Hey there, I just bought a 87 s4 with 50k on it. The previous owner only had it a year and told me the owner before him changed the timing belt. Apparently the guy did the work himself and I do have reciepts from the purchase of the belt. Is there any way to take a peak at it without taking the front of the engine apart???

Thanks

 

Top covers come off easy, but if all they changed was the belt you really need a full inspection including checking the tension. Trusting the quality of work of a previous owner isn't a good idea.

50k mile S4 should be a VERY nice car, gotta wonder why the two prior owners sold it.

 

Thanks...yes it is very nice the guy I bought it from had a 996 turbo a c2 and he wanted to thin the heard. Very nice guy just said he never drove it. I had a ppi done and they said everything looks great. I just wanted to peak at it for my peice of mind.

 

You can remove the plastic intake tube and peek thru the air hole on top of the cover on either side to see if it's aligned properly on the gears, but to get a good look at it and check the tension, the passenger side timing belt cover should be removed. ?This involves also removing the distributor on that side and likely the upper rad hose. There is a special tool for checking the tension, which should also be used. Here's a good tutorial: http://members.rennlist.com/v1uhoh/checking.htm

Please post pics of your car - and welcome aboard!

 

You need to do a full belt off inspection to check rollers, tensioner, gears etc.

We just did one yesterday that had, "Just had the belt replaced" but that is all they did, if they even did that.

It was scary, the gears were not as worn as I have ever seen, but they were tied for second place, you could actually see the wear in the steel crank pulley, bad rollers, dry tensioner, bypassed warning, broken covers, etc.

The only good thing I could say about that job was that the pivot bolt may have still been good if we can get the allen screw off of the brace.

I am sure that the guy that did this job was proud of it and thought it was done right.

I would be shocked if it would have went 5,000 miles.

Many, many times when you hear of a "Belt Breaking" it was the failure of something else that caused it.

 

Who did the PPI?

Was the belt tension checked?

Was the flexplate and crank endplay checked?

We are a visual bunch, post some pictures.

 

Thanks guys...all that was checked by courtny truck service in Minneapolus.

If I do go and get it inspected does anybody know a good shop in Kansas city??

Thanks will post pics soon

 

Man, you're giving me a headache! (kidding)

As other have said, take of the intake tubes, use a flashlight and look at the T belt. It should show some of the cam gear in front of the belt, so that the belt is riding on the middle of the gear. Also, start the engine and watch for tracking.

Have your thrust bearing tension released immediately, and consider getting the new PKlamp from 928sRUS. It is critical that this be done on your model. Search post for TBF if you want some sobering tales of woe.

 

Tklamp?? I am going to add to that headache!!

 

very new at this but it is a 5 speed...still need to worrry about tbf??

 

No. You got off lucky.

 

Thank you Henny Penny.

 

I'm not in KC, but I'm not that far. I am down the road a couple of hours in Columbia. Since you bought the car and are here asking questions, you are well on your way to becoming a do it yourself 928 mechanic. I had almost zero experience working on cars prior to buying my 928, but in the past 3 years I have done a ton of projects that I would never have dreamed of before, Timing belt, water pump, tensioner, complete intake refresh, fuel pump, flexplate tension release with PKlamp install, Trans fluid and filter, cleaning all grounds, fuel pump and filter, ect. But, beware, the list of what I want to do to make the car perfect is getting longer instead of shorter. That is just because you get the know the car better and find the things that need to be done, that would otherwise have been ignored/neglected until the car has a more serious failure.

Also, there is a Porsche enthusiast group called The Kansas City Wrenching Society in your area that does a lot of do it yourself Porsche maintanence. I don't know how much experience they have with 928s, but I think there are one or two in the group. Google Kansas City Wrenching Society and you will get the link to their website.

Listen to the advice here and don't be afraid to ask questions. Some patience, study, and hard work can really pay off with keeping these cars great.

 

Welcome to The Cult BTW

 

'87 5-speed with 50k miles on it? This might merit some pictures, don't yall think?