Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Oops. I thought I had got away with this ID10T error last summer when I changed all the belts and pump.

Basically, I mistakenly over-tightened the timing belt idler that bolts into the waterpump, and stripped the thread, preventing it from tightening properly. But having checked it a few times since, and having driven a few thousand miles since, I assumed all was fine.

A few weeks ago, I was driving at motorway speeds and felt a sudden change of vibration. I happened to be visiting Jon Jeffryes, who diagnosed PAS pump noises. See here: http://forums.tipec.net/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=15643

Yesterday, I drove to a friends place, (ironically to get help with repairing my van), and went to start and was presented with the most awful plastic rattling noise. Took the belt cover off, and saw this. (Well, not quite this. I had to cut it up further just to disentangle it from the crankshaft).



Then, I could see the further damage, caused by the idler and bolt that had found it's way to the bottom of the belt cover:



So now at least I know what it's like to drive a 944 without the balance belt. I had to, just to get it home, but I'm pretty sure I have been for the last few drives, as the vibration has been noticeable. I wasn't ignoring it, and it was definitely on my mind to investigate, but fortunately the car let me know.

Now I can hope that a longer bolt for the idler will screw in tightly, or it's off with the waterpump and pay someone to install a helicoil insert.

I obviously need a balance belt tensioner and belt!

I will inspect the timing belt for damage.

i'm new to these engines, i presume that its just a 2nd belt to the cambelt to just smooth out the engine and its functions or am I completely out.

hope it didn't do any lasting damage.

That is the Balance belt which turns the balance shafts. Running without it will break the oil pick pipe eventually. Lucky that it didn't take the cam belt off, they frequently do.

I've also heard that it prematurely wears out the engine mounts.

I didn't think balance belts frequently broke?

Sounds like the tensioner was damaged though, so must have let go? Lucky the timing belt didnt fail to.

Hope you get it sorted out and back on the road

Bloody hell Alex!

For the waterpump, the good news is you can fix it in situe, especially if you can find someone with a right angle drill.. We can probably lend you a helicoil tool kit and talk you through drilling out the old threads, cutting a new one for the helicoil and then it will actually be stronger than new!

You however are VERY lucky

Usually if a balance belt fails it gets fed into the cam belt and the whole engine is lunched in a matter of seconds!!

Yes that was Mark's reaction yesterday when I phoned to order the parts!

I have a good friend who is a classic mechanic. He can do helicoil inserts but seems to think I'll need the pump off to drill it out. Maybe he doesn't have the right-angle drill. I probably know someone local who does. There are 3 garages on the road next to where I live.

I have just about finished wiping the sweat off my forehead whilst dragging my tail between my legs.

That is some luck I must say!

Do you reckon the balance belt was up a little too tight, or was it just one of those things (these things after all, can happen). What brand was the belt out of curiosity (although I guess it was the bolt which finished off the balance belt)?

It was whatever brand of belt that Jon Mitchell knows, trusts and supplies me with!

The tension was typically sloppy feeling (compared to the timing belt) and was not whining when I installed it last summer, and checked it recently.