Time to change Timing belt?

[Jim Stewart]

Jim,

Hmm. Interesting.

Ours is a '97 Outback Legacy, with 2.5L engine.

I'm assuming "camshaft drive belt" is the same as "timing belt"...

Yes, same thing.

For the 2.5L engine, according to both the maintenance booklet, and the
Subaru website, they recommend inspection at 30K, 60K, and 90K, with
replacement at 105K.

Same as mine.

For the 1.8L, 2.2L, and 3.3L engine, they recommend inspection at 30K, with
replacement at 60K.

So, I have a couple of more questions:

1) Along the lines of what someone else has posted in this thread, is the
2.5L a "non-interference" or "interference" engine?

Most definitely interference. Just as the Owners Manual
is explicit about inspect/replace intervals, the genuine
Suburu maintainance manual is explict about the interference
issue and precautions that have to be taken when changing
the belt.

2) Going back to my original post, and going through our service receipts,
they replaced the timing belt at about 44.5K under warranty. Now that I'm
going through all of this, I recall the situation. We had the water pump
start leaking at that time and took it in to the dealer. They came back and
said they'd be repairing the water pump under warranty, and they suggested
(really) replacing the timing belt (again, under warranty), which I agreed
to. So, given the recommended inspection/replacement intervals (and again,
going back to my original post), do we start the 30K/60K/90K inspection with
105K replacement cycle from the 44.5K mile point? In other words, should we
have gotten it inspected at ~75K, 105K, 135K, with recommended replacement
at 150K?

44.5k seems early for a timing belt replacement. On the
other hand, if while they had it apart they noticed some
damage because of the failed water pump, replacement would
have been appropriate (and arguably warranty-covered).

As for now, yes, start the 30/60/90/150 cycle at 44.5

3) BTW, as mentioned earlier, I thought our last repair (in January) was for
gaskets. This was out-of-warranty. But I just checked our records, and I
found that it was for a valve cover gasket and a "separator plate". What's
strange is that in going through our service records just now, I found that
they had replaced the separator plate in early 2001 also (sorry, I forgot).
Is this separator plate something that is going to keep giving us a problem
(every 2-3 years)??

I don't know what a separater plate is. There is an
issue with the oil pump o-ring and it's on something
like a plate, but you only need to replace the 0-ring.

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

Yes, sorry for the confusion of lumping both issues together, actually
the Toy problem is a better illustration of the risk of not changing the
ancillary stuff when changing the belt. I DID NOT have internal parts
damaged, but, about 3k after a new belt was installed, the tensioner
(idler?) bearing failed and burned through the new belt in about 1/4
mile, on the freeway, halfway between D/FW and an event my daughter and
I were going to in Austin. MOST inconvenient, so, not so 'catastrophic'
but still early and unexpected!

The Honda was a '78 Civic sedan (cheapest new vehicle sold in America
that year and my first new car) and when it went, number 2
cylinder,piston and exhaust valve recycled themselves back into ore.

sorry

Carl
1 Lucky Texan

 

[GTT]

Try reading the book, yourself. Opinions are sometimes worth the price
you pay for them, but not always. The response of 105K matches my
recollections of when I read my manual just after buying the car, but read
the book yourself!