 Track Attack in Spokane. It sounded like a pair of maracas....long steep climb...and on the flat...Tbelt warning.... aaaack......
Seems that two bolts on my tensioner had backed out/snapped and the last remaining was working it's way out..when the tbelt light came on.....one cancel..and it came back on....Immediate clutch in...side of the road coast. Couldn't figure out what the noise was...until Adam B saw it....the tensioner was bouncing against the side of the block...!!!!

Used Adam B's auto 928 to tow me off the side of the highway to a parking area..whilst Jim Hurtt goes off to the west to brave wild junkyard dogs in search of a few replacement bolts, And Thurston P and Adam go east to the next town in search of the same. Jim comes back with bolts that just don't fit..luckily Adam and Thurston had better luck and found perfect replacements. Thurston did the dirty work (and got a burn scar in the process)..and was able to get two bolts to hold my tensioner on for the remainder of the trip to Spokane. Chris Ford is waiting there with an easy out to remove the remains of one of the bolts, and I finally get three solid bolts holding my tensioner on... (of course in my cars previous life...the fourth tensioner bolt was sheared off and never removed...(thats a project for another day)...but since then...tensioner has held good...over 5k miles now..

Don't think I ever thanked those guys for the help that day..could have been a seriously catastrophic event......so..Adam, Thurston, Jim, Chris...thanks again...and lets hope this coming TA...we'll be troubleshooting someone else's car..haha...

Later,
Tom
89GT

Is this a first?....tensioner rebuild on the side of the road haha

PorKen

Tom,

Why didn't all those folks each give you a single bolt from their tensioners?

Tom. M

Haha...we tried to scavange bolts from other parts of the car..but alas...not one fit...and funny..yes....that never did come up....I wonder why..hahah

later,
Tom
89GT