Porsche 944 - Timing Belt Inspection Tutorial 

Thanks man, I appreciate the feedback! 👍🏼

I’ve found that a small curved tool on the inside edge of the boots can help work them into place. I actually have a set of plastic levers designed to install bicycle tires that I’ve used on quite a few rubber seals and things on the 944. 😂

You’re in a unique situation because you’ve actually driven your car. 😂 Most people hit the 4 years before the 15k-mile checkpoint these days. Personally, I find the tension checks a little ridiculous given the amount of work it takes to get in there and take a reading, it’s not far off from replacing the belts altogether. So it’s like, well I’m already here, so why not drop $20 and just replace the belt. Obviously a little different if you’re taking it to a shop as it would add labor costs, but it all feels over-zealous to me. When Porsche started seeing some early belt failures, they changed the maintenance interval to cut down on warranty claims. I’ve even read there was a time when they wouldn’t honor any warranty work on the engine unless the belt was checked within the last 2 years, crazy stuff. At the same time, if ignoring Porsche’s guidance causes heartburn, you won’t enjoy driving the car as much, so it would probably be better to take action. Assuming you don’t have the belt tensioner and specialty tools, you could still remove the accessory belts, the upper and lower belt covers, set TDC, ensure the marks are still in time, then roll the camshaft back 10° and do a 90° thumb twist on the belt. That may give enough peace of mind to say, I’m good for another year. If not, you’ve already made it to 3 years, which is pretty close, so maybe bite the bullet and have the belts changed a little early. The flip side of a snapped/slipped belt results in a $2,000 top end rebuild, expensive but still something you could come back from. So I think it’s about which path will provide the most long term enjoyment, where money eliminates the unknown.

@@NC944er I think you’re absolutely right. I was having reservations because I was planning to be lazy and just let my dealer do it for me until they quoted me $6,000. I was always in the camp of (oh well I guess if a belt snaps, there’s always a stage 2 Lindsey head and a new cam and all new shiny go fast parts I want to do anyways, plus 40 year old head gasket; it starts turning into an endless well of “while you’re in there”) Given the heat of where I live and all these circumstances I’m just gonna replace the belts, but I’ll allow myself the mental relief of slightly more procrastination available than I previously thought hahahaha. Thanks!

Thanks man! Congrats on the 944 purchase and welcome to the club. Problems are certainly abundant, I’ve been chasing them for 4 years now. 😂 I’ll let you know if mine ever gives me enough of a break to take on more work. In the meantime, I’m happy to answer any questions you have. Cheers! 👍🏼

How’s your maintenance coming along? You need help with anything?

Yeah, 15 years is definitely up there. I’ve seen some for sale lately where people have let them go 20+ years, pretty wild. 😂

Thanks man, very cool! Yeah, they’ve been good so far and sounds like they may be quieting down a bit. I’m tempted to try the racing belt for my next change, mainly because of the color, it’s almost like Porsche’s “Mexico Blue.” 😂

If they wine, they’re to tight

Nice! I get most of my parts from Pelican Parts and 944Online, as they both have kits for various projects. I usually make a list of what’s needed, shop the best price, and go from there.

Thanks! A little twisting motion while pulling back generally gets them moving. If your plugs are in newer condition, they can create a little vacuum seal on the plug terminal, so it helps to pull back on the outer edge of the rubber plug to allow some air to enter while pulling.

@@NC944er Thank you!

Thank you sir!

Sounds like you got a pretty good deal! It does make sense to care for all those items at once if you can. The URO water pumps are a little cheaper and have been pretty reliable across the 944 community. Best of luck!

Thanks! Porsche’s recommended timing belt replacement interval is every 45K miles, so I’d probably plan on replacing it in the near future. Replacing the water pump would be preventative at this point and it would save time since you’d already be in there. The pumps can make it to around 100K miles if you want to wait, just listen out for whining noise from the pulley bearing. If the pulley seizes, it will cause the timing belt to fail. The water pump gaskets can fail as they dry out over time and when that happens, coolant tends to dump pretty rapidly.

Thanks for the info. That might be why I had a lot of coolant leak out. I topped it off so I could drive it, and strangely, the leaking stopped. The coolant level is still full now. That was almost a year ago.

Yeah, that’s exactly what I was referring to. Another piece to mention is front-engine oil leaks that can foul up the belts inside the cover. You should be good for another couple years with the new pump and rollers installed at the same time as the belts.

Yeah, that’s the Arnworx gauge, it’s an aftermarket tool made specifically for the 944. The company is currently changing ownership and their web store is down temporarily. Not sure when it will be back up, but here is the site - secure242.inmotionhosting.com/~arnnwo5/catalog/index.php?main_page=down_for_maintenance

You can get quite a few basic maintenance jobs done on a 944 with just a decent set of metric tools and a torque wrench. The specialty stuff mainly comes into play with the timing and balance shaft belt systems, where a pin wrench, a flywheel lock, and a tensioning tool is needed. A gear puller can come in handy as well, but you can usually get by without one. Probably the biggest difference from other engines of the era would be its use of a balance shaft system. I wouldn’t say it’s terribly complicated, provided that one study up on it a bit. It’s easy to deal with once you know how it works, it’s just not super common.

Halfway correct. 😂 The balance shaft belts are the same across all the 944 models, but the S and S2 use a slightly different timing belt. Check out part number 944-105-323-02.

@@NC944er 50% correct is not bad at all 😂👍 Seen worse 😂 Thanks a lot!

@@NC944er reference number for the balance shaft one is? Thanks again... :)

@@TastingCars Haha! No doubt, if I’m 10% correct on a good day, I’ll take that as a win. 😂 Here’s the balance shaft belt part number: 944-102-219-04. Envious of your S2 by the way… that’s really “the” 944 model to have in my opinion. Cheers!

Thanks a lot!!! Becoming owner mid January 2023, just locked the car now... But is a nice blue 101.000km example... I'm moving forward buying a belt replacement kit because it had new belts at 97.000km, so just 4000km ago, but also 9 years ago :/ I have to pick it up 800km away from home, so little scared for the drive back...

I’ve had a URO brand water pump on my car now for the past three years without any issues. A number of other folks have reported success with them as well… and the price point is about $500 less than Porsche OEM, so to me it was worth a try. There are a few other aftermarket brands as well that go up in price… LASO and GEBA, but may be worth a look at some reviews.

@@NC944er thanks man. I've been looking into gates. I've heard a lot of not so good things about URO, but I'll definitely look into it since you've had success with it

@@liamflynn6929 URO is definitely “hit and miss” depending on the part. They get ripped up pretty good on BMW forums. 😂 Their 944 sunroof seal is an absolute disaster, but their rear hatch seal works perfectly. Ian of 944Online carries the URO water pumps and he usually vets his stuff pretty well. He’s also get better prices than Pelican right now on the LASO and GEBA units… made in Germany. If you have an extra $150, couldn’t hurt to bump up to one of those over the URO. At the URO price, you could buy 4 of them for what the Porsche one costs. 🤣

@@sargentthiccboi9333 Still some good deals out there to be had… decent one in my area available for $2,500 right now. Someone last year offered to give me one for free… but it was an automatic trans.