loftygoals Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 How many of you guys do your own front end maintenance? I contacted my local Porsche shop about having the front end gone through (i.e. water pump, belts, rollers, front engine seal, etc). The quote was $2k. Based on the prices on Pelican's site, it seems like parts should only run ~$500. $1500 seems like a lot of labor. What do you think? -brent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schwank Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 Yikes! Shops do tend to charge quite a bit for labor on these. I don't think it should be $1500 worth though... It really isn't that hard... just take your time. There are a million posts on rennlist and pelican about how to do it. For that amount of money you can buy all the tools you need. Besides, if you want to race it, it will definitely help you to know how everything is put together and tensioned. I did it myself with no prior experience at all. It is not difficult. I vote for DIY. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loftygoals Posted May 10, 2007 Author Share Posted May 10, 2007 I'm almost considering not doing any maintenance to this motor. I don't have any records on it, so who knows what has been done. I'm thinking that I might just buy a junk yard motor and rebuild it. That way I can start racing with motor I have (well, until it blows up) and then sink my money into a full motor build. What do you think? -bj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genikz Posted May 10, 2007 Share Posted May 10, 2007 Personally, I would do the belts and waterpump on the old motor. Once you get the belt covers off, you'll see how easy all that stuff is to get to. The biggest pain, in my opinion, is getting the belts tensioned properly. I don't have the tools for that, but that can be purchased or borrowed. If you want to compromise, just replace the belts. A little oil never hurt nobody Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weston Posted May 11, 2007 Share Posted May 11, 2007 After having done timing belts and various other things on FWD cars, the 944 is almost a pleasure to work on for most jobs. Things are simpler, there is less junk cluttered together, and you have more room to work with. The belts and water pump and stuff isn't bad at all. You'll just need a flywheel lock, balance sprocket holder, and a way to check the tension on the belt (not really required for cars with spring tensioners though). The thin, oddball wrench is useful too, but it's possible to get by without it. Check out http://www.arnnworx.com for the tools. I don't look forward to getting the oil pan off, or dealing with the clutch, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck T. Posted May 11, 2007 Share Posted May 11, 2007 Weston is being nice ... We have done 4 builds here in NASARM and Weston is our timing belt man ! Dave Dirks does the kill switch . etc etc... Thanks for the help Weston ! Chuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixrken Posted May 11, 2007 Share Posted May 11, 2007 It took me a while to build up a support network for these cars. I got quotes from some Porsche shops which doesn't make sense. They quote from a shop rate book which seems to charge at least twice. For example they would quote X hours for a waterpump and Y hours for the belts, to service the waterpump you have undo and reinstall the belts anyways (old or new belts). I felt I should just have to pay for X. These cars are pretty easy to work on and if you don't like to wrench you might want to work with a mechanic you trust and learn it together. Here's what our NorCal group is paying as a reference: Front end reseal including all belts, rollers, etc. ~ $600 Engine rebuild (dropping the engine from the car, complete engine tear down, reinstalling back into the car) from the low to mid $2K's. FYI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legoland951 Posted May 12, 2007 Share Posted May 12, 2007 A new water pump is $300 to $500 depending on where you get it whereas a rebuilt costs $125 to 200 just the parts alone. The timing belt, balance belt, and rollers cost over $120 parts alone since there are 4 rollers at around $35 each. The front seals also cost some $ but I buy the entire top end gasket set so I don't know how much they cost just for the front seals. Its pretty simple but something like inproper installation/torque of the pressure washer at the crank pulley can cause the oil pump not to work properly and we know what low oil pressure can do. An improperly tensioned timing belt can cause the waterpump/rollers to wear prematurely if its too tight and break causing bent valves damaging the engine. If its too loose, it can skip a few and cause the same thing. DIY is a good thing but there are critical things to get advice from people who have done it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Packfill Posted May 12, 2007 Share Posted May 12, 2007 Just the PROPER belt tensioning tool (P9201) is $450. I know many people think this tool is not absolutely necessary, but it takes the guess work out of setting the belt tension.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryW Posted May 12, 2007 Share Posted May 12, 2007 Just the PROPER belt tensioning tool (P9201) is $450. I know many people think this tool is not absolutely necessary, but it takes the guess work out of setting the belt tension.... Where can you find the tool at $450 ? Everywhere I look it's way more than that. (Used to be down there at that price but not for a while). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Packfill Posted May 12, 2007 Share Posted May 12, 2007 I bought mine from these guys a year ago or so, for $455.... http://www.sunsetimports.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryW Posted May 12, 2007 Share Posted May 12, 2007 Just sent them an e-mail to check on their current price. I also am lookinto the Arnnworks one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
944-Spec#94 Posted May 13, 2007 Share Posted May 13, 2007 Front seals and waterpump are not hard jobs. However everyone here has a different basis for what is hard. For some guys changing brake pads is a "tough job". Point is the 944 motor is simple to work on if you have some mechical skill and the patience to read & check twice rather than forcing things. If you have plans on maintaing the car your self starting with t-belt/waterpump is not that bad. Should take a weekend maybe two if you run into some issues, but once done you will see it was not that much work. Tensioning the belts is the only tricky part. Simple to do even if you don't have the tool, but you must know the "feel". This is hard to show unless you see it done in person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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