Lesson for all... especially me....

[dlknight]

Hey all,


Long story short my 944S decided to destroy the engine when I turned the key this morning. Looks like the timing belt has snapped or maybe a tensioner has broken. Well I will know more when the garage have had chance to take a look, off on holiday on saturday too

This is probably a long shot but does anyone know the whereabouts or have a good 944S head ?

Incidentally my belts were changed in October 2004 with 160000 miles on the clock, now at 196000 miles.

I was looking to get all the tensioners and belts replaced in June, but have now learnt that I should have had it done sooner...

Cheers

Dave K.

 

[DivineE]

Cough Jon Mitchell.

 

[944psi]

What a bummer! I feel sick for you.

I don't know the whereabouts of a head but would presume the ususal places (PH, Douglas Valley, Porschapart) would be worth a try.

Phil

 

[gemmerson]

There is one for sale on ebay at the moment............http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Porsche-944s2-16v-Cylinder-Head-off-3L-16-Valve-968_W0QQitemZ120094363408QQihZ002QQcategoryZ10408QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Look like it need some work, but a good garage should be able to do that easy enough. Good luck.

G

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Incidentally my belts were changed in October 2004 with 160000 miles on the clock, now at 196000 miles.

Ouch - sorry to hear the news.

Does reinforce the more cautious 3 years/30k miles advice that some people are giving out now!

 

[zcacogp]

That's not good news.

I can't help, but all the best with getting your P&J back on the road.


Oli.

 

[NeilW]

Sorry to hear about your mishap, the same thing happened to my S four years ago. Sounds like you've been a bit unlucky at 3.5year and 36K miles. When was the cam chain/tensioner/ramp last inspected?

As a guide I paid £1800 to get mine back on the road, which breaks down as £800 for a head/cams and £1K labour. If the labour sounds high, it isn't. It took many hours to fish the shrapnel out of the bottom end and repeatedly flush the engine.

Good luck.

 

[knightma]

Sorry to hear this and it's certainly got me thinking. Mine were last done over 6 years ago in which time the car has only done 19k miles. The Service Book states every 48k miles without any mention of a time interval, so on that criterior they still have 29k miles left. However after reading Paul's post indicating 3 years or 30k miles they are living on borrowed time. Should I change them?

 

[jackregan]

it cant hurt to be over maintained is better than being blown up!

 

[cococola]

Just goes to prove how important it is to keep cars well maintained..these prices are scarey[8|]

 

[sawood12]

What a bummer. Yes, I think that the lesson is to treat the Porsche recommended service interval as an absolute backstop limit and aim to replace the belts well in advance. Hope you get her fixed up and the damage is not too severe.

 

[zcacogp]

ORIGINAL: jackregan

it cant hurt to be over maintained is better than being blown up!

I have heard it described as 'cheap insurance', but you do sound like you were unlucky with it going so soon after the last change.

The alternative (and I shudder to suggest this) is to break the car. If the vehicle is worth £4k (which seems to be about what reasonable S2's change hands for now), and it will take £1800k to get it back on the road, if you can break it for more than £2200, you are in the money.

>Awaits people on here flaming me for such a suggestion - hey, I'm a hard-nosed capitalist!<


Oli.

 

[Diver944]

ORIGINAL: knightma

Should I change them?

YES - Immediately []

You may think this is overkill but I have lost count of the number of cars I have heard with snapped belts at low mileage but many years since the last change.

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Sorry to hear this and it's certainly got me thinking. Mine were last done over 6 years ago in which time the car has only done 19k miles. The Service Book states every 48k miles without any mention of a time interval, so on that criterior they still have 29k miles left. However after reading Paul's post indicating 3 years or 30k miles they are living on borrowed time. Should I change them?

I'd even go as far as saying don't risk driving it until it's done.....after 6 years you could have any amount of contamination from small oil leaks etc degrading the belt.

I'm a bit paranoid, maybe because I get all the horror stories relayed to me, but I plan on every three years even though I do less than 5k per year of gentle driving. [8|]

 

[pauljmcnulty]

The alternative (and I shudder to suggest this) is to break the car. If the vehicle is worth £4k (which seems to be about what reasonable S2's change hands for now), and it will take £1800k to get it back on the road, if you can break it for more than £2200, you are in the money.

>Awaits people on here flaming me for such a suggestion - hey, I'm a hard-nosed capitalist!<

Oli, that sort of talk will get you in trouble.......[]

Assuming the rest of the car is good (see "corrosion" thread []) then a properly rebuilt engine will give at least another 100k. Compare that with buying an alternative car to do those 100k miles, and the repair cost doesn't seem quite so bad. But then I'm not the one paying it....

I worry about the idea of breaking sound cars. There are always going to be accident-damaged or rusted dogs to dismantle, so we need to keep the good ones going.

And - when you bear in mind the money you can spend modifying a Turbo, the cost of a sorted S2 engine doesn't sound unreasonable?

 

[wizard]

Dave my sympathies, your car is a very fine example and i'm sure you will get it fixed and back on the road.

 

[dlknight]

ORIGINAL: zcacogp

I have heard it described as 'cheap insurance', but you do sound like you were unlucky with it going so soon after the last change.

The alternative (and I shudder to suggest this) is to break the car. If the vehicle is worth £4k (which seems to be about what reasonable S2's change hands for now), and it will take £1800k to get it back on the road, if you can break it for more than £2200, you are in the money.

>Awaits people on here flaming me for such a suggestion - hey, I'm a hard-nosed capitalist!<


Oli.

Well I had already budgeted for replacing all the tensioners and belts in the summer and as Paul McNulty said its not much compared to some of the money changing hands for these rebuilt turbo nutter engines

On the plus side if I get the head rebuilt I could always get the valve stem seals replaced, maybe bringing the engine power slightly closer to the manufacturers quoted figure

I had the cam chain and slippers replaced at the last belt change by a Porsche specialist in the East Midlands so I'm hoping that due to the way the cam belt failed (when starting and not when crusing at xxxmph) that the cams and chain are undamaged.

I do have a little rust on the rear passenger side sill and also bottom of the front wing, but hopefully I can get this sorted at the same time. The centre sills and drivers front wing are all sound so I don't have a problem with pouring more money into it. I could go and buy another 944 for similar amount of money that I could be spending on getting it sorted, but then you are potentially starting at square one without knowing the complete recent history of what work has been done and what needs doing.

Well hopefully it will be sorted in time for the next rolling road day

Dave K.

 

[knightma]

ORIGINAL: pauljmcnulty
I'd even go as far as saying don't risk driving it until it's done.....

Thanks for the advice, the car is off the road at present anyway as I'm changing the clutch. Just ordered the belt from OPC Swindon. I can recommend their parts department, very helpful and give 10% discount to members. They're certainly doing well out of me, nearly £1000 worth of parts in the last 2 weeks!

 

[cococola]

Good luck Mark let us know how you get on[]

 

[charles.y]

Why don't they make longer life and more robust belts ! []

Charles