I have a 1983 NA 944. The timing belt broke yesterday at less than twenty thousand miles...I know that this is an interference motor but the belt broke at idle. My question is: Is there any chance that the valves and pistons weren't damaged and that I may be able to just replace the belt? I didn't hear any noise from the engine that would indicate damage but I don't know if you would.
I love this little car but if the head is damaged it probably won't be worth fixing.

 

Nope, if you broke the belt, there are valves bent. Mine broke at idle and I only had 2 bent, and everyone said that was highly unheard of to have soo few. Usually 4-6 is the magic number.

 

Thanks Doc...That's what I feared but was hoping against hope. [&o]

 

I am so relieved and so ashamed! I started to tear the car down today thinking that I was in for a difficult and expensive repair. When I removed the distributor cap I found the rotor had broken in half. There was never anything wrong with the timing belt. When the car died on the road I had it towed to the nearest Porsche mechanic. He is the one that told me that the timing belt was broken so I just took his word for it. I decided that it wouldn't be worth having them fix it so I had it towed to my house, still without looking at it myself. I feel like an ***...But a happy ***!

 

Wow, time to find a new mechanic eh? I wonder how he came up with a broken timing belt. Glad to hear it is ok though!

 

my timing belt broke while i was driving and my valves were ok so i dont think it is rare for that to happen with the 944 engine

 

That is not possible. I bet you would be quite disappointed if you did a leak down test. They can be slightly bent and still run, though your performance will suffer.