John Welch

After seeing the terrifying Belt. Tens warning, I decided to get the Kempf tool and check the belt tension. Much to my surprise, I was able to adjust the tension following the many directions here, but now I'm having trouble with reassembly.

Is there something I can't see that would block the bottom of the passenger side (US) timing belt cover from going back on? Its been a couple of hours and 15-20 tries at putting it back on with no success. I did notice there was one wire in the area, but its definitely not in the way.

Any advice would b appreciated.

Thanks,

PorKen

The air pump mount is very close to the rear cover, and the front cover has to fit in between the mount and the rear cover. The coil is in the way, and there are roll pins on each of the bolted connections which have to be lined up properly in order to slide the cover on.

Do you have the rotor removed? It's much easier to put the cover on without it.

If you are at #1 0|T, there is a small arrow on the cover which shows you the direction to point the rotor for reinstall:

Mrmerlin

If not already done remove all of the ignition wires connected to the cap, including the coil wire, try removing the dipstic tube and make sure the wire harness for the hall sensor/AC compressor is out of the way ( this should be routed just above the air pump bracket )also try moving the rotor (by turning the engine) so it points down, also it is a lot easier to remove the smaller coolant hose that snakes under the top hose, once this is done the cover should go right on, be careful bending the small coolant hose as if its bent and an old hose sometimes it will fail just past where its clamped onto the metal line that runs along the fenderwell

Bill Ball

Check for wires again. One or another wire coming off the harness can get caught between the lower edge and center cover. Getting the cover back on takes some maneuvering as well. You probably had to wiggle and twist to get it off. Same with getting it back on. It needs to fit BEHIND the disptick tube, for one thing, so I hope that is off. It is easier to remove and reinstall it with the distributor rotor removed too. It may help to loosen the coil bracket and slide the coil forward. Pulling the coolant hoses, plug wires and cap up and tie-wrapping them to the cross brace makes things a lot easier. Then it's just a matter of getting the two bolt holes lines up with the locators. That takes some wiggling too.

worf928

The front engine harness is routed between the timing belt cover and the air pump bracket. My bet is that its getting pinched at the bottom of the belt cover?

John Welch

Thanks for all of the advice so far.

The distributor was removed, the rotor was removed, the ignition wires are out of the way, the dipstick tube is out, and since I just did the tbelt tension, the rotor, if it was on, would be pointing at the arrow on the timing cover, if it was on.

I think I found the problem.

The first picture shows my index finger holding up a hose to nowhere. The second picture shows a better angle of the hose coming out from below the cam gear with my finger in the other end. This hose is not attached at the end my finger is in, and the end that is attached has a hose clamp that is probably what is hanging me up. It looks to be inaccessible without removing more stuff.

So can anybody identify the mystery hose?

Thanks again,

PorKen

That's the air pump inlet hose. Normally, it goes under the coil, to a metal filter cannister, which looks like a teapot (<'87). You can probably rotate the hose by hand, which should turn the clamp out of the way. Otherwise, if you loosen the air pump bolts, and rotate the pump toward the engine, you might have room to clear it.

The cover might show scratches in the paint where it's being held up. Use a makeup mirror and flashlight to take a peak under the gear, too.

Mike Frye

Bill Ball beat me to it. I see you have two 928s in your sig but this looks like mine so I guess it's the 86.5. I was going to bet on the coil. I always have to slide mine forward to take that cover off and then to replace it as well. It's a tight fit, but once you figure out the combination it slides right through in exactly one position.

John Welch

Sorry about that, it is the 86.5.

Well I decided to go the old-fashioned route and actually look at the problem. I found an old mirror I didn't know I had, but it was easier to search for the mirror than trying to get the cover back on.

Anyway, there is no way I can get the cover back on without removing the hose clamp. The end of the screw extends a good (not really) 1/2 inch above the edge and its touching the engine.

Will I need special tools to remove the air pump? Also, do I really need the air pump? It already wasn't being used...

Thanks yet again,

Bill Ball

There's one long bolt that holds the airpump to the tensioner bracket. It's the bolt that the air pump pivots on when you adjust its position. Pull that and the pump falls out. The pump provides air to the cats to help with the oxidative part of the reaction. Do you have stock cats installed?

Mrmerlin

Hey is there a possiblity that you installed all of the bolts into the tensioner before installing the bottom cover if so that is the problem , one of the bolts that holds the tensioner is put on after the lower cover is installled, remove the cover and you will see what i am talking about

fraggle

I've found that there are a lot of these things on the 928. The 4 hour bolt, the 2 hour timing cover, the 3 hour swaybar mount. Things you put on dozens of times with no obvious difference in orientation of methodology, and they just work the final time, leaving you wondering why you spent the last @#%$$^% hours doing it over and over again.

Then you have to take the same part off again, and the process repeats itself.

John Welch

This is my only car that has a current registration so I am extremely averse to going too deep as I can't afford to get bailed out if I can't fix it myself. I figured I would just remove the air pump since it looked like I would have to move it anyway, but that would involve a new fan belt. So then I figured I would just try to loosen it and see if I could get to the clamp. After climbing under the car and looking at the tension adjuster, I decided there must be an easier way, so I went back to attacking the hose clamp.

After tugging on the hose and trying to twist it, I was suddenly able to get a screwdriver in there and rotate the hose clamp just enough to get it off. Success!

Thanks to everyone for you help.

Lizard928

not a possibility as he was simply checking the tension.

grab the hose and rotate it, this will turn the clamp and you should be able to rotate it to get the clamp out of the way enough to get the cover on.