[ryker]

I would like to know if anybody on this forum has been as lucky as I was today.



I purchased my M030 coupe last August four miles from my house. It was a dozen years since the belts were changed, so of course this made me very nervous as I drove it home. I parked it in my garage and there it sat. I spent most of the following 3 months working in Northern California, so did not have the opportunity to take it to a mechanic. I came home this week, and took the car to a mechanic this morning. I actually was up in the middle of the night trying to decide if I should have it towed the 20 miles, or take my chances. Well, I'm a bit of a gambler, so finally decided to drive it. I knew that the previous owner took it for a spin every couple of months, so what's one more drive, right? I made it there without a hitch, or so I thought. Got a text from my mechanic at 11:46 am, "You're one lucky guy! One more mile and the engine would have been gone. The balance shaft belt is broken and stuck under the timing belt tensioner."



I think I'll keep gambling...

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[kmckmc]

So, what exactly happened? Your mechanic started the engine after you have left. Then, the balance shaft belt decided to snap.



You are a lucky guy.

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[gbarrier]

On the last 944 I owned I opened it up and there was a curled up balance shaft belt. Some just lay there and some, well, boom.



Letting a belt age in one position for a month or so, run it a bit and then do the same again has to be much worse than running it several times a week.

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[Cloud9...68]

Cool!

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[ryker]

I don't know exactly what happened but most likely what gbarrier said, I would think. I am shocked how many people do not heed the warning of the timing belt mess. My 1994 white car was not changed in 11 years. After I purchased it, I had it towed to the mechanic. He said he lifted the balance shaft belt right off with his finger. My 1992 silver car went 8 years and 55,000 miles and the mechanic said the same thing about the balance shaft belt. I said I will gamble but I was only referring to following up someone else's lack of timely maintenance. I always do the maintenance on all of my vehicles at the appropriate intervals. I feel that I am stating the obvious but I see no reason to take a chance, and vehicles simply last longer and perform better when treated well.

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[flash]

run out now and buy a lottery ticket!



i love the spider living in the bottom.



looks like it has been broken for a while. rusted parts and all that.

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[Bulti]

There must be a god!

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[WJH]

I'm with flash, it looks like that is not recent. A lot of rust on the balance shaft parts. It must of ran a little rough on the road. It will seems like new when you get it back.

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[ds968]

wow, holy crap ! luck is an understatement , more like a miracle ! after you buy the lottery ticket you need to sacrifice some chickens or virgins, or virgin chickens.. as an offering to the car gods

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[Bulti]

Lol, while you're at it, throw in some tax collectors and politicians.

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[rickh]

When I bought mine, I did the same thing. Took it straight to the mechanic and he told me my belt was laying on the bottom. Guess we're just a lucky bunch!

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[flash]

funny - when i got home from driving from cleveland to los angeles, bringing the car home upon purchase, i found the belt in the same condition.



fast forward a few years later, with 25k on the belts (but almost 5 years) i shredded another balance belt, and narrowly escaped catastrophic failure.



dan was not so lucky on that trip.



people - don't screw around about this!

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[vliegwielolaf1234]

I have seen a few with the balance belt snapped , but you start the car rev it once and you know , there is so much vibration .





I guess people just don't see or feel the danger , on the other hand when it goes it is instant , once the belt is wound up on a pully most of of the danger is gone , it wil stay there most of the time .



one of the balance belts i took of a few year's ago , i could tear it by hand like a piece of paper , that one was about 7 years old and had about 55000miles on it .

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[flash]

that's all fine, until you hit a bump, the belt pieces jump up, one gets caught up in the timing belt, and all hell breaks loose.



REALLY not a good idea to let your belts go beyond the service point of 3 years (maybe 4 if you are in a warm climate), or 45000 miles, whichever is first.

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[vliegwielolaf1234]

agree , you will not find me driving around with them old and aged , i just wonder why many do

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[Chris Vais]

I lost the balance shaft belt on my 944. It ran so rough that I can't imagine driving a car with a missing balance shaft for very long without sensing that something was seriously wrong with the engine.

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[Bulti]

Indeed, when I changed mine it was misaligned a few teeth. Took it out for a spin. Almost lost a few of my teeth. Impossible to ignore the vibrations it would seem.

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[flash]

me either. when mine went, i immediately noticed it. not only did it vibrate, but power was off a bit too. it just seemed "flat". it was at the top of a very long event drive. i discovered some muscles in odd places i didn't even know were there

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[ds968]

interesting to see that ( at least from what I read and heard ) 90% of the time it's the balance belt that goes first. in my case it was the timing belt that broke, ripped to shreds while the balance belt was not only pefrectly in place, but when removed it looked and flexed as if it was "out of the box new" ; not the lest bit of dryness, or hairline cracks, nothing ! of course, just my luck ; it's the belt that causes $ 6,000 worth of damage that decides to give up..

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[ryker]

I felt nothing, and I have owned four of these vehicles. Of course, I did not rev it up because I was already nervous. Trying to baby it to the shop.

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