dolce981

Good Day,

I'm buying a 1984 928 from a gentleman who owns several Porsche cars, including two or three 928s. The one I am buying has recently (within last 500 miles and one year) had the timing belt, tensioner and water pump replaced. He runs the car with the timing belt covers off so he can readily take a look at the belt to assess the condition. What are your thoughts on this if I may ask...

davek9

It can only be done on the 16v engines (unless non-stock ignition is used).

Might look cool, but way to susceptible to debris IMO, we have see the accessory belts become entangled from trash on the road.

dolce981

That's kinda what I was thinking too "debris from the road"... I think I will put them back on once I get the car.

Wisconsin Joe

Think about the damage a small piece of gravel will do to those gears when (not if, when) it gets under the belt.

Call Roger and find out how much new gears are (even though 16v gears are less than 32v gears, they still aren't cheap).

Those covers are there for a reason.

You can do a "quick and dirty" inspection of the belt and how it's tracking through the vent holes in the top. You can also pull the driver's side cover off just enough to get a good look without pulling the radiator hose.

The Deputy

Reminds me of the first garage I ever worked at, I was as green as spring grass when it came to mechanics, in the grand scheme of things...anyhow...during a vehicles monthly inspection and service, we had to pull the backing plates off of every vehicle rear axle (fleet of 120) to mic the drums and measure linings.

Shop foreman was always looking for a way to save time and money...told us to just remove the backing plates and throw them in the dumpster. Well, you probably guess it...we did complete brake jobs on 95% of the fleet that following summer, even on vehicles that had complete brake jobs the year before. Normally, brakes last about two/three years.

So, besides the extra cost of each brake job that summer...we had to add in the cost of two sets of backing plates for each vehicle, too. When the "bean-counters" did their number crunching for the year...for some reason they wanted to know why our brake replacement program went from 30%...to 95% anually and labor costs were through the roof (OT).

Shop foreman was looking for a new gig shortly after the bean counters findings.

Anyhow, those covers are on there for a reason.

Brian.

dolce981

Thanks to everyone who commented. I still have not got the car but hope to have it soon. I'll ask the owner to put them on or will install them myself as soon as I get it.