Engine

Timing Belt Shredded by Dragging Oil Pump

I thought timing belt breakage only happened to other 928 owners. Well, it happend to me now...Me!! I changed and checked my T-belt regularly! Here's the sad tale...On my twice weekly 150 mile commute (home office three days a week) I was halfway to work, passing a truck, in fifth, when I lost power. No noise, nothing dramatic, just a big drop off. In fourth I could maintain speed into town and a parking lot where it died forever. The belt was still visible, I checked and swapped my fuel pump relays to no avail. Towed to my mechanic who listened to the cranking and shook his head. We checked the fuel pressure at the rail, and it was of course, fine. So we dove into the front, uncoverd the belt and there was chewed up rubber everywhere. The culprit turned out to be the oil pump of all things. It had been dragging to the point where the gear was half worn away! Metal vs. rubber, Metal wins. The belt was missing all kinds of teeth and it had skipped. Pistons vs. valves, everyone loses... Funny thing is there were no warning lights, no loss of oil pressure, no indication whatsoever of impending doom. So the end result is the search for an '85-86 engine.

Nolan Clock
'85 5-speed, Black/black as death