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OK, that's 'heart skipping a beat-ly' expensive. I can live with it. Later.
Funny you mention that. There was a hiccup with a mislabeled part. It was supposed to be an AC pressure switch, by the number on the bag. In the bag was what looked like a coolant tank level float switch. Roger was all over it getting a replacement out to me. No muss, no fuss, no worries. I shipped the wrong part back to him today.
One thing to keep in mind is that these cars cost the same as a small to medium house when new.
Parts cost (especially actual Porsche parts) is appropriate for that level of car. Even if the car can be bought for a lot, lot less.
And yes, Roger is awesome to work with. Although there may be better "deals" on some parts out there, the effort made to procure parts, the expertise involved in understanding what I need (often when I don't), the thoroughness in making sure I get all that I need and nothing that I don't (standard e-mail ending - "Am I missing anything for this project?") and knowing that if anything isn't right at first, it will be made right, and quickly; all those factors make any "savings" from 'some dude on E-Bay' questionable at best.
And this applies to all the "usual suspects" that we have as vendors on these cars.
Sir, you are so right. I do understand the economics of a 928. Just because I bought it (relatively) cheap, doesn't mean that parts and services are proportionally as cheap. They are instead still proportional to the original purchase price. In my case, somewhere in the mid-$50,000 range.
It is what it is.
I have learned being a gearhead that you get what you pay for. I have also learned that a bargain isn't always a bargain. Since joining the Shark Tank, I have had nothing but good experiences dealing with the Big 3. All of them have been good to me. Yes, I can save a dollar here and there. However, I am looking at it like this. Each dollar I spend at one of our vendors is a dollar that keeps them in business, that keeps them supporting the 928 world. If I have to pay a little extra to get the good service, then I will.
Win/Win for me.
Seth K. Pyle
and, just for the record, GOOD GOD THESE CARS ARE EXPENSIVE!!!
Saturday, while doing electrical work, I got photos of the timing belt tracking on the cam gears through the cover vent holes.
To my untrained eye, they look OK, though not tracking 100% identical.
It may be an artifact of the photo/light, but the outside of the belt looks scraped up? More than I would have expected, anyway. But you just had it done right? So probably just the photo...
Interesting, appears they strung the belt at the TDC mark. The shop manual says to move it to the 45deg safe mark. I'm a fan of doing it at TDC. Did they use the Porken VR32 timing setup? Doesn't appear so, I guess they used the default settings from the prev job. hmmmmmmmm
There is usually some writing on the outside of the belt. It wears over time, but should still be plainly visible at this point, I would think. I can't see it in the pics though...
Originally Posted by skpyle
Yeah...I thought that as well. I don't know what to make of it.
Here are a few photos of the belt install from Auto Assets:
It doesn't look too bad here.
When I check the belt tension, I will get better photos of the belt. Until then, I am staying away from the panic button.
I have looked again through all the photos. I do not see any writing on the belt. I am going to assume it is in the part of the belt we can't see.
Next week, when I'm not working 12 hour shifts, I will pull the intake tubes. I will bump the engine until the writing is visible in one of the vent tubes. And go from there...
Alright, I am now knee deep in an intake refresh and preparing for Porken's S300s chip upgrades.
I am finally checking out the timing belt tension and tracking.
Cam sprocket wear looks really good, to my untrained eye.
Passenger's side sprocket, no shiny aluminum, no divots.
Driver's side sprocket, a little bit of aluminum peeking through at the edge of the teeth. No divots, though.
Passenger's side belt. Looks OK to me, no odd wear.
Driver's side belt. Looks OK, no odd wear.
Passenger's side belt tracking. Not centered on sprocket, but not too far off.
Driver's side belt tracking. Very much not centered on sprocket. A little concerning...
This timing belt has maybe 2000 miles on it since installation.
I have to get my Kempf tool back before I can report belt tension. I will do so shortly. The warning light never came on, so that is a good thing. It will take me a few more days to get the lower cover off so I can see the crank and oil pump gears. I will post photos of those.
Also remember that all the new gears are made of a much HARDER alloy and that the surface is also now hard anodized. These were redesigned by Porsche to overcome the problem of cam wear seen on the older softer gears with the spray on coating.
New gears are not cheap but probably the last ones you will ever buy.
The oil pump & crank gears are steel so unless the belt is way over-tightened they should see no wear at all.
Do you happen to know when this occurred? I had my cam gears replaced a while back and I think they came from Porsche and they were pretty pricey. It would warm my heart to think that they were for all practical purposes indestructible.
Too bad they never bothered to update the center console.
05-23-2016, 12:24 PM
