gruffalo

This might be a silly question, but here it goes:

how the h... do I rip the timing belt covers out without taking the whole car apart?

The passenger side one is out. The lower one seems stuck on the dipstick tube, is that correct?

The drivers side one is hitting on on the upper hose fitting on the PS pump. I have NO strong desire to mess with the PS.

Please advice! I'm sooooo impatient to get her on the road again...
(the car too)

MM

checkmate1996

I'm pretty sure your sunk...sorry...because as you know the ps is in the way...I haven't found a way around it...however, my PO did by cracking the cover...!!

jeff jackson

Removal of only the upper right cover is necessary for inspection of the belt...and checking/adjusting tension...if you have already decided to "service" the belt, and tensioner... then the Flywheel Lock, Kempf tension tool and all related service components become necessary. You have to take off all accessory drive belts, remove the dipstick tube, and(after locking the crankshaft into pposition using the Flywheel Lock)...remove the Crank pulley bolt, and the front pulleys, (not the harmonic balancer though...to get the center belt cover off. Be sure NOT, to pull off the Belt Tension Fault Signal wire. It's attached through the center belt cover through a grommet...and connects to the Tensioner Idler and Tension pulley roller support arm. There are tons of write ups avaialble for reference for this job...NOT...to be undertaken lightly...or unprepared.

PS...in answer to your original question about the driver side belt cover, if you loosen the clamp securing the power steering fluid reserviour to its support bracket, you can slide it down and off the bracket, and gain the access you need to remove the driver side cover without loosening the hoses from the ressy. On my 32V engine...there are 2 allen head set screws between the timing belt backing plate, and the cylinder head on the driver side that must also be removed to get the center belt cover off as well. One has a grtound wire for the driver side ignition coil attached to it...

Sorry...I see you have an older shark. No such worries with the belt tension sensor wire. and Flying Dog is right...the tube has to come out. Its bolted and gasketed to the oil pan.

FlyingDog

I forget what is needed to remove the driver's side. To remove the center cover you need to remove or bend the dipstick tube (mine won't come out of the pan, so I bent it) and I think you have the remove the oil filler to pan tube. Removing either of those requires draining the oil.

gruffalo

thanks guys. I'll loosen the PS reservouir, and remove the dipstick. The oil tube and oil is already out.

I need to inspect things since on the pass side, hte belt is riding on the front of the sprocket, but not on the drivers side.

Another question. With the pass side cover off, I feel a roller inside the center cover. This is obviusly not touching the belt, since I can spin it with my thumb. Should I worry about that?

MM

FlyingDog

There is an idler on the tensioner pivot bolt that shouldn't touch the belt normally. It is above the belt tensioner-passengercam and below the belt passengercam-waterpump. The first thing to suspect for your belt position problem is the tensioner arm pivot bolt.

jeff jackson

And the bushings on either side of the tensioner arm, that the shoulder bolt rides in. They get brittle with heat and friction and start to chip away. Definintely need replaced while the belt is off. With rgard to the belt riding further out on the passenger side than the other cam sprocket, Bill Ball recently posted a reference to a Posrche Tech Service Bulletin that indicates Timing Belts should be installed with the markings and text on the belt "readable" from the front of the car when looking at the enginie, so check to make sure your belt was installed correctly last time the job was done.

k1woods

Please say you are joking regarding the "readable text" on the timing belt? that makes no sense to me...

- k1woods 84 S2

jeff jackson

NO NOT JOKING...Bill Ball posted a link to a Porsche Technical Service Bulletin that specifies the correct method of "toothed belt" installation, is with the text "readable from the front of the car"...and the text should NOT be facing the engine. Also the crank pulley bolt washer has to have the "recessed side" towards the engine...and NOT the nut. Believe it...its true.

k1woods

Really?, re: the belt - maybe its aesthetics rather than engineering (i.e. so the technician can read a p/n, brand easier?

hacker-pschorr

To remove the belt covers on my 81, the only part I have to remove is the dip-stick (well, now the sueprcharger). The drivers side one takes a lot of patience, you'll get the hang of it after you remove it 4-5 times in one weekend. Better when it's warm out to keep the plastic soft. I snapped on in half a while ago trying to remove the cover in 10 degree weather.

My 81 has been running electric cooling fans for 3 years now, so I cannot remember what is needed to work around the fan when taking the covers off. I have yet to attempt removing the covers on my still stock 79.

FlyingDog

Just undo the three bolts holding the fan on, and it's out of the way.

jeff jackson

The hard one is on a 32V engine, getting at the socket head allen screw that retains the driver side coil ground wire...Thats an exercise in patience...

Bill Ball

And the plausible explanation for the belt directionality offered by another Lister who works with belts is that these belts are biased by their contruction and will tend to walk in one lateral direction.

I had one on backwards and the belt stretched excessively tripping the warning light at 15K miles and again at 25K miles, so I replaced it...and put the new one one so the lettering was rightside up.

Stan nailed the reason for the washer orientation.

jeff jackson

Hey Bill your post was enough for me to tear mine back down, (re-assembly was far from complete anyway at the time I read your post)...and flip it over and retension and start the re-assembly all over. THANKS, I meant that. I don't want to go to all this trouble and end up making an inadvertant "uninformed" mistake...Thank God for the Rennlist, and folks like you Bill. This place, (and the WSM), have saved me, taught me, and helped me to understand why the 928 is such a great car....This is a car with a "soul" Each and every one of them are unique...and have their own "character" that only the owner/driver....and the mechanic who services it can understand. Guy's like you Stan, Jim Bailey, Walley P. and you Bill...who see and work on so many of these cars, truly know where I'm coming from with this statement. And the 928 Community...(out of production since 1995), are truly dependant upon fellows like you guys, who care enough about the cars, and the people that love them...to lend an ear, give advice, and helpout firsthand if possible...NOT to overlook Keith Widom, and the good doctor, wh most recently exemplified the type of 928 owner/enthusiast I speak of...I love ALL you guys (in a "brotherly" sort of way)...