Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Hi all,

So I've managed to save up some money and decided that I am going to get the clutch replaced (the wholse shabang i.e throwout bearing, etc.) and the front engine seals, pump and belts as well (And at this rate, the fuel lines, brake lines, brake pads and discs, etc)

Does anybody know any good garages in the Midlands area that offers the most competitive prices? I've got a very limited budget so am trying to figure out what to prioritise first.

I would ask EMC Motorsport and say that Chas sent you .

The short truth however is that is it is not a quite job at all and time is money .

that's brilliant! I don't know why I've never found these guys googling around.

Perfect for me as I am moving near Birmingham next month! I just realised that the man hours to do the belts and the clutch is ridiculous. To the point that one of my friends quote for a belt change on his old 911 was silly cheap compared to the 944

Firstly a belt change on a 911 is just a multi V belt (costs £20 or so) that drives the alternator, power steering & water pump & AC. Takes around 40 minutes if you're slow.
Not sure of the book time to do belts but I've done a few & it is a long day or day & half! Plus the belts, idlers & tensioners are £300 if you want all of them. The water pump is another 1/2 hour if all the bolts come out. Clutch from memory on non-turbo 944 is 8 or 9 hours & that is if it all goes well. Plus clutch & related bits itself which is circa £400 dependent on model.

That verifies me not wanting to have a go myself Thanks for putting the costs into perspective

If it makes you feel any better (I think one specialist quotes close to £400+ for the belts and tensioners on here, whilst another quotes £250 although I struggle to see that when the parts alone are around £200...) my Clio 172 is far from a cheap belt change and makes a 944 look easy!

A local garage quoted me £460 + parts (around £170 from Renault, and oddly £220 from ECP!) with him not knowing what the dephaser pulley was :/.
A very local specialist quoted me £550 and possible £170 on top for a dephaser pulley (inlet variable valve timing pulley driven off the oil pressure)
The cheapest I found for the belts was a known specialist in Nottingham who charges £360 or £550 if the dephaser pulley is changed.

In the end I had mine done at a cost of £600 . The bloke was quite close and well known in the Clio Sport scene. Furthermore my dephaser was rattling a touch at idle with the belts being due on the years (5 years) but not on mileage where it was 30k under the schedule. I was tempted to risk it but the car would not even be worth scrap value with a snapped belt. They are a pain to change, none of the pulleys are on keyways and the tools to change them with are not cheap which is why I gave it to someone else (parts alone for the job were close to £300 with the oil and filter being part of that due to the dephaser pulley being changed). I remember a Porker specialist telling me that "they are not pleasant to change' and succeeded in sending me elsewhere as a result!

People have done them without loosening either the bottom crank pulley or not the cams with slight power loss issues or worse clipped valves. I actually saw the latter happen on a Kangoo 1.5DCi from a botched aux belt change; that was a lucky escape!

Damn, I did not even think that a clio can be such a PITA. I had a celica for a number of years and since it had a chain I never even thought about it. The auxiliary belt was easy to replace to the point that I did it myself, but I am just a bit more wary with my 944. I mean, I only have a 2.5 8v engine and am thinking of getting a 3.0 S2 engine dropped in sometime next year. So I am wondering if the costs are even worth carrying it out now. That and the fact that I am looking at installing an LSD.

Well at least now you've put it into even better perspective in terms of the PITA work on your clio

It you want a 3.0 it'd probably end up cheaper to sell yours and get an S2.

A bit of perspective always helps. What I left out was that 2 of the 3 engine mounts have to be loosened as well with the timing pin slot being easily confused for the crankshaft pulley. A quick job it is not ; having no AC (in the case of a Cup model) makes life a little easier.

However, regarding the engine swap I would agree that buying an S2 may be potentially a better idea. 5 years ago I bought an engine to replace the sick item on my S2 for £750. I believe that price has risen somewhat over the years. If you put labour and other 'while you are there' expenses into it the job is not what you would call a bargain. But OTOH creating something a little different and vaguely affordable is appealing.