Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

I'm in the process of buying a 1989 944 S2 which according to the seller's service history had the Timing/Balance belts & tensioners replaced in 2006, then re-tensioned in 2008 & inspected at servicing nearly every year. They are well below the mileage to be replaced. According to Mark at RS911, they are still in healthy condition & would not be worried driving long distances; with no signs of cracks/deterioration & will check them again prior to me picking up the car as part of a mini service/inspection.

My intention is to pick up the car from Wales & drive all the way back to Malta, well over 2000 miles with some detours in between.

However, I do know that there is a 5 year span also for these to be replaced.

Your thoughts?

It isn't 5 years it is 45K miles or 4 years max. This according to Gates. Personally I would change them, I'd also check the water pump & idlers carefully.

I definitely will have them all replaced including water pump. But, would rather have them done here. So, would like to know of any similar experiences.

Definately get them done before your drive home.

Whereabouts in Wales ?
We can probably recommend somewhere to get them done

Dolgellau..I'm limited on time.

Can you get a quote?

I'd agree to do the belts at an absolute minimum and preferably the tensioners but I'd be tempted to leave the water pump myself.

Why do people ignore the camshaft drive chain on the twin cam engines?

They are not a service item according to Porsche and there are ways to check if the chain stretches as per the Clark's guide. Normally it's the tensioner pads that give the issues.

I know it's an expensive part but the fix is even more expensive if it goes. I didn't risk it with mine, I knew it'd been on there well over the service interval even though it'd done 1200 miles in 15 years. I had every part of the cambelt system changed and now I know it's perfect.

Maybe I have been lucky but in many cars I've never had a water pump go where I have left them well alone and it's not like the cars were sitting idle That includes:

-2001 Ford Mondeo Duratec HE ; 77k-380k
-2004 Ford Mondeo V6 2.5 ; 140k-280k. I created more issues by changing the 'pump' that always goes according to the forums. The old pump was fine and to make matters worse Ford machine the pumps to fit the housing. Lesson learned
-2005 Ford Mondeo V6 3.0 ; 115k-262k. Many parts of the cooling system failed (I learned what went from my last one and didn't let the car run in a poor state for long at all) but the pump was fine. At 260k the car was dead reliable. This also uses the "troublesome pump" if you look at the forums.
-2001 Ford Focus 1.6k ; 88k to 160k. Again, no issues.
-2008 Ford Mondeo 2.5T (Volvo engine); Touch wood that is OK. I almost went to change this when that was done ; it's a cambelt driving pump, but again failures seem to be very rare and hopefully stay that way.

In cars where they are known to go due to poor cambelt issues like the Ford CVHs I have changed them with the cambelt changes but even then on the odd occasion my dad left them on they rarely went.

While the above are Fords the one thing we ensured with the lot of them was to use the genuine Ford 10 year coolant. I know people say coolant is coolant and that I am wasting my money but look at it this way. It never scaled up massively inside the engine (the water always ran clear!) and it's cheaper than head gaskets etc. . I was never a believer of that but it's something I've seen a couple of people stick to and it does seem to make a good difference.

The cheaper blue coolants however have always rusted up on me within the year on a car and that is with a flushed engine block and a new radiator.

Well, to follow up...

I did buy the car & did ask other mechanics prior that also agreed that if the belts were in good condition after inspection, they would also find no objection for the road trip.

The manual actually states to check the belts after 24000 miles & replace at 48000 miles with no mention of age.

Picked up the car from Wales, drove to Liverpool, Oxford, Ramsgate, Eurotunnel, Calais-Bruges, Stuttgart, Florence, Cosenza, Catania, Pozzallo for the Catamaran to Malta, covered over an 8 day trip. All good & a great holiday. Around 2400 miles.

Engine ran with no hiccups whatsoever. When I brought the car to my shop, checked the belts & all look fine, just put new oil & filters & will be doing a thorough service, fluids etc once I finish with cosmetic work. So far, replaced gearbox oil & will be doing hydraulics next.

Now, car has traveled around 17000 miles since last belts changed but over 8/9 years ago.

Good to hear the belts have lasted. I myself would not chance it but it is one of those...

Do you mind showing me the manual? Most sources I have seen have put an age limit of 4 or 5 years on the belt, including Gates. The only belts I have seen with an ageless limit are the new "wet" belt systems where the belt is said to last the life of the engine.

Here are pictures of 2 pages regarding Toothed Belt @ 24000 miles & Camshaft Toothed Belt replacement @ 48000 miles...also mentioning re-tensioning @ 2-2500 miles.

Mine was actually replaced in 2006 @ 117000 & re-tensioned @ 119000 2 years later...now @ 134000 miles

You are a braver man than me. I hope your luck holds out.


Oli.