MilesFox Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 (edited) I picked up a 98 Outback Limited sight unseen for skipped timing belt. I got the car because i have a spare motor, or it could have been parts for 3 other subarus between a block for the forester, suspension for the imprezaa, and body parts for the legacy. My dude offeed up for the leather seats, and i put the difference up for the whole car. Once i got it home, i could see that the passenger cams were out of phase, about 1/4 turn from each other. The motor turned and had compression on the driver side, and no bind. I took off the middle cover to see the idler sprocket had failed bearings, and this allowed the belt to skip. THANKS TO PAUL MOOSENS, with a box of random parts he sent me, i was able to replace the log tensioner, the toothed cog and an idler, and the tensioner pulley, and all is well. The water pump and radiator had been replaced, buit the prior mechanic left the orioginal belt and idlers in place. He must have been cheap or unskilled with subaru, but his mistake made good for a lucky score. For 550 bucks, i have a $2200 car that runs sweet, working AC too!. The car already has replacement exhaust and 2nd cat. It needs a knock sensor, and a can of octane boost helps it run smooth for the time being. I am buying out the other guy's half and keeping the seats, as the interieor is near immaculate (non-smoker) and the carpets are nice other than road salt crust wjere the driver side floor mat was missing. More to come with this car...... Edited July 22, 2014 by MilesFox 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShawnW Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 I have had that happen 3 times and I am rather impressed by the design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted July 22, 2014 Author Share Posted July 22, 2014 I was surprised to see this one had a log tensioner, as my 98 forester has a flapper tensioner. I can appreciate the ej25d. I may become fond of it the same as ea82t's. Once i replace the knock sensor, i can appreciate the full glory of it. One bonus is, that with the replacement of the WP, the volume of coolant has been replaced. Hopefully i can avoid the pattern HG failure by keeping up with the cooling system. Although it has a new radiator (collision damage), it is only a single row where a dual row would be be appreciated. The mechanic at the shop where i got the car couldn't comprehend the possibility of the valves colliding with eachother. He stated he works on these all the time, but begged to argue with me when i offered my speculations. He did, however, agree that i might be lucky with re-hanging the belt. I hope he wasn't the dame mechanic that replaces a water pump but leave the belt and idlers past due with while at it, for the sake of replaceing the radiator from collision (belt and idlers cost too much) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Nice find, and nice work to getting that motor running well again. Cars gone from part unit, to daily driver. Like to read stories like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmdew Posted July 22, 2014 Share Posted July 22, 2014 Yep, those toothed idlers are the ones that fail most of the time. 96 2.5 99 2.2 93 2.2 95 2.2 These are the motors just this year that I have seen with that failure and I just do this for fun. All ran with just new timing parts, no bent valves on the 96 and 99! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 i'm sure you know this miles but Gates timing kits on Amazon are only $115 for everything. the DOHC belt may be a little more, but they're super cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 Good to know, gary. The kits at napa for 300 are gates as well with NSK bearings. I should put an all new belt system as i am running used parts withthe existing belt that shows signs of age. I am broke at thhe moment, as i just dropped 100 bucks on a knock sensor, which cleard my code and the car runs great, totally worth it to pass emissions for 2 years. I may park this car for winter once i get my forester together as the body has potential, just a rust spot on the wheel arch, but subframe is absolutely rust free Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caboobaroo Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Had one get towed in a few months ago that had skipped at idle. Customer started the car, went to the back to get something out of the hatch, closed the hatch and the car died. Pretty astounding. Wish my new EJ25D car had that instead of a rod knock... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesFox Posted July 24, 2014 Author Share Posted July 24, 2014 (edited) I mis-keyed the car during a cold start where she choked and backspun. I thought i may have skipped the belt again. But then she drove home better than ever. We did get cooler weather since i drove it to work. She passed emissions today! I am not trying to overref the engine until i can have the peace of mind of a new timing belt. Opinions on the log tensioner please? I have the original one from the engine, but the one installed is from a random un-known ej22 that came in a box of pull-off parts courtesy of Paul Moosens. My opinion is that i have no issue with ones with 250,000 mi on a non interference ej22e. Your opinions? Edited July 24, 2014 by MilesFox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caboobaroo Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 I never seem to replace them, even on high mileaged 2.5s. I do like to do all the idlers and water pump if I'm in doing a timing belt, oh and cam seals if they're leaking. Also check the wrist pin access plugs on there front of the engine with the belt off, those are known to leak and can't be serviced with the belt and idlers in place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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