2003 Baja timing belt replaced at 95Kmiles

[illanrob]

First mayor maintenance on the 2003 Baja the timing belt. Repairs thus far front brake rotors, the axle boot.

 

Removed under carriage cover, radiator (somehow it did not come out easy) and both accessories belts.

 

Crankshaft bolt removal: Used the starter on engine to turn motor over ClockWise while supporting a breaker bar to a jackstand. Disconnected the ignition coil to assure that engine will not start.

 

Removed the crank pulley, easy. Rotated crankshaft until the the two cam and crackshaft timing marks are pointing up.

 

Removed the tensioner, used a vise to press the rod and pin. The compared to 1993 Subarus pin hole is small and the diameter over an inch and can easily bend a nail and extend reducing the available belt slack.

 

Removed the lower passenger side idler and lower driver cog pulley. Reinstall lower pass last. If the tensioner pin rod bends there is less slack and it is more difficult install these two.

 

Attached belt and held with clamps. The driver cam pulley in under tension and if it slips will rotate 180 degrees either way, be carefull here.

 

Notice on the attached photos that the timing marks do not lineup properly. The Dayco belt in not a genuine Sub part. The car started and idled just fine with the timing alignment shown. Good acceleration and my two week old Centric slotted front rotors are great. Where is my K&N air filter maintenance kit?

Edited July 15, 2012 by illanrob
Post timing belt report

[cmill189]

How were the bearings on your pulleys? I did the timing belt (alongside headgaskets and other items) on my girlfriends '04 and three out of four were noisy at 92k. The lower right being the worst.

[Fairtax4me]

The driver cam pulley in under tension and if it slips will rotate 180 degrees either way, be carefull here.

It will only rotate about 45 degrees before the next set of lobes starts to push the rocker arms.

 

Also as cmill said, You should have replaced ALL of the idlers and the tensioner and water pump because there is a good chance they will not make it another 105k miles. Usually the lower cogged idler fails first, chews the belt up and you end up with bent valves. Spend the extra $150 on a full timing set, and do it right, or you'll end up spending a lot more, and wasting a lot more time rebuilding the cylinder heads in a few years.

[illanrob]

I go back to the mid 70 Subs 1.6L with the non-interference engines lasted 24 years just waited for things to brake and used a stethoscope with every oil change.

 

The timing pulley bearings on my 93 Legacy 2.2L were good except for the lower cogged, it was replace in 2011 at 195kmi when the head gasket leaked. The bearing was spinning loosely and some grease was leaking. The water pump on the 93 failed at 140Kmi ( was noisier and noisier) and then again at 180Kmi (weep hole leak). The 2.2L belts had 60kmi replacements vs the 03 2.5L 105Kmi. I think that 105Kmi belt replacement is just too long. The 93 Leg 5spd AC never failed too bad that I could not get that head gasket repaired as I did with the '76 L wagon. I must be loosing my touch.

 

On the new car, the 03 Baja, the bearings were good after 9.5 years and low miles. The water pump should last to 150 or 160Kmi and it should give a warning, get noisier. I anticipate running trouble free for the next 50Kmi after I fix the boot on the 2nd axle. All my Subs had axle boot failures at 100Kmi. Then comes the high failure period 150K to 200K.

[The Dude]

I go back to the mid 70 Subs 1.6L with the non-interference engines lasted 24 years just waited for things to brake and used a stethoscope with every oil change.

 

The timing pulley bearings on my 93 Legacy 2.2L were good except for the lower cogged, it was replace in 2011 at 195kmi when the head gasket leaked. The bearing was spinning loosely and some grease was leaking. The water pump on the 93 failed at 140Kmi ( was noisier and noisier) and then again at 180Kmi (weep hole leak). The 2.2L belts had 60kmi replacements vs the 03 2.5L 105Kmi. I think that 105Kmi belt replacement is just too long. The 93 Leg 5spd AC never failed too bad that I could not get that head gasket repaired as I did with the '76 L wagon. I must be loosing my touch.

 

On the new car, the 03 Baja, the bearings were good after 9.5 years and low miles. The water pump should last to 150 or 160Kmi and it should give a warning, get noisier. I anticipate running trouble free for the next 50Kmi after I fix the boot on the 2nd axle. All my Subs had axle boot failures at 100Kmi. Then comes the high failure period 150K to 200K.

 

You hit the nail on the head, 105,000 miles is a long timing belt replacement interval. Even if the idlers spin well at 95,000 miles, once they start going bad, how fast do they deteriorate? When you don't replace all the idlers, tensioner and the water pump during a T-belt chance you're betting saving $250 in parts against a $3,500 bent valve repair. Even more if your car requires towing, you need a rental, or as rarely happens, you lose the whole engine. It's your car, and your call.

 

BTW when I replaced the T-belt on my 2006 Forester at 104,000 miles the bearings on three of the idlers were on their way out. I got 200,000 miles on the original idlers in my 1999 Forester. But now I think that I was just the beneficiary of plain old dumb luck.

Edited July 15, 2012 by The Dude

[Fairtax4me]

Waiting for things to break is a fine policy when the part that breaks is the only part that will be affected by it's breakage. Modern engines are not so forgiving.

I don't see how it's worth it to gamble the cost of an engine replacement vs a couple hundred $$ for a whole timing kit. Kinda like digging your own grave IMO.