Replacing timing belt on `01 OBW

[Bradley Walker]

Hello all,

A friend of mine, former service manager for the subaru dealership, has
offered to perform my 90,000 Subaru recommended service for me personally at
a significantly less charge than that of the dealership. The dealership
charges around $750 for the service. Even if this guy charges $300-$400
it'd be worth it. He's a computer customer of mine too so I do trust him
and his knowledge. When talking with him, he made mention that Subaru
recommends changing the timing belt at 105,000 mi OR 5years. Being that my
OBW only has 89,200 mi on it he suggested replacing it now while the engine
is partially lifted to perform the 90k service.

I saw on advanceautoparts.com that there are a few timing belts there for my
vehicle varying from a Goodyear timing belt at $41.99 upto a AE Clevite
Timing belt at $129.99. What are the recommendations when purchasing one?
What about sparkplugs? Are there any performance differences of the vehicle
when using different branded plugs? Some plugs offer copper cores. Others
have the "V" shaped ends that advertise greater/longer spark. Others offer
extreme performance, high performance, etc. Will any of these give me a few
extra HP to give the car a bit more 'pep' when going up a mountain? I don't
mind paying a bit more for this if it legitimately gets a few extra HP out
of the engine. Otherwise if it has such little or no performance impact at
all, then I don't see a reason for the high cost.

Thoughts or suggestions on this?

Brad

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

Hello all,

A friend of mine, former service manager for the subaru dealership, has
offered to perform my 90,000 Subaru recommended service for me personally at
a significantly less charge than that of the dealership. The dealership
charges around $750 for the service. Even if this guy charges $300-$400
it'd be worth it. He's a computer customer of mine too so I do trust him
and his knowledge. When talking with him, he made mention that Subaru
recommends changing the timing belt at 105,000 mi OR 5years. Being that my
OBW only has 89,200 mi on it he suggested replacing it now while the engine
is partially lifted to perform the 90k service.

I saw on advanceautoparts.com that there are a few timing belts there for my
vehicle varying from a Goodyear timing belt at $41.99 upto a AE Clevite
Timing belt at $129.99. What are the recommendations when purchasing one?
What about sparkplugs? Are there any performance differences of the vehicle
when using different branded plugs? Some plugs offer copper cores. Others
have the "V" shaped ends that advertise greater/longer spark. Others offer
extreme performance, high performance, etc. Will any of these give me a few
extra HP to give the car a bit more 'pep' when going up a mountain? I don't
mind paying a bit more for this if it legitimately gets a few extra HP out
of the engine. Otherwise if it has such little or no performance impact at
all, then I don't see a reason for the high cost.

Thoughts or suggestions on this?

Brad

TRy www.subarugenuineparts.com for an OEM belt. They are a dealership
that offers discounted Sube parts on the Net. Jamie (Subiegalracing) is
the contact there if you want to email her about sparkplug
recommendations. Don't expect a performance increase other than new
plugs will be unworn of course. Platinum or iridium will last longer,
but probably not 'perform' better than copper.

Carl

 

[Edward Hayes]

I would do the timing belt and water pump now considering the less
costly labor charge. I strongly recommend a genuine OEM belt as people
have had problems with after market belts. The general information on
this NG and my personal experience is the best spark plugs are NGKs in
copper or V-gap. My experience with the v-gap has been very good but,
noticed no difference over the std. copper. I would go with the V-gap
if you change plugs at 30,000 miles. If you want to run plug changing
out to 60,000+ then go NGK or Denso platinum. You will get no power
increase from any spark plug. I agree that www.Subarugenuineparts.com
is a great place to purchase parts. Ed

 

[Bradley Walker]

Thanks for the advice. I plan on doing plug changes every 30k simply
because I want my vehicle to last and be a good car. I also plan on having
the air filter, oil filter, cabin air filter and several other items changed
out entirely. Am I missing anything else that I should touch base on about
replacing? Good idea on the waterpump, I hadn't thought of that.

Brad

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

Thanks for the advice. I plan on doing plug changes every 30k simply
because I want my vehicle to last and be a good car. I also plan on having
the air filter, oil filter, cabin air filter and several other items changed
out entirely. Am I missing anything else that I should touch base on about
replacing? Good idea on the waterpump, I hadn't thought of that.

Brad

Don't tell Jamie I said this, but you can get a home A/C filter and cut
it up to make your own cabin air filter - that thing is $$$. check
www.cars101.com for instructions on changing it(IIRC). After you see it
- you will likely be able to fashion an acceptable one yourself. If
you're ordering from Jamie anyway - take a look at touch-up paint and
maybe some of the accessories like cargo nets, etc. Though I got my net
on Ebay for 1/3 new! w00t! I've read sometimes a local dealership might
match an online dealers prices.

Carl