CAMO928S4

Hi,
This belt light was on after a i drag race from a stop... What would be the problème of my 88 S4 auto ? What will y need to replace ?
Thanks

davek9

If you do not know when the T Belt was last serviced than you should STOP starting/driving the car and have towed it to a Porsche Shop that knows 928's.

The parts would be a water pump, the T belt tensioner(rebuilt) and guide pulleys, possible Cam and Oil pump gears and the T Belt.

In most cases something is failing and causing the T Belt to loose its tension which will result in Bent Valves and BIG $'s

If you do know when the T Belt was last serviced and it was w/in 5 years and 40k miles than an adjustment and or a wire connection could be needed.

Either way an inspection is required as to why the warning came on.

Dave

James Bailey

Correct something is NOT RIGHT...do not simply tighten the belt . You need the full T-belt water pump service with quality parts.....

M. Requin

^What they said. Do not ignore! Don't drive the car, either.

CAMO928S4

Hi guy's,
I drove the car before your Good and vital info...
220km/h in red line in 3rd of my auto trans!
(Had à race with a Merk C350Amg)...
Not wise... But good good fun !!!!
Anyway the light did´nt come on ... Thank god !
Maybe abad relay...
What do you think?!?

DKWalser

Sure, it could be a bad relay or some other fault in the warning system. Don't drive it until you know for sure. A timing belt failure in an S4 can be fatal to your engine. Having it checked out and learning that it was a false warning is a minor inconvenience compared to blowing up your motor.

Mrmerlin

no relays are involved in a warning lamp, it is usually a loose belt or poor ground path

Cameron

The good news is that it looks like your belt tension warning system works. The bad news is that now you have to address the belt tension issue. The good news is that by doing so, you won't ruin your engine. The bad news is that it will cost you some time and money. The good news is that it is less time and money than if you ruined your engine because your belt tension warning system didn't work and you ruined your engine.

I could go on all day.

James Bailey

You probably do not want to know what I think.........but you should start thinking about what your next car will be.

Mongo

The situation of triggering is identical to what I dealt with before going to a porkensioner. Your belt has slack in higher RPMs to which the tensioner cannot compensate for. Your belt is stretched to its limit due to age/wear or your tensioner is not functioning properly.

Time to do a timing belt and water pump service. It is not that hard to do and I would recommend a PKT conversion from liftbars.com

It took me 30 hours to do mine and 20 of it was due to cleaning EVERY SINGLE BOLT in addition to the front of the engine.

Hilton

Belt flutter at high rpms is the first sign of a loose timing belt, most noticeable when the engine is cold.

At the first sign of that light, put car in neutral and turn the engine off, then stop the car and inspect the belt to make sure its intact and there is no rubber debris. If there is none, then I restart the car and drive at low-rpms to the place where the timing belt job will be done, and the car is parked until it has a new timing belt (and other bits like cam gears, water pump, tensioner seals/gaskets etc.).

Its certainly possible that its a broken tensioner electrical connector (inside the timing belt covers), but if your belt is old, by the time you get in there, just do it properly, especially if you're inclined to drive the car properly.

The only other time you might see that belt is around the correct re-tension interval for a new timing belt (500 miles IIRC?).

If you continue to drag race, thats up to you, but be aware that you're running a very high risk of turning your car into a "doesn't run, buyer needs to tow it" $4k craigslist ad.

rlich8

Shut the car off immediately and have it delivered to a shop that knows 928's and have them look at it. Itherwise plan on spending thousands and thousands of dollars rebuilding your engine or finding a new one.

You need timing belt and water pump service immediately.

If you ignore that light you will destroy your car. Period.

davek9

I can't believe he us still driving the car !!!!

OP ever heard of a nasty game called Russian roulette?
As that's what your playing with your engine bending many of its 32vavles, many 928's are scrapped and never recover after due to the cost of the repairs.
Spin again and good luck to you.

MainePorsche

You have an issue that needs immediate attention.
Don't drive the car until you've investigated and addressed the two issues above.

CAMO928S4

Hi there,
Thanks for the info on the belt, tensionners and so on... The belts were inspected by a 928 specialiste some 2k km ago and were all fine.
I cant do the job befor storage this year...
So i'll park the car for the winter and do all inspection and remplacements in the spring of next year.
Drove the car slowly today and the light did not come on...
The car hase some electrical gremlins (light brake come on and off for no reason... And a weird buzzing sound is almost semless but steady)
Thanks guy's for the advice !