Well I have owned my 968 now for 5 years. 1 1/2 of that was spent outside the USA during Covid, and even then only 3 driving seasons and 14,000 miles added.
The folks who have run my Indy shop for years, finally retired and the shop was taken over by their 10 year long assistant. I got the call that my car was due for a timing belt change.
OK, done. Now however, at low speeds I hear a whine coming from the front. I assume that the belts are over tightened? I have already driven 1,000 miles recently and had no ill effects. The whine seems to go away, or is just drowned out, at higher speeds.
Should I be worried and take the car back to them?

Thanks,

-Yogii
AKA 968 Novice

 

Yogii, does it go away or greatly reduce after warming up? As my tech told me, “They always whine when cold. It’s when they stop whining you have to worry.”

OTOH, did you replace your pulleys and water pump, too? I tried to get away with it last time because I had 6 years but only 5,000 miles on my belts, and a pulley and the water pump failed and just about grenaded my motor, not to mention ruined a new set of belts and $5,000 bill.

 

Yes, they up sold me for the whole 9 yards.
I will make a note to myself to listen for the whine when the car is all warmed up.
Thanks for the tip.

-Yogii

 

The timing belt has an automatic tensioner so it is not over-tight. The balance shaft belt probably has been over tightened and producing the whine. Generally shops include a re-tensioning of the balance shaft belt at or around 2,000 miles after new belts installed. My sense is that after the car comes up to operating temperature the balance shaft belt stretches a little and becomes more pliable and the whine settles down a little.

 

So should I have the shop recheck the tensioning of the balance shaft belt after 2K miles?
-Yogii

 

This

Cliff

 

Yes.

 

Curious about what the cost is for the replacement of belt, water pump, etc. Looking at a 95 with 56k miles and suspect it will need it.
TIA

 

It all depends on where you are located and hourly shop rates.
Also, many Porsche Indy shops do not know anything about transaxle cars.
That said, $1,250-2,500.

-Yogii
AKA 968 Novice

 

“There is no suspect, there is only do.” Yoda

My last belts cost me $4500 last fall, but they had to do a lot of extra stuff because I was a fool and didn’t do the whole “front end service.” My water pump died about a week after I had it done the first time, and it just about destroyed my new belts and grenaded my motor. I went against conventional wisdom because although my belts were 6 years old, I’d driven less than 10K miles. False economy. I ended up doing it twice. (One reason it was so expensive is the shop I used charged me MSRP for all the parts, and replace my fan switch and thermostat, along with all the belts pulleys, and water pump.)

It depends on when the belts were last done. If it’s never been done, I’d make sure it was before driving it. If more than 5 years/40,000 miles, I’d suggest splitting the cost with the seller and let him take the responsibility of driving it to the shop. That’s what I did when I bought mine because the shop that did the PPI on my car said he wouldn’t let the car leave his shop without it being done because he didn’t want to get blamed if it broke on the way home.

The labor will be between $800-$1200, depending on shop rate. If you find a shop that will let you buy your own parts, they’ll be $600-$700, including the belt/pulley kit, water pump, and thermostat. Like Yogi said, a lot will be unfamiliar with transaxle cars. I’ve found a good way to qualify them is by asking if they have the tensioning gauge tool required to do the job. FWIW, don’t rule out Audi shops. Our engine is closer to an Audi engine than any other Porsche engine.

 

I don’t know about the laws where you are located, but in SC I have no authority to restrict an owner from leaving my shop with their vehicle even if the brakes are bad to the point that the vehicle won’t stop. I certainly would try to talk them out of driving away, but have no legal authority to do so nor do I have any liability if they do. That is typically a tactic used to make the customer spend their money at that facility.

This tool is not required on a 968. The 968 tensioner is a gas filled spring device and self adjusting

Cliff