Landseer

You're right, sounded bad and was sniping, sorry.


I guess I just suspected the whole job when the mechanic was not concerned about the light.

walstib

I will try different ground spots thanks again

Ed Scherer

All that work to get to the tensioner and refurb it and no belt relacement?

walstib

well it was the mechanic my mom had used for her 944's (she had a few) so that's who it went to... I really want to learn to do the work myself. Like I read on here " Why should I pay someone else to learn how to fix my car?" Next project is to replace my manifold intake boots.

dcrasta

For a timing belt, it can be done over a weekend if you have proper hand tools. A few 'how-to' guides are available, (search) along with modern replacements for some of the parts (porkentensioner). I have links in my signature. But really, as someone earlier said, you should verify the tensioner adjustment (and I would also check the arm and bushing to make sure you dont have any wobble).. Verify the tensioner is filled with oil, and fix your wiring issue.

Jim Devine

google: 928 timing belt manual

The top 2 results are excellent articles by John
Pirtle & Wally P.

Reads & re- read- it took me a bit to understand
the system.

Don't drive the car until you find & fix the problem.
No use taking a chance of turning a running car
into a major project.

JHowell37

If the mechanic "refurbished" the tensioner but didn't replace the belt, then he's incompetent.
You said the light comes on, and you've been driving it for a few months. It could be a serious problem, or it could be minor. If you've been driving it for months, I'm inclined to think the issue is minor. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't broker a little caution.

It could be the wire that runs down the front of the engine to the timing belt cover. Or it could be an issue with an electrical connection under the cover.

The tensioner could be low on oil. Happened to me once, because I never got it full the first time.

He may have "refurbished" the tensioner improperly.

The tension may not be set properly.

But ultimately, you don't know, and no one here can provide you with an accurate diagnosis without seeing the car in person.

How old are you kid?

NoVector

Since you want to start doing work on the car yourself, a safe investment is the tensioning tool. Roger or DR could have it to you in a couple days. For this job or some future job (water pump, oil pump, etc.), it's a must have.

http://s287999742.e-shop.info/shop/a...26aid%3DKTT%26

Any mechanic (who also worked on your mom's 944s) and would say "ignore the light kid and see you in 5,000 miles", didn't fix the problem and STILL charged you $700 needs his *** kicked.
Good luck! / Bruce

walstib

Im a 47 year old kid. It's just that my toys are getting old! The car had just sat neglected in my moms driveway until I took an interest in it.

walstib

how do you check the oil in the tensioner?

Mrmerlin

what year is your car??
For the tensioner you should consider just rebuilding it with a new O ring and new boot make sure the inner clamp open end faces up when its installed on the boot
use STP oil filled with a visene bottle with the tip drilled out. the tensioner is checked through the bleeder nipples remove both of the bleeders and fill from the hole closest to the passenger fender or the hole furthest away from the crank the hole closest to the crank is the outlet.
fit a new gasket and use some hondabond on the gasket .

walstib

85 auto

underdog928

Dear "Newbie" (what's your name, btw?)

I just did a Timing belt/Water Pump/Tensioner rebuild on my 85 just before I drove to SITM. Maybe we met, not sure. I have a red 85 auto also. Anyway...

Learned a lot about my car while performing this work, but I didn't start on it until I had all the parts I needed in hand and had read everything I could get my hands on both from Rennlist, Dwayne's garage, Pirtle's writeup's and Wally's. All tremendous sources. Another important thing I learned was - If you want something done right, do it yourself. My previous mechanic didn't rebuild the tensioner when he replaced the belt the last time. Not only did the tensioner not have any oil in it, it was so gummed up there is no way it was providing the "detensioning" action it was designed to do.

I suggest the first thing you do is to pull the passenger side cam gear cover (you will probably have to move the ignition coil on that side toward the front of the car to create enough room to get it off) and measure you belt tension. I've used the Kempf tool and even with everything in perfect order (aka new) I still get a TB warning light if I rev the engine over 4000rpm. So I over tension the belt just past the upper limit and the seems to keep the light off.

If you could also post pics of what your tensioner looks like and maybe a pic of your passenger side cam gear and timing belt so we can get a better idea of the condition of things.

Few questions:
1) How many miles on the car?
2) How many miles (and how long ago) since your "mechanic" did whatever he said he did?
3) How many miles (and how long ago) was the timing belt replaced?

If your answer to #3 is unknown or greater than 5yrs/50,000 miles, with the history of the TB light, I wouldn't even start the car, let alone drive it.

Mrmerlin

check the timing belt at TDC

underdog928

Right. I wonder how the tension varies at different positions of the crank?

Also, you will need to figure out what is up with the timing belt alarm wiring. On my 85 that wire is part of the passenger side harness for the fuel injectors. It does not go through the 14-pin connector. FYI.

And one more thing, for the tensioner oil, I used 75-90w Royal Purple gear oil. I figured having purple oil in there would help detect leaks.