Ej251 busted timing belt.

[Legback0203]

Just bought an 02 outback that had broke a timing belt and bent valves. I have a spare set of heads from when i spun a rod bearing in mine. What are your recommendations for my heads with potential bearing material in them, head gasket brand, and any other complications I may face.

[unibrook]

What was the mileage on her when belt broke?

My 2001 Forester has 143k on her original belt and pulleys......and waterpump!

[mandelbrotx]

I'm just finishing up on my 05 forester's head job from a broken tooth idler (Also took out the belt and passenger side cam sprocket) .  I got lucky and only bent the driver's side exhaust valves (yes, I check the rest of them).  Your heads are probably fine, just need to get them machined and new valve guides in.   Get an entire new kit for timing stuff, Head kit and head bolts.  

 

I found a few videos on youtube on how to do the entire job without pulling the engine and it seems to have worked out fine.

[ocei77]

Just clean the heads well with gas and blow the oil galleys out as a precaution, though I've never heard of bearing material migrating upwards.

New head bolts are not needed or required.

You can do the heads yourselfhttp://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/topic/122588-diy-head-resurfacing-or-post-apocalyptic-machine-shop-techniques/.

Whatever you do, get a quality belt ( Gates/Mitsuboshi).

 

O.

[Legback0203]

I plan to get a full gates kit including water pump all idlers and tensioner. Car has 187k. My heads have 124k. I definitely am going to pull the motor for this job. Was also planning on felpro head gaskets. I've seen that tutorial on head resurfacing. I plan to re-use head bolts.

[thatdude43]

Just fifnished this on my 02 outback with 250k miles. The belt broke and bent 14 valves. It failed 30k miles before it should have. Good thing the PO had all his paperwork from when he had the timing belt changed. It took a while, but Gates just reimbursed me for parts. It wasn't hard to do in the car and the internals all looked great. I changed the valves, lapped them, and put everything back together. She runs great.

[idosubaru]

usually just fine running the heads as-is.  clean them out good. 

 

if heat/bearing damage to the cam/bearing surfaces are suspected - you could lap in the valves from one head to another.  but that's a lot of work.

and then can bending valves compromise valve guides in anyway?  i'm unsure of that - but before assuming one head is better than another i'd ask someone who knows better than I, that might make valve swapping pointless. 

[Legback0203]

As it turned out it wasn't timing belt at all. The person I got it from got the car in a package deal and didn't know anything. He had been told it broke but had a mechanic supposedly put a new belt on with fingers crossed. As it turns out the belt was probably the same from the last change but the water pump looked fairly new. Some of the timing cover was melted so this car had been seriously over heated. The head gaskets were toast and thus no compression emmulating the supposed bent valves. I'll have the car running some time next week.

[idosubaru]

maybe get another block? severe overhreating like that compromises the oil and bearings. i (and many others) have bought lots of EJ25's with rods seized or thrown through the block or heads - they've almost certainly had prior overheating/headgaskets. one had new headgaskets installed at 30k under warranty and rod bearings seized at 50k.

 

friend bought an engine with melted plastic due to overheating. i told him not to use it because i was helping with the project and didn't want to waste my time. he opted to try it and it was knocking within months of install.

 

of course - you might get lucky and run it another 100,000 miles too, so i get the allure of a cheap repair, been there done that too. good luck!

Edited March 12, 2016 by grossgary

[AdventureSubaru]

What was the mileage on her when belt broke?

My 2001 Forester has 143k on her original belt and pulleys......and waterpump!

 

You are driving a time bomb. Why would you knowingly leave that job undone?

[idosubaru]

Newer belts are robust and can easily exceed the replacement intervals. Not a good risk for most situations but easily done if ignored.

 

Also, Unless someone has physically driven every mile and keeps good rdcords, in the car it's replacement may not be known.

[DaveT]

over 100K on timing belt = asking for trouble.

[Bushwick]

What was the mileage on her when belt broke?

My 2001 Forester has 143k on her original belt and pulleys......and waterpump!

Then I suspect you'll be posting here in the near future asking for help as your valves are bent due to a belt failure, or maybe you'll be one of those people junking an otherwise OK car after the motor is junk.

 

Unlike timing chains that typically just stretch, belts do not last and will break w/o warning.

[Legback0203]

Thanks for the advice. I have a need to get it out of my dad's shop and with no spare block I don't have a lot of options. I appreciate your input and will take it under advisement. I bought the car to sell but don't want to screw anybody. I plan to put some miles on it before I let it go.