When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Tonight I finally got a chance to see my timing belt (or at least part of it). I was considering changing it but everything looks very good to me but this is my first time even looking at a timing belt.
I bought the car from a dealer in Ackworth, GA on November 25, 2013. I never spoke with the last owner but the records in the maintenance book indicate he changed the belt and all accessories 10k miles ago. That was, however, 7 years ago.
I would like your thoughts on checking the tension and if okay putting all back together or going through with changing the belt and some or all accessories since I don't actually have proof it was done.
Those cam gears are just starting to show wear through the coating. You can re-coat them now for about $40 or so and reinstall this set.....or you can wait until the next timing belt job and replace the set at about $800.
Impossible to really tell much RE: the belt from a photo but it looks ok from here. The gear teeth are just starting to wear through the coating, their life can be extended some by having them coated with a friction reducing coating called DFL-1.
WP looks like it was changed 10K miles ago given its cleanliness. So you're at 80K miles now? I'd believe those are 10K mile cam gears.
If it were me I'd change the belt and have the cam gears recoated, if only because a new pair is $800 so it becomes cheap PM to preserve them as long as possible.
Your crank looks to be about 140 degrees before TDC on cylinder 1, so you'll want to rotate it so it's at TDC for cylinder 1 (the "0|0" mark on the harmonic balancer) before measuring tension. Absolutely measure it while the belt is staring you in the face. Got a Kempf tool? If not holler and I can toss one in the mail.
If it were me I'd change the belt and have the cam gears recoated, if only because a new pair is $800 so it becomes cheap PM to preserve them as long as possible.
plus rotate the engine until the labels printed on the belt are visible so you know what flavor it is and can observe the wear from the water pump pulley which is driven by the backside off the belt. It is very clean and dry in there as Rob mentioned.
Thanks for all of the advice fellas! I think I like the idea of replacing the belt and recoating the gears. If I replace the belt do you recommend the Porken Tensioner? It sounds like coated gears only last about 10k miles. I would think they should last as long as the belt lasts.
If I pull off the cam gears does the car lose its timing position or is it locked in place by the flywheel lock?
Any recommendations on where to get gears recoated?
No, they are saying the cam gears you have in the current state may last another 10,000 miles or a little more. They look to be the original 24 year old factory ones. At about 80-90,000 miles the protective coating wears out and then the belt starts eating the gear teeth away. That is why there are shiny spots on top of the teeth, the coating is gone and the belt is eating the metal away. (The cam gears are made from Magnesium, light weight but soft)
If you do the belt job now and have the cam gears re-coated before any more damage is done to the teeth they may last you several more thousand miles. There is a thread somewhere around here from AO that had his cam gears re-coated with Dry Solid Film lube and no wear was noticed after the next belt job several thousand miles later. The new coating was still intact.
I would reuse the factory tensioners, they work well.
If it is an Auto S4, don't drive it and research information about porsche 928 thrust bearing failure (will save you at least 5k, should have listened to a rennlister myself and not my wife). You should just get the timing belt and water pump + gears done by a mechanic. If you are a mechanic I can let you borrow my timing tool and tension testing tool.
If you do put new gears on, this is just my recommendation, put some kind of thread locking compound on it. Several people told me their engine was destroyed because bolts became loose.
this job is a very doable job so long as you are not afraid to dive in. Best advice is to read, read, read as much as you can first, then go for it. Also, as you disassemble, take your time - slow -with tons of pictures on your camera phone from many angles. This will be very helpful when putting things back together later on, especially if the project stalls due to the inevitable things that will bite you along the way (see my thread on putting air in a tire to see how that can happen on even the simplist of jobs). Also, as parts come off, put them in baggies and mark them.
Don't forget to clean everything while you are doing the job. I am maniacal about cleaning when I work on my car, and this job is dirty, but a good one to get the crud off the front of the engine since you will have many things removed.
Here are some references if you haven't seen these already: http://www.dwaynesgarage.norcal928.o...Procedure.htm; http://members.rennlist.com/pirtle/tbelt.html; http://members.rennlist.org/v1uhoh/index.htm.
By golly I'm going for it! Thanks for the words of encouragement and the links Ed. I know I can do it. I've already read Dwayne's step-by-step procedure 3 full times and I had my ipad with me last night as I took parts off the car just to make sure I was getting things right.
I clean as I go also. Surprisingly everything is very clean under the hood except the parts that have leaked power steering fluid on them. Replacing the reservoir and tubes is also a project I'm currently undertaking.
John, thanks for saying my car looks nice. It's funny how all of our cars look basically the same but we always want to see other peoples cars and then we say honestly, "wow, your car looks great!" BTW, I like your car too.
Rob Edwards, what is the thing in your avatar? Is that a transmission? If so, what were you doing to it? Thanks
It's some sort of 996 (or 997? no idea....) Cup car sequential transmission. It was in a million pieces at Greg Brown's shop one day when I was there. Laughably complicated, pretty sure that he got it back together without anything left over.
01-06-2015, 11:35 PM
Need timing belt advice please
