[urq] urq Digest, Vol 119, Issue 3

[Mike Del Tergo]

David,
as you know one of the reasons for the nutty belt service expense on the 944 is because of the crazy belt system for the timing belt and balance shaft belt and of course the crazy expensive Porsche parts.  IIRC MSRP water pump is pushing 5 bills.  8-12 hours labor seems the norm as you have a fair amount of time just in disassembly to get to  the belts.  Toss in rollers and tensioners and there you go.  I think there is a specialty tool for setting the tension that runs big bucks and the thermostat and it is held in with a big C clip, like Urq CVs for some unknown reason that can be a pain to remove without another tool, .  To avoid all of that prematurely, I'd go Kevlar.
 
 
 
 
 

> From: "Schaible, David" David.Schaible at jrspharma.com

> I believe the wx is an interference engine yes. I know the 20v is ?   I know the 944 I have is, the timing belt I have on there is in good shape with low miles but is almost 10years old.  Any opinions on replacement?   The last quote was $2500 for the job so this is going to be a DIY.  Is anyone running a Kevlar timing belt?   the opinions on the Porsche forum vary and don't seem to be based on any real knowledge or experience.  The mk4 tdi timing belts for the 1.9l went from 60k to 100k interval during their production by a belt and increased size pulley change but the belt was not Kevlar.
> 
> Is it really worth it to make interference engines with the potential downsides?
> 
> David Schaible