924Board.org

cgoldhill · Joined: 25 Sep 2004 Posts: 28

Is it possible to look at anything in the 924s motor to tell if it is in need of a front engine tune up?(oil seals, waterpump, balance shafts, blah blah blah)

Sleykin · Posted: Tue Nov 09, 2004 9:55 am Post subject:

It is really a time/mileage thing. If you don't know when it was done last plan on doing it ASAP and keep good records. If you have water pump or oil leaks it needs it now anyway. If the belts fail the least you will loose are the valves. The damage to the head is expensive to repair and you have to do the belts then too

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Glenn Neff
Medford, OR
87' 924S

cgoldhill · Joined: 25 Sep 2004 Posts: 28

Alrighty well then i'll just have to suck it up and do it when I get the car. I've done the timing belt and water pump on my 89 BMW which was not very extensive. How hard of a job is this front engine work?

Llamaguy · Joined: 02 Jul 2003 Posts: 711 Location: Indiana

It's not too terrribly hard, you need a a full set of wrenches and tools obviously, I had to buy the wrenches for the balance belts and the tensioner and a set of 12 point metric internal bits. It took me from Friday night through most of Monday but wasn't "hard"
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1987 924S Guards Red
1997 Suzuki Tl1000 Supersport

The Fife · Joined: 17 Mar 2004 Posts: 241 Location: San Antonio, Texas

Tools I used:
-metric wrenches
-metric allen keys
-metric allen sockets
-tripple square/cheesehead bit
-1 or 2 masonry drill bits + oil to drill out the stripped cheesehead bolt
-belt tensioner tool (I used the Krikit - $12 at Napa)
-flywheel lock - makes it SO much easier to get the crankshaft bolt out. It came from Paragon.
-flat wrench (27 or 24 mm - I forgot)
-pin wrench from Harbor Freight. This will hold the balance shaft sprockets still so you can get at the bolt in the middle. It won't work to move the spring tensioner, but it's easy to use something else to pry against it once you find the right spot to lever from.

Resources used:
http://www.clarks-garage.com
This board
http://www.rennlist.com

Things I regret not doing while I was in there:
- oil cooler seal - started leaking coolant 3 weeks after I put everything back together. I had the head off... it would've been so much easier to get at then instead of now.
- balance shaft seals. I'm still not sure if the lower is leaking since the oil was changed and the filter makes a mess because of the way it's mounted, but this would've kept me from wondering.

Advice:
Go slow and be careful. I followed the instructions on Clark's Garage to the letter (it was my 1st belt change) and everything worked out great. When I didn't understand or had a problem with something I'd post and get an answer fast. I don't think the instructions say it, but if you remove the cooling fans you'll have a lot more room to work with.

cgoldhill · Joined: 25 Sep 2004 Posts: 28

Thanks guys. I'm gonna go shoot over to the clarks-garage website and get that guide and read up.

Lizard · Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 5:31 pm Post subject:

imo this isnt that bad of a job to do, however make sure that you have a 12 point 10 mm allen key and do ALL the front engine seals, balance shafts, oil pump, camshaft, everyone of them, the 12 point 10mm allen key is for the camshaft, and have something to hold the camshaft in place while you turn it as you can strip it fairly easy if you use power tools
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3 928s,

gohim · Joined: 02 Nov 2002 Posts: 4459 Location: Rialto, CA

Attention to the proper belt torque is CRITICAL.

You MUST use a torque wrench on the crankshaft pulley to tighten it properly, because the oil pump is driven by a gear sleeve that is held below the crankshaft pulley by friction alone. If the crankshaft pulley is not properly torqued, it will come loose, and no oil supply. Then say "GOODBYE" to the engine bearings.

Oil Cooler Seals should be replaced, but you will need a special tool to align the oil cooler housing after removing it. Otherwise, the oil pressure relief valve could hang in it's bore. The result is no oil pressure, and again, bye, bye, engine.

The Fife · Joined: 17 Mar 2004 Posts: 241 Location: San Antonio, Texas

Llamaguy · Joined: 02 Jul 2003 Posts: 711 Location: Indiana

That's why it's really nice to live near a grandparent who has a ton of wrenchs and sockets, I had to borrow quite a few. I did have to buy the 12 point but I was hoping to take it back, but it got scratched, oh well.

It's definatly much easier to change the thermostat with it out of the car b/c that snap ring is a bitch.
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1987 924S Guards Red
1997 Suzuki Tl1000 Supersport