RobJ426

That's so true- also in the home appliance business.

This is the tensioner pulley and belt I replaced last June. The bearings in the tensioner were ground down and was getting so hot it discolored the pulley and was frying the belt. At that time I replaced everything else too.

Thanks everyone. I changed out the tensioner with an OEM one from the dealer. Set me back $190 but it's back on the road and sounds great. I can actually depress the pin on the old one enough with my finger to line up the holes for the retaining pin. It lasted exactly 6 months and less than 6 thousand miles. The cast rim around the pin had been knocking against the boss on the block that the pin normally contacts and left an indentation in it. I'm beginning to agree with all of you regarding this current design of tensioner. The one I replaced last summer was only three years old and had about 35k miles on it. It was completely worn out. That one had been replaced by the dealer when I had all the front oil seals replaced. It used to be that as long as you had to replace the timing belt at a certain mileage you would replace everything else as good maintenence. Now it's become as long as you have to replace the worn out tensioner, you might just as well replace the belt. Thanks again- I appreciate the support.

That's weird, I must have deleted part of my post before posting it. Originally read: 1999 Legacy wagon 2.2 SOHC I was thinking the tensioner was not performing as it should the way the belt was just slightly slack. Looks like the likely culprit. It seemed strange it would have trouble in such a short time but I know anything can fail even right off the line. I'll pull it off tomorrow and take a better look at it. Thanks

Kragen

Everything was Gates which I thought was a reputable brand in belts and accessories. One sprocket was OEM because nobody had it available. The OEM Subaru parts were 4x the cost and way beyond my grasp financially as my employer had just gone out of business and I've only been able to find temporary work since.

We used to live in Mankato and then for two years I had to commute daily from Prior lake back to Mankato while my wife did an internship at Hennepin County Med Center. I remember those days- arriving home in a dripping sweat even though it was 20 and blizzarding out. As long as I could see through the three inch unfrozen slot the frozen wipers were making and I could keep the car between the scattered farm mail boxes spaced about every 75 yards I knew I was still on the road.... I'm with you in spirit! Glad you had a safe Christmas.

.2 SOHC manual transmission 125k miles I replaced the timing belt on my wife's Legacy last June. I also replaced the water pump, the swing arm type tensioner and pulley and all the idlers. The bearings in the tensioner had gone bad and was overheating and cooking the belt. The belt was also rubbing on the manual guide above the crank sprocket. Everything has been fine. The last few days she said it was loudly growling when she started it and then it went away when it warmed up. She says she hears it sometimes at highway speed too so it seemed to be related to higher RPMs. I listened to it today and it sounded like the timing belt was flapping against something under the cover during fast idle. Sure enough as the idle came down it quieted down. I pulled the cover off the driver side and the belt didn't seem as taut as it should be or had been in June. I removed the large cover off the rest of the belt and reinstalled the crank accessory pulley/dampener. I started the engine up and it sounded fine and everything looked fine. As I increased the RPMs, the timing belt began to vibrate between the tensioner and thedriver side cam sprocket. The tensioner swung up and down a little bit too. As the engine reached about 3200-3600 RPMs the belt began to vibrate a lot and it also twisted at an angle while it flapped up and down between the tensioner and the driver cam sprocket. The tensioner swing arm and pulley moves up and down with the movement of the belt. Also as I increase the RPMs, the swing arm and pulley move up and then back down with the decrease. I assume some of this is normal to keep constant tension on the belt through the RPM range. With the engine off I can swing the tensioner pulley up maybe about an eighth of an inch by hand while pushing up on the swing arm. All the bolts seem tight and with the belt still in place I don't feel any other play in anything. Does this sound like a weak tensioner already? Is it normal for the belt to vibrate and move? I can't say I've ever run an engine and watched the timing belt so I really don't know what it should do but I do know serpentine belts for the accessories don't vibrate and move much. Is there anything else I might be missing? The 6 month old belt itself looks fine. No unusual wear, cracks or chunks missing. I suspect I'll be pulling this belt to look at all the components but wanted to pick some brains while I look at it.

I got home late tonight and it's cold and raining out....OK- I'm a pansy tonight and don't feel like going out in the dark to check the it out. I'll let you know what I find. Hopefully it's just a pad missing. If you own a 2nd generation Caravan/Voyager it seems to be about a 50/50 chance you will eventually replace your clock spring during the entire life of the vehicle - I don't know what the odds are with other makes but I would assume they're produced by a small band of companies and widely distributed. Anything will only flex so many times before it gives. For those who aren't sure how a clock spring in your car works, think of a tape measure and how it will pull out and retract.

It is a five speed so I'll first check for the rubber pad. Thanks for the ideas. http://www.autocarepronews.com/default.aspx?type=art&id=79660&

The cruise has stopped working on my wife's '99 Legacy Wagon. The cruise indicator light comes on when you push the dash button but when you try to set it using the little paddle switch located at the 4 o'clock position on the column it won't engage. The horn still works and the air bag light is not on. I know with my '94 Caravan I used to have, if the clock spring went you usually lost everything with controls on the wheel including the airbag. I'm not familiar with how it works on the Subaru. Thanks for your help.

I should say I first replaced the plugs and it was good for a while with the restored gap on the new plugs. Once the plugs wore in a bit, the spark wouldn't jump again and the cycle started over.

My wife's 99 Legacy just got through that - it was the coil. Sometimes the code was #1 misfire, sometimes #2 and sometimes both. It was usually on a hill where she was laying into the throttle a bit - not getting a good fire with the extra mix heading it's way.

I'd guess their suppliers vary over the years but the ones I just bought from the dealer and were in the Subaru packaging read: *7mm HI-PERFORMANCE SILICONE SUPPRESSION CABLE* The boots matched the originals perfectly.

Should have posted a follow up- sorry about that. Replaced the coil and wires with OEM ($200) and it runs perfect. First vehicle I've ever owned with DIS. Thanks for the help everyone.