[tamathumper]

Case in point about "always one more thing" - when replacing the tensioner, I've read you may wish to change the bolt that attaches it, as those have been known to fail... How often? I've no idea. But when asking on forums for advice on what to replace "while you're in there", you can probably safely assume you'll get enough replies to eventually add up to "one of everything".

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[Cloud9...68]

[quote name='tamathumper' timestamp='1355402489' post='136159']

Case in point about "always one more thing" - when replacing the tensioner, I've read you may wish to change the bolt that attaches it, as those have been known to fail... How often? I've no idea. But when asking on forums for advice on what to replace "while you're in there", you can probably safely assume you'll get enough replies to eventually add up to "one of everything".

[/quote]

Yes, this is the bolt I was fererring to in my post #20. I agree - the "while you're in there" mindset can soon have you replacing every part in the dern car!



And as to the debate of how much preventative maintenace is adequate vs. excessive, 968 owners are a bunch of amateurs. There are guys on the BMW E46 forum who, I swear, replace every part of their car, moving or not, every two years.

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[Rap]

Come on! No amount of preventative maintenance is excessive. It's always cheaper to do it now rather than later. Fram oil filter commercial. The question is can you afford it? I'm giving coal for presents this year due to this philosophy! Lol

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[Lear35A]

[quote name='Cloud9...68' timestamp='1355414574' post='136162']



And as to the debate of how much preventative maintenace is adequate vs. excessive, 968 owners are a bunch of amateurs. There are guys on the BMW E46 forum who, I swear, replace every part of their car, moving or not, every two years.

[/quote]

I find this very comical because it is so close to home. My son has an E46, and you have described him to a T. He changes parts on that car for PM purposes that I have never heard of. I've always shaken my head at this behavior, but it's his car and his money. Maybe it's caused by some Bavarian gas that continues to escape from the leather in the car. BTW I just asked him if he is on an E46 forum. He replied yes, it's called E46fanatics.com. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/laugh.png" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[Cloud9...68]

Yeah - this isn't a joke - a lot of E46 owners consider the radiator a consumable item, that needs to be replaced no later than every 80,000 miles, although I seem to remember some people replacing theirs (at about $400 a pop) every two years. Some people have phobias over clowns - thse guys must have the same affliction toward tow truck drivers...

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[tamathumper]

There's nothing funny about a clown in the moonlight... Lon Chaney

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[Lear35A]

[quote name='ds968' timestamp='1355178346' post='136064']



2. Mfg date : " Attached is an example of what it should look like - it's the 6 digits after the part number which is - day - year then plant code I.E. 0868MC - 86th day of 2008 - MC is the plant "





[/quote]

Hmm. Here's a picture of the info on a Gates belt I received from Pelican Parts today. Was it made in 1932 or 1951???? I hope it's '51 cause I'd hate to use a belt older than me.

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[JWahlsten]

Lear,



Looks to me like 325th day of 2011... or 1951, your choice...

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[ds968]

They sent you the wrong one, that was supposed to be MY belt.. as evidenced by the customized initials after the date code. :-)

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[Scott Collins]

Someone needs to design some sort of "quick release" system for getting to the balance and timing belts. It's just silly how much has to be done to get those things off and on. Any takers?

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[DaveN]

Quick release is easy, it's called a knife. Quick installation is what you really want ;-)

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[tamathumper]

I assume you're talking about all the screws in the under-belly pans, and then all the screws that have to be undone for the belt covers to be removed, as well as the tensioners and other belts to be undone? I've longed for a quick-release under-belly pan more than once.

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[DaveN]

Ah, my misread. Getting to the belts not getting them off. So much for smart @ss comments :-)

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[flash]

lol - often i've said i could use a quick release - oops - wrong site.



seriously though, i've had the pans on and off so many times now that it has become a non-issue. it only takes me about 3 minutes to get them all. i spend more time getting the car in the air than that. i argue with myself more over not having a lift than i do over the pans.

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[Scott Collins]

Nobody panic! By "quick release", I meant getting the belts on and off. Some way to have the whole package pull off, keep the tensioner locked in place, etc. Then maybe on a bench, swap the belts, then re-mount everything. The various belly pans are not the issue, but it would also be helpful to have a better way to get the front belt covers on and off, especially the lower cover off without having to pull off the alternator belt.

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[MLB]

I hope to have my brand-new-to-me '94 cab into the shop very soon to cure much deferred engine maintenance. According to POs records, most recent timing belt change was 30K miles ago...in 1998! Based on previous posts in this thread, I'm basically scared sh**less now about just driving it to the shop, but not crazy about paying to have it towed 25 miles to the shop. The <acronym title='pre purchase inspection'>PPI</acronym> ( done in Chicago) shop acted like I should have no problems as long as I got it replaced 'soon'. Now I have russian roulette nightmares wondering whether to turn the key and start the thing.

Anyway, P/S is leaking bad, and front/rear main and balance seals seeping. Planning to get at least all this (incl water pump) done at once. Again, <acronym title='pre purchase inspection'>PPI</acronym> guy talked like this should not cost much over $2K to get the car back in good shape, and now I'm beginning to think it will be a lot more than that. Somebody say it aint so! :0)

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[Rap]

Whatever it costs its worth your piece of mind! Then you can relax as you drive along in the beautiful Wisconsin countryside.

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[tamathumper]

Welcome to old P-car ownership. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/wink.png" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[Cloud9...68]

Sigh... Sadly, <acronym title='pre purchase inspection'>PPI</acronym>'s are often pretty inaccurate, from what I've read, and experienced personally. Not to scare you even more, but the seals you're describing are a massive amount of work to replace, and therefore very expensive. Not even sure how to do some of them without pulling the engine, so you might want to hold off on some of these, and really sit down and prioritize everything. For example, replacing the rear main seal is a beast, so you might want to wait until you need a new clutch, and do it as part of that job. And everybody's balance shafts leak, and the passenger side is extremely difficult to get to with the engine in the car, so you might want to just live with this one, as a small leak here isn't really harmful, other than to your garage floor. And with a timing belt that old, you may want to bite the bullet and tow it to the shop, unless you want to tackle it yourself (it's really not that hard of a job, just very time-consuming). Yes, welcome to old P-car ownership.

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[flash]

rear main seal requires clutch removal. if the clutch hasn't been done, this is the time to do it. that will be $1200-$3k, depending on parts needed.



the rest of the seals aren't as bad if you're already in there.



a belt job with waterpump and pulleys is about $2k.



based on needing the seals, a power steering fix of sorts, and new belts and such, at a wild guess, i'd say you're realistically looking at about $4k-$5k.



that's the problem with these cars. no matter which way you go about it, you'll spend nearly $20k on a hardtop and a few thousand more on a cab. it just may not happen at purchase, and may take you 2 years to do it and catch up with all the neglected work.

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