Comments on Timing Belt for do it yourselfers Legacy

[MP]

I just finished doing the much dreaded timing belt, water pump, hoses, thermostat, & crankshaft and camshaft seals on my 93 Legacy sedan.

This motor is by far the easiest to work on of any car I have owned. Everything came apart easily and reassembly was just as easy. I think most novice back yard mechanics can handle this job with a little patience. If you are like me you will carefully clean and possibly repaint some parts before reassembly which will take as long as the rest of the job. I used gloss black Rustoleum to make my radiator and its mounting brackets look like new.

Be careful to align the marks on the new belt with the ARROWS on the underside of the camshaft pulleys. NOT the grove on the leading edge. This is an easy mistake to make and will cause you to take it apart twice as the engine will not run on all 4 cylinders..

Using springed clothes pins to hold the belt in place while tensioners are adjusted works well. You will need a powerful vise to compress the hydraulic tensioner once removed.

My car's water pump failed at 56K which is apparently highly unusual but forced me into the maintenance.

Great savings (25% off retail and no tax) on OEM Subaru parts can be realized by calling Auburn Subaru in Auburn Washington and asking for Jason. Phone # is 866-528-5282 He is very helpful.

Good luck

 

[CJ]

I'm just curious,

just saying it is easy is of little value to anyone.
It really isn't and you will get someone in trouble.
for the home mechanic you need to convey how to compress the automatic cam belt tensioner. How do you hold the camshafts while cracking the bolts loose? Was yours dual camshafts? and what do you do to make sure the seals don't come out again? (if you do it wrong they will pop out). Don't forget the oil pump "O" ring. (The most important part of the job).

crzzy1.

 

[david baldwin]

Could be different for the earlier models, but I think it's worth pointing out that the instructions for my 97 2.2 Impreza are pretty explicit. The diagram refers to the groove as the "alignment mark" and the arrow as the "piston position mark" which shows TDC and is used for setting the valves. The belt installation diagram refers to the alignment mark and shows a picture as well. Could that be wrong? When I replaced the belt, I found the old one installed as you reported and installed the new one as directed. There appeared to be no difference in the way the car runs, but 2 1/2 to 3 mpg better than before. I was amazed that the computer so easily adjusted for the difference. In order to install the belt to the different marks, it went on backwards from the previous installation, but since there was no arrow on the new belt and if the old one ever had one, it no longer did, I guess that wasn't useful as a guide. At one point I found a diagram that showed the number of teeth on each side which also came up with the alignment marks being the ones to use with the belt. Just my limited experience.