Puppy

No, I hate having other people work on my cars, its not a valve job just a test to see if they are bent. But for $800 the 3 year warranty includes tow anywhere in the country if their repair breaks with a free rental car. I just figure with labor and parts by the time you add the warranty, I can't do it that cheap. If I take the car on a trip I'd rather have tow service than pay...plus if the belt breaks under their contract and anything else is effected they repair it also. Kinda hope lightning doesn't strike twice but better safe than sorry.

Speedtoys

This will end in tears.


$800 wont get you the parts for the water pump and belt replacement..at ANY discount. They're obviously used to $40 pumps, $20 belts, and not requiring $850 worth of cam gears, oil pump gears, tensioners, and the like..to do the job right. They just hope you're 1500 miles away when it assplodes and its not worth the hassle to drive there..to sue in small claims court.


..and a free detail? Sorry..uhh, that's pretty gay.


You can do all of those things yourself pretty easily...given the documentation in the manuals, and what you can find on here well layed out in PDF's and other things.

SMTCapeCod

You have to wonder why that's the case if they can do it for less. Is that warranty parts and labor? The rebuilt pumps- they can chow on the block when they fail. THough they were a mainstay for many years, for many owners. Some of the belt options are suspected of being more prone to stretching- see if they'll commit to the required retentioning too. Hope it is a place you have confidence in...because if it starts running into rollers, gears, tensioner, you want to have the confidence that the parts are genuinely toast as your initial estimate doubles...

Puppy

I know several people that have taken 911's there and the work is always done right, but at the same point I agree with the "I'd rather do it myself" motto. I am going to call back tomorrow and speak directly with the Porsche mechanic and see if he doesn't mind me watching, if the answer is no that's the red flag.

Speedtoys

Maybe you missed the hint.

The parts..for what you need done, cost more than his quote.

Even if you get the rebuilt prone-to-destoy-your-engine pump..it'll cost more than his quote.

And Porsche mechanics can be somewhat species centric. A 911 one wont work on a 928..etc..etc.

Even if you watch, you wont know if he's doing it -as intended- by the engineers, even if its following the instructions.

Im not a GOOD mechanic, but..with this forum behind me..I could probly do better than someone that isnt 928 knowledgable that doesnt use RL as a backup.

Podguy

Stay as far away from 911 mechanics as possible, I have seen a lot of screwed up crap on 928s and lots of it was done - sometimes creatively - by 911 mechainics. There is no shortage of ways to screw up a 928.

Labor on a water pump replacement is at least 10 hours. But there are a lot of other things to check, like the oil pump seals, the front seal and rebuilding the tensioner, cam pulleys. The cam timing should be checked at the same time.

Sad to say I think you are still in denial - the chances of you not having bent valves is less than 10%. Do yourself a favor - do the tear down yourself. That way you will know exactly what the car needs. If you then decide to have someone do the work then will be able to get an accurate estimate.

bowerbird

I've been following this thread with some interest. I'm curious about the bent valve diagnosis. If the pump seized and sheared off the belt resulting in a piston valve collision, would not the car have stopped running on the spot? He did make it home.

Podguy

Alright think about this. The car is over heating - the reason the water pump is freezing up, The back of the belt turns the water pump. So the pump can slip for a while - which supports why the car was over heating. But as the car is driven the pump gets worse the pump evetually freezes. This adds friction to the belt causing the crank gear to strip teeth off the belt. Hence when he turns over the engine the belt does not move. However when the belt has its teeth stripped the engine is still running. The momentum of the engine running will carry it through part of a revolution which is enough to bend some valves before the EZ shuts the engine down. Further attempting to start the car is enough to bend even more valves.

It is typical to lose a few valves on the right hand head under these circumstances, but I have one engine that has 14 bent valves as a result to the owner turning the engine over with a bad belt.

But there is more. The engine over heated about 4 times this is enough to warp the heads and put coolant into the cylinders. if the heads are not pulled right away it is possible there will be damage to some cylinders as well. one cyclinder damaged on these blocks and it is cheaper to get a new block.

Dictys

We had the same circustances here with one of the guys who has a 88 S4, the pump sezied and the car overheated, i think it was driven a short distance again after overheating as soon as it was restarted. No damage done to the valves in that instance, the belt did not break just damaged.

jeff spahn

I agree he is probably in denial. It really isn't that bad a job to pull the engine, take the heads off and have someone do them. Now, doing them yourself, I wasn't about to tackle that.
Mr. Merlin is right. You can do this probably for $5000 yourself all in (taking the grand off from the $6000). Then you'll have a sorted engine that will give you lots and lots of miles.

Plus it is a fun couple weekend project.

WallyP

Jeff,

"Plus it is a fun couple weekend project."

Now THAT is real denial!

jeff spahn

Nah, it really is fun. It only takes a couple full weekends to pull the engine, pull the heads, put them back on and reinstall the engine. I am not counting the time for the heads to be worked on or waiting for parts. I can get a 928 engine out and back in by myself in under 8 hours. Had to do it after I had it all installed and then one of my oil galley caps was leaking at the drivers side rear. Had to pull the engine, replace the cap and put it back in. Did it all on a Saturday and was driving it by 6 for dinner.

123

The most that I've seen so far from a belt failure and then the owner cranking the engine repeatedly is 30 of the 32 valves bent. I wonder if that's the record, or if somebody somewhere's gotten a perfect score of all 32 bent.

WallyP

Jeff,

Very few of us have a few WYAITs as you...

It would take me a full weekend to clean and polish the engine compartment after the engine was out. Another weekend for cleaning the engine, and another to strip and paint the intake and cam covers, and so it goes.

If I ever pull my engine, I will plan on at least a full month of mostly nasty work.

Podguy

Wally,

You are optimistic. I have been working on my 78 engine and compartment now for two years. Well not every day as you would, but enough time that I am well beyond 80 billable hours. Just cleaning and painting the engine to a lot of time. Then there was a good 40+ hours pollishing the manifold tubes. Clean coating and polishing again. After that bead blasting the exhaust manifolds with paint. Repairing the fire wall and then detailing the rest under the hood. Well I could go on. I am thinking there is probably 400-500 hours just under the hood and the engine is still out. No valve or engine work.