timing belt job - opinions?

[cocheeze]

so i have been doing my research, because i have to do the timing belts on my ea82, and it seems that there are some conflicting opinions here on the usmb and over at nasioc about a few key points...

if you guys don't mind, i would like to ask for a general consensus about a couple of things before i start ordering parts and proceed:

 

first, should i leave the timing belt covers on or off after i do the job?

second, should i replace the tensioners/idlers? is there a way to test them to see if they are good?

and third, should i do the water pump and/or oil pump? my cooling system works great, but i definitely have a loud tick of death.

 

BACKGROUND: i am pretty sure the belts have been changed only once, given that the odometer is 236k and i have owned the car since 170k, but i cant be sure. the water pump looks as old as the engine, but again, i can't be sure.

 

thanks for any and all opinions you guys can provide. this will be my first timing belt job on a subie, so any caveats/knowledge is immensely appreciated!

 

casey

[markjw]

If you have money to spare or,your really anal about changing out parts,then replace everything on the front of the motor.Except the oil pump.You can just re seal that. About $20.

 

If you leave the timing belt covers off,you can easily replace/maintain your motors front components when the time comes.

 

The first thing I do to any ea82 engine I have is pull off the timing belt covers and leave them off. I go as far as pulling the cam pullys so I can get all the timing covers off.

[AWD TURBO!]

If you have money to spare or,your really anal about changing out parts,then replace everything on the front of the motor.Except the oil pump.You can just re seal that. About $20.

 

If you leave the timing belt covers off,you can easily replace/maintain your motors front components when the time comes.

 

The first thing I do to any ea82 engine I have is pull off the timing belt covers and leave them off. I go as far as pulling the cam pullys so I can get all the timing covers off.

 

yep leave the timing belt covers off stuff will not hurt them i weel mine & never had a problem

[cocheeze]

that is the way i was leaning already as far as the component replacement goes, i was thinking i would just do the belts now, and leave the covers off for ease of replacing the rest later... i guess i just wanted to make absolutely sure that leaving the covers off doesn't have a down side...

 

any horror stories about leaving the timing belt covers off? anyone?

 

also, does anybody know how to tell if the belt tensioners/idlers are in need of replacement?

 

thanks guys!

[idosubaru]

there's no "conflicting" stories, it's just opinion and experience. this isn't nearly as black and white as you may think.

 

i had a loose timing cover wear a hole in an ATF hose once, so you could argue they make them less reliable if you want one-off anecdotal experiences like that. LOL!!??

 

it doesn't really matter actually, do whatever you want. if you're anal and uncomfortable and you're time isn't valuable just install the covers. it's acutally not hard to install them, like with zip ties instead of bolts, such that they're not a PITA next time. if you don't mind taking advice and trusting folks that have done it multiple times for hundreds of thousands of miles, leave them off.

 

at $60 or $80 there's hardly any reason NOT to replace all the pulleys, right? you have all sorts of options.

 

the worst one is leaving 20 year old pulleys with not much grease left in the bearings. you can test each one, if they're good leave them. if not, replace them. but they're very expensive from subaru or individually and the chances of all of them being in great shape are almost impossible.

 

replace the bearings. start sourcing bearings and have a shop install bearings in your old pulleys. will end up being more expensive than ebay.

 

ebay kits - all new belts and bearings.

 

oil pump, just reseal it. an oring, gasket, and seal and you're done. these engines are sensitive to oil supply, being HLA driven, and the oil pumps are prone to leaking.

 

water pump if it's original i wouldn't want to go through all that effort and not replace it. but you can certainly chance it.

 

there's no quantitative way to determine how long something will last, so it just comes down to how you do maintenance. go with the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" idea and wait and see. or keep up on maintenance. i like reliability, the extra effort to do it right is worth it to me, but not to someone else.

[cocheeze]

thanks for the input gary. i didn't know about those ebay kits, so i was thinking the price would be much higher... but you are right, for $70, it doesn't make sense not to replace them.

 

i really like the idea of leaving the timing belt covers off, i was just double checking because it just SEEMS like a bad idea when you hear it... you know?

 

however, i trust the people on this board 100%, so if you guys say leave them off, then i will do it with confidence.

 

thanks!

 

casey

[idosubaru]

gotcha, it does seem weird to intentionally leave parts off a vehicle. actually none of mine have timing covers, I leave them all off, even newer EJ vehicles, except my 02 which has a chain lol.

 

the folks that claim mushroom clouds will happen and won't do it are speaking about their own motivations, which are perfectly valid too, but not experience.

 

there's lots of threads about that, so read all you want about running "naked" or without covers.

 

"the import exports" is the local favorite ebay supplier of timing belt kits. although I buy almost exclusively EJ stuff, it's been a few years since my last EA, i suppose they'll have EA too.

 

forget how the EA82 is set up but on some you'll need to thread the oil pressure sensor wire down and away from the belts (i run mine behind the tensioner pulley bracket to hold it out of the way) and leave the center cover in place for the oil dipstick bracket. not sure what everyone else is doing with that.......

[MilesFox]

i left the covers off of my xt6, and tied the dipstick to the fan shrouuds since it mounted to the cover itself.

 

do the belt and leave the covers off. if the covers are off, you can revisit the water pump without having to remove anything if you dont do the WP now.

 

i always run open belts. nasioc will tell you otherwise because they drive new cars that they are afraid to break, and go by speculation.

 

my ej22 legacy still runs with a stick hanging out on one of the idler pulleys/ the stick is only there because i parked alongside a building with bushed and brush sticking up. the stick would eventually kick out if i didnt remove it.

[GeneralDisorder]

I dropped a red shop rag into the open belts on one of my engines once - snapped them both instantly.

 

I still run without cover's though - on the one EA82 I still own.

 

I don't run coverless on the EJ's - the belts and components are much more expensive and the covers aren't really a big deal on those. The EA82 covers suck.

 

Replace the tensioners too. The kit on ebay is like $65 shipped with the belts, both tensioners, and the idler.

 

Replace the water pump. Discount Import Parts in Gladstone or Beaverton have the OEM brand (Paraut) pumps for about $40.

 

Reseal the oil pump - DIP has the seals for that as well.

 

Change the cam and crank seals also.

 

GD

Edited April 24, 2010 by GeneralDisorder