georgeb

I am located in Annapolis Maryland and I am looking for a good shop that can do a timing belt replacement on my 86 928, any recomendations will be appreciated.

Lizard928

Contact Courtshark on here.

He is in Maryland, and iirc his brother is a mechanic.

DonT

I've used Tri-Tec, no affilation just a satisified customer.

Tri-Tec Auto
40 Hudson Street, Unit 109
Annapolis, MD
410-224-4377

www.tritecauto.com

JPTL

EDIT: ^^^ I was going to suggest that you ask Don...but there he is
There was a garage in Annapolis called Tifs some time back. I can't recall if it was Tif or not, but one of the wrenches knew 928's pretty well.
I suggest that where ever you go, you have a checklist in hand of what needs to be done at a minimum for the year & mileage of your car; and the last time t.b. specific work was done. This forum is an excellent place to get such a checklist.

Mike Frye

You've got quite a few people in your neck of the woods (NoVa/DC/MD area) maybe you could request a TB/WP party and host it. Usually costs you some burgers and some beers (don't serve the beer until the new belt is on ).

It will take maybe most of a morning and early afternoon and then you'll have the satisfaction of having done it yourself (more or less).

It's a rite of passage and also saves hundreds of dollars. And you'll know it was done right by someone who's done it before.

Mako 928

#1 on Mike's suggestion. It is also a great way to get to know more owners in your area.
I would also suggest getting a copy of John Kelly's Timing Belt Manual. It is a great step by step along with a lot of pictures to show what should be inspected and replaced.

Most shops will do a basic timing belt replacement and skip alot of what should be done.
On MY '85 '86 it is important to replace the shaft bolt for the tensioner arm ( unless you are going with a Porkensioner) The p.o. of my car had a very knowledgable shop do a timing belt job and did not replace this.
5k miles later the bolt had bent and the timing belt was rubbing on the arm. Hence another timing belt job.

georgeb

Thanks for all of the advice, Don T, I thought tri tec was no longer in buisness, thanks to you I have their new address, they did the belt about 5000 miles ago and that was in 1994. I didn't drive the car very much, and now I am afraid to drive it because of the age of the belt

DonT

You're very welcome !

Mike Frye

Yikes!

5000 miles in 16 years? You might need to do some other PM while you're in there. Top end refresh with all hoses and fluids is probably in order.

georgeb

Mike you are right , I do change the fluids every summer before I take it out of the garage for short drives. When I take it to have the timming belt replaced, I will have the mechanic check out everything for me.

auzivision

I'm just finishing up a top end refresh on my car and am beginning to have second thoughts. Most (or a lot) of the stuff I replaced is/was perfectly fine.

The time belt is critical, so yes I’d have that changed. Have the fuel lines inspected and if everything else runs good, leave well enough alone.

I got all caught up in the might as well fix it while you are in there mentality… from now on, I’m going to be if it’s not broken don’t fix it, unless it makes it go faster or look better.

georgeb

kurt I agree with you. I only get to drive my car very little, and I really dont want to put a lot of money in it, I will just fix whats broken

Mike Frye

Fuel lines can not be visually inspected. If they are original 25+y/o lines, they NEED to be replaced.

Your money, your car. I'll wave if I see you on the side of the road.

Wow, that didn't take much convincing.

PM is expensive and you will probably replace some things that would have lasted longer. However, one of the knocks on the 928 is that it requires a lot of maintenance. This fallacy stems (IMO) from the fact that the engine and body were designed to be so durable that they look like they're in great shape even 25+ years later when their contemporaries are all rusted out in a junkyark somewhere. The downside of this is the fact that rubber gaskets and o-rings just weren't designed (or expected) to last that long. So while the car looks great, it can nickel and dime you to death while you deal with each item as it pops up (rough idle? maybe it's an O-ring or a vacuum elbow or maybe it's the MAF out of calibration, or maybe...).
For my money I'd rather know that everything is new and well maintained and know that I can take it anywhere I need to go without worrying what's next...

Good luck though. You enjoy yours your way and I'll enjoy mine.

dcrasta

Its not hard to do if you go with the Porkentensioner. If not, and you are careful John Kelly's timing belt booklet is very step by step (like baking a cake). It took me 2 days of work (and the reason it took so long was 3 hours of wiggling to remove the harmonic balancer).

While I agree with the 'if its not broken dont fix' the fuel lines are critical and not too difficult to replace (especially if you get a kit from Roger or one of the vendors).

Good Luck.

I have had success with this shop (they did my PPI and flushed and replaced my fuel lines).

Eurospeed Motor Sport
1414 Ritchie Marlboro Rd
Capitol Heights, MD 20743
(301) 333-4881

Ask for Carlos (owner).

I did the TB myself as the cost was outside of my budget.

JPTL

Whether you do the job yourself or not, John Kelley's manual and John Pirtle's writeup are both invaluable - for you to at least understand the crucial components of the system.
Obviously if you opt to do the job yourself using a manual, you're going to thoroughly read it before diving in.
But I suggest you acquaint yourself with the procedure even if it's going to a shop. This way you can ask the right questions and understand what the mechanic is talking about when he says something like 'the tensioner was dry'. Also, without offending the mechanic, you can make Kelley's manual available to him for 'reference'.
Regardless of who does the job, it's adviseable for the owner to know about a system that's so critical to 928's.