Mark Stahl

When I got my '86 928 at the end of '02 I decided to go through it and replace as many things that were "uncertain" as I could including a new timing belt and water pump. Since then I've averaged 4000-6000 miles a year on it, as I used it only for trips (I had been able to walk to work). Ran like a champ, with only a bad alternator and replacement shocks needed since.

In May I needed the car as a daily driver for a few months as I was changing sites for work. No problem, the car was up to it. But two weeks ago the belt tension light came on. Uh-oh. At least it only happened once, at high RPM. Maybe it was getting loose- made a mental note to recheck it. The next week it came on again, twice, so I made an appointment to drop the car off with a trusted mechanic who could look at it today. Last night I went to start the car (it ran fine when I parked it) *to take it for T-belt service* -- and no-start.

Had it towed over and left with the mechanic-- got the bad news this AM- snapped belt, bent valves in cyl. #3. He wants to take both heads off to have them redone, and at the car's mileage (180k) I can't blame him. Ugh- I'm sick. Really I felt I had been doing the proper maintainence, with just a bit of a lag on getting the belt checked out. But I had always thought that 4-5 years/30-40k miles wasn't too much to expect from a t-belt.

Partly this is a story of warning, and partly a request for advice- how much is this going to cost? I'm guessing- just guessing $3-4k? Any ideas?

Thanks all,
Mark

icsmike

Thats sucks. But could have been a whoooole lot worse.

heinrich

Mark I'm sorry for your loss and expense. I think when the light comes on, one really should stop and tow. But you know that already. And many here don't do that. If I were you I would do the work for myself, because it will be expensive!
Best regards,
Heinrich

Big Dave

That sucks!

Before you dump $$$, give some thought to doing the work yourself. If you're not comfortable with the whole job, at least pull the engine and remove the heads yourself. You can save a lot of $$ if you only have the mechanic replace the valves/guides/seals.

Speaking from experience!

PorKen

Bummer, dude.

Did it actually break or, more likely, slip? Only one set of valves is very fortunate, if that's all there are.

RyanPerrella

sorry to hear

Honestly though to the post that it could be worse, well no not really, thats what happens when the belt breaks, you redo the heads, replace bent valves and rebuild. So not much else to go wrong there.

hacker-pschorr

On the bright side your valve guides / seals are probably shot due to age, now is a good time to replace them.

leperboy

Sorry to hear about this. Other than not checking it after the first warning, there's not much you could have done.

$3-$4K is on the low end of estimates I have heard. It depends largely on your mechanic's hourly rate because I think this job requires pulling the engine and a lot of labor hours. The good part of that is you should be able to get a lot of other jobs done at the same time:

- motor mounts
- oil pan gasket
- cam, crank and oil seals
- check the crank, rods and bearings
- cam cover seals
- cam cover and intake refurb

etc.

I've thought about what I would do in the same situation, and with the help of this board, I would do the job myself. I'm no expert mechanic, but I think it can be done.

Good luck,
Matt

hacker-pschorr

With the engine out & the pan off, I would toss in some new rod bearings

leperboy

Enzo, do you say this based on mileage or based on other potential problems from the busted timing belt? I assume mileage.

What sort of mileage warrants a rod bearings replacement WYAIT?

Matt

Mark Stahl

Hi, everyone-
Thanks for all the encouragement. I know, the light should have scared me more the first time, but that really wasn't that much warning!

As for doing it myself- were this two yrs. ago, sure. I think with the help of the board it could be done, despite my not being a master mechanic. Unfortunately this is my last year of med school, and the schedule is packed with both residency interviews and some pretty demanding clinical work. Hell, I've had my supercharger sitting in my garage for a year now because I didn't have time to do the install.... looks like the mechanic will have to do it.

A real shame because, beyond the initial $ spent on preventive work and routine maintainence, the car had been pretty decent in the $ department.

The fellow doing it is very familiar with 928s (Sonny at SM motorsports in New Hyde Park, Queens) and he'll probably have some suggestions- but what else should I have him do/check while he's in there? I appreciate the suggestions already made!

Thanks,
Mark

RyanPerrella

You bought a supercharger a year ago and didnt install it! Shame shame! I dont know how you could wait, i would probably pull all nighters or work straight through getting that thing on! I could never wait! Hell I would be impatient while the thing was in transit.

Bill Ball

Good luck, Doc! Leave it to Sonny and focus on your studies.

John Speake

I've seen it recomended that the T Belt should be changed every 5 years or so - is this accepted good practice ?

Mark - sorry to hear you had this problem. Was the tension checked every year ?

Rob Edwards

Mark-

Sorry to hear about your predicament- what specialty are you applying for? Even with the (variably adhered to) 80 hour workweek limits, there aren't many residencies that are going to allow playing with 928's much...