porcupine73

Dude I wouldn't hesitate to buy a new Subaru. [new Baja turbo...mmmmm, excuse my drooling] Or even a used as it a big money saver. I've owned all Ford's in the past as my dad was a Ford employee and got the discount, but those vehicles were pure JUNK! I would've saved money buying Subaru's from the start. So many repairs on the Fords and they were hard to work on yourself. Have two used Subaru's now, only a couple of sensor problems, and SOOO easy to work on! Plenty of room! Plus the AWD is awesome if you get snow in the winter or like a little off-road action and still gets good gas mileage. Parts availablity is no issue, I order online out of SD at less than list price. Local dealer doubles the list price on walk-in parts sales.

What's the consensus on the best coolant to use for Subaru's? OEM coolant? I think the manual typically specifies high quality ethylene glycol? I heard G-05 coolants (i.e. Zerex G-05) are excellent because they are OAT which provides a good layer of protection (but which may take a while to build up), and also have some silicate to provide immediate corrosion protection, but it's low silicate so there's not so much to precipitate out of it. I suppose it goes without saying to use deionized or at least distilled water if any dilution is needed.

Thanks so much for the info Wayne and hohieu. That helps a lot. I feel more at ease now. I did have all the timing marks aligned per the manual before I removed the belt. hohieu, just to clarify, when you say Permatex ultra-grey, do you mean the ultra-grey RTV type sealant, or do you mean that Permatex grey non-hardening stuff? Thanks! :-) Good point on the cooling system conditioner, I'll have to pick some up at the local dealer I saw they had it on display, or would maybe Bars Leaks or something be just as good? Say, how do you guys break loose the bolts on the crank pulley and cam sprockets? I don't have that Subaru special tool so I cut the old accessory drive belt and timing belt and wrapped them around the pulley and LH cam sprocket respectively, then used a huge chain wrench from Harbor Freight to hold the pulley/sprocket while using a socket and breaker bar. It worked fine on the crank pulley, but I think I might have deformed the LH cam sprocket from the force of the chain wrench. Thanks for the mysubaru tip; I checked that right after I got the vehicle and there were no open recalls (at that time anyway); the recalls that were performed were front oxygen sensor replacement and cooling system conditioner installation.

Thanks for the info grossgary. On a related note, is there anything else I should consider replacing while doing the timing belt & water pump, such as the cam seals, crankshaft seal, oil pump o-ring, resealing the oil pump [i think the 2.2L had an issue with the oil pump bolts coming loose?; don't know if that applies to the 2.5L also]? I'm at 105k miles now [00 Outback 2.5L SOHC]; bought used at 96k; don't know previous service history. So far I'll be installing all new OEM: timing belt, tensioner, and all idlers [should I replace the cam sprockets too? only about $30 each]; water pump, heater hoses, radiator hoses, thermostat. Thanks again!

Hello, I have some questions about changing timing belt and water pump (this is my first time doing work of this magnitude) 2000 Subaru Outback 2.5L SOHC 4cyl gas non-turbo Crank is set at #1 TDC (compression stroke) Engine layout is (according to OEM manual): #3 #4 RH LH #1 #2 radiator The story so far: In the process of removing the timing belt, the LH cam rolled backwards about 30 degrees, so I rolled it forward back to where it was. Then, I had to remove the LH cam pulley to replace the water pump, and in the process of doing that, the cam rolled forward about 30 degrees. I'm trying to determine if I might have damaged any valves from the LH cam moving. Someone told me that when #1 is at TDC on compression stroke, that #2 is at TDC on the exhaust stroke, which has me worried, as in did the valves plow into the #2 piston when the cam rolled? [it is my understanding from EndWrench.com that on the 2.5L engines, the valves can hit the pistons; is that true?] When I install the new timing belt, I'll have to get that cam back to its original position, so should I turn it forward about 270 degrees (maybe I can't roll it forward if any valves touch #2 piston) to get back to the original position or is it OK to roll it backard? I didn't see anthing in the service manual about being careful not to roll the cam when removing the cam pulley bolt or when removing the timing belt, so I'm _hoping_ that no damage was done (i.e. neither #2 nor #4 are near TDC and/or the valves can't interfere with the pistons). I mean, the OEM manual seems to be pretty careful to point out in big bold print every little thing that could possibly cause damage. EndWrench clearly says the cams must be locked on the DOHC version when removing the timing belt. Anyway, I guess if there's any risk I damaged something, then maybe I'll do a cylinder leakage test on #2 as EndWrench says to see if any valves might be bent or nicked. I told a friend who builds race cars that and he said it might be hard to tell because with the engine cold there might be leakage around the rings. He also said that unless I really plowed the valve into the piston with a lot of force they might have touched but not done any damage. Thanks in advance for all your help! Louis :-)