928 at last

Hi All,
Now I've actually done my 928, I've got a friend asking if I could do the timing belt and water pump if it needs it, on her '89 944.
Question is, does anyone know of any resources like we've got here they can point me to? A step by step of the procedure would be nice....
TIA!

Hilton

http://www.clarks-garage.com/

The most comprehensive site for 944's, including how-to's for most maintenance/restoration tasks.

Rennbay also has some tuff (they have some 928-related bits and write-ups too) http://www.rennbay.com/belttutorial.html

odurandina

pass.

before you go and do all that, consider trading up... with the '89, the quality just isn't there... just too dated, with the dead, "early '80s" look going on. tons of parts on the cars literally just fall off... door handles, speedometers, rotted out interiors, lousy headliners, etc... very expensive repairs, for the level of quality, workmanship and low power going in.


win.

they really improved with the 944 S3, aka, 9-6-8. quality and styling went way up, naturally, since they were the first 4-cylinder cars manufactured at the Porsche plant, you can improve the quality interior with 996 and 997 parts, sparco or recaro leather seats, etc...

prices are so good right now on the 968s, very close to bottom. you can supercharge the engine with a solid, quality kit from 928 motorsports and be running about 320 hp... the kit looks OE installed, and you'll be drving one of the best-handling, low-cost supercars around...



just an awesome buy right now, just like many of the 928s.

dr bob

^^^ This relates to he OP's question how?

odurandina

never a better time to unload the 944s. they are money pit cars.

James Bailey

There is little upside to doing a belt for a friend.....and MUCH downside ! It is one thing when you screw up your own car quite another if it belongs to someone else. I feel the same about driving student's cars on track and never do ! Even if it were not my fault I would feel very bad if the engine decided to let go while I was driving....... odds are they would feel even worse !

Landseer

Notwithstanding the good advice one post above^^^^;

I've done it on an 86.5.

Different process. Not particularly hard, just different.

Need a couple special wrenches and different flywheel lock.

Water pump, at least on 86.5, had thermostat inside the pipe. Be sure to install the thermostat before installing the pump if the 89 is the same way.

Make it easy and buy all new rollers/tensioners and belts.
There are two belts, BTW, balance shaft and timing.

Tension measurement for TB is different. You can buy a tool, but its different then Kempf. Kempf didn't fit. I did it by feel, similar to my 16V. Came back later and re-tightened same way. No issues. But it was mine, not somebody else's.


Regarding the "dump the car" approach, that's oddball. These are beautiful cars. Preserve and drive the 944. Market value means nothing.

James Bailey

Note that the 944 4 valve engine tends to have much more wear on the chain tension pads than do 928 engines and that needs to be inspected.....

Mongo

After a while tensioning belts, I got really good at installing them and verifying tension using the 90 degree twist method. Never had it fail once on me. You don't need the tool, but you need really good perception, hand-eye coordination, and motor skills for sensitivity.

Landseer

Pictures, BTW, of the friend.