88 S4 - Thoughts and advice moving forward

First off my apologies for not properly introducing myself to the forum prior to this post soliciting help. With that said it is my opinion in doing so would require countless hours of minimal change rewrites, and a three-finger single malt consumed. Enough, babbling lets get to the question.

A bit of background for context will be helpful. About 1.5 years ago my 91 year old neighbor was driving his second 928 to and from work daily (yes daily). For whatever reason while driving to work the car either stopped or would not start, he promptly had it taken to the local 928 shop in Orange, Devitos. From what I was told by him and after I purchased the car the owner of Devitos, the issues was a broken timing belt and cost of repair was in excess of 5k. This amount was more then what he could currently out of pocket afford so the car sat there until 2 months ago.

6 months ago my neighbor unfortunately passed (what a wonderful man and such a loss to the neighborhood). Soon afterward his widow who knew I had a deep appreciation for him and the car offered me the car for a reasonable amount (well it was what somebody else was willing to buy it for). "Absolutely yes" was my first response and I was ready for my "mid life clarity" and she promptly told me it was fully functioning car that was complete up until the timing belt issue, and was going to have the car brought home from the local mechanics shop. BTW, this is my first 928, Porsche as well. Damn well won't be my last!

Last month the car was taken to cabin garage



and finally this weekend we starting the timing belt rebuild. This is where it got interesting...

The first thing we noticed was that the drivers seat was not bolted down (any thoughts on why this would need to be done)

The second thing we found was that the LH and EZK module had been removed (see picture)


The third item was a missing "?" hoses are cut and wiring harness not attached


Additional items was that the belly pan was missing all interior lenses on ceiling were missing. At that point we realized it was time to call it for the weekend and started documenting what we needed. That is when the $ starting adding up, and I realized I need profession advice.

Okay so I think I understand what happened here, my true hope is that these items are in a bucket at the shop, and unfortunately were not reinstalled prior to the car returning to it's owner.

With that said I am wondering what are my next steps in moving forward with the rebuild/repair, are these items reasonable priced or should I be thinking that this is a loss. Is there any way to track the modules? Anything I might of missed please advise.

OH YEAH, the timing belt is perfectly intact with little wear.

Regards,
- dana
(somewhat discouraged, but not out)

The very first thing I would do is try to locate those ECUs and any other missing parts. The second thing I would do is check compression. The engine in your car is an interference engine, meaning that if there is a belt failure then the valves will collide with the pistons. Just because there is a belt present doesn't mean the heads were rebuilt.

I would verify that the compression was good and that the engine thrust bearing hadn't failed before taking the plunge to save this car. Especially, if it means that your starting point is replacing two very expensive ECUs.

Just my thoughts. Good luck, and please share your progress!

Oh my... If in fact this is a TB failure car you are in WAY DEEP already! Bust a belt on an '85 or newer US 928 and you are looking at a shop price tag of $13k+ in work and parts! Sorry, that is just the way it is. The engine will have to come apart in full (I think) and you will have valves and pistons and all kinds of great stuff that will have to be done.

The computers are quite expensive on these cars as well and who knows what else... This is going to be a big HUGE JOB! This is a big job even for folks who KNOW what they are doing. Hell, replacing a T-belt on a 928 is not for the faint of heart when the car was working before the work started, to do so on a car that you are not sure about... UGH!

Sorry to be negative about this, but there is little that is affordable on a 928 and NOTHING that is cheap and that includes if you do the work on your own. You and your dad might be crack mechanics who have taken apart all sorts of DOHC engines in which case this will just be one more, but the parts alone that you will want to replace while you are in there and those damaged by piston valve collisions will be about $6k.

I hope you can bring this back to life, but if in fact this is a broke engine, the best alternative is to buy a used one from 928 International and install it! You should have done that about 10 days ago as you would have been able to get it for 1/2 price too, now you will have to wait 11 months for the 1/2 off sale on used parts...

I just read the VERY LAST LINE OR TWO of your post which are some of the most important... If the T-belt is not broken and is fully intact then I'd be dollars to donuts is was a failure of the LH brain! These S4's are getting to that age where they are starting to drop like flies (my '88 lost its mind about 2 years ago now!) and you just send it off to our own Rich Andrade her AZ and he will have it back to you repaired and good to go in about a week at a cost of $600 and you will plug it back in and be a happy camper!! Whew! That will be MUCH, MUCH better than an engine rebuild!!!!

The bottom end should be unharmed if there was a timing belt failure. At a minimum, the engine would need to be pulled and the heads would need to be rebuilt/replaced.

Great feedback all. Just want to clarify that indeed the TB was intact and all timing marks were correct. At this point I am assuming module failure since they were removed. I've sent the shop a email explaining the missing parts (waiting for reply). Assuming I have to replace the ECU, where do I go, who can I trust, is it possible to find loaners to further troubleshoot, and then buy from.

I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't hear back from that repair shop. Mark Anderson at 928 International is who I would contact for used/rebuilt replacement ECUs.