Who Says 944 Timing Belts Aren’t Tough?

It is amazing how when one 944 shows up, they show up in herds. This time was different though. This time was because they could smell a nicely modified car coming in on the hook, and they were looking to scavenge parts off it like vultures! What are friends for right?

The car had been running good, starting making a metallic noise, but nothing seemed amiss. As he was going down the interstate, the central warning light came on and so he shut it down and pulled over, only to find it spitting coolant out the overflow tank.

After we got it pushed onto the lift, I pulled the timing belt cover to see what was up with the waterpump. This is why we use our own parts when working on these cars. A freak manufacturing defect in the rebuilt pump allowed the pulley to work off the shaft. I had a new pump in my hands from my supplier within the hour, and started replacing it. No waiting to send parts back across country, then wait for a new one….nope parts are here same day. Now the interesting thing was that the timing belt was so loose I could pull it off the timing gears (because of the cocked waterpump pulley), yet the belt had zero signs of damage. Pretty amazing considering all the talk you hear of 944 timing belts being a PITA. Didn’t even slip time!

Here you can see the bearing walked out of the housing, pushing the pulley off the shaft. Amazing. I told Fred to go buy a lottery ticket, and get me one too!