Timing Belt Kit Advice?

[crocutus]

Time for a new timing belt in my 1997 legacy. Looking around rockauto.com I'm a bit overwhelmed by the number of kits on offer with seals and water pump.

 

wtf with the integrated assembly? Is this a different setup, or just a convenience to save time?

 

What is the total number of parts I should have on hand before starting to be sure of success.

 

Belt, water pump, gasket, tensioner, three idlers seem to be in most. Crank seals and cam seals are less common. Is that just overkill, or something I'll likely have to get separately?

 

Don't recognize most of the manufacturers. Hoping to avoid junk parts, obviously. Choice of ACDelco, Gates, Contitech, Dayco, Aisin and Continental but drawing a blank on their relative merits.

 

Any assistance would be much appreciated. Thanks.

[brus brother]

STICKY REQUEST:

Have the same question.

Don't mean to hijack this thread but my 05 and 08 Outbacks are also due for TB.

The 05 is showing signs of external HG leaks so it appears that HGs (turbo gaskets or are the new gen OK?) should be considered part of scheduled maintenance as well for this (and other) years?

Perhaps a sticky on member's experience with various kits?
I recall reading that some were recently disappointed to discover that certain parts in reputable and previously reliable supplier kits were changed with barely an apology other than an RMA offer which may come too late for those who have already begun disassembly.

[dp213]

I run the Aisin kits. Best price on Amazon. Compete kit with water pump runs about $250 I think.

[idosubaru]

As to the confusion over the various offerings, it is mind numbing the options: 

I look for a kit for just these: Timing belt replacement should include absolutely the belt, pulleys and tensioner. 

 

Next most important are the seals:  reseal the oil pump, tigthen the backing plate screws, and replace the cam seals.   I buy these from Subaru to guarantee higher quality materials, but you can find others that are just fine, it's just not worth my time for $6 seals. 

 

Water pump failure is so rare and won't cause any catastrophic issues that it's not absolutely necessary, but it's probably a good idea on a 20 year old vehicle.  The AISIN pumps are what I go for and highly touted. Japanese and likely OEM supplier i think. you can google that brand to check. 

 

In some cases I've gotten larger kits but honestly I don't think it's worth the time usually or for most peopel doing one job.  Get the best kit you can, Subaru (or high quality seals), and OEM supplier water pump all separate. 

 

Gates kits are commonly used for timing components.  Isn't it waaay cheaper on Amazon, looks like $15 less:

https://smile.amazon.com/Gates-TCK277-Timing-Belt-Component/dp/B000C2YDP4/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483962752&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=subaru+gates+timing+belt+kit+T+CK277

[montana tom]

A 1997 2.2 is an interference motor, use only top quality parts made in japan or you may be sorry. I had a very bad experience using a dayco kit...  gates kits were reliable but now some of the idlers are from china. The  aisin  kits I have seen are all Japanese parts . Go with subaru only for cam & crank seals . Water pump is optional. 

[brus brother]

Are the turbo HGs still the best choice for replacement or is there a newer thought?

I always thought the recommendation was Subaru only TBs?

[Subtimbie]

Im sorry, but Im new to this forum and dont know how to start a new thread, but I have a 2011 Outback and the timing belt tensioner (Beck/arnley) failed after only 60000 km. I change my timing components religiously every 105000km. The tensioner lost its fluid and the belt slipped, as a result the engine is pooched.  I enquired as to the Beck warranty and it is only warranteed for 12000 miles or 12 months.  It would seem to me that if a critical component has a required maintenance interval of 105000km one could expect a component to be guaranteed for the interval.  The Beck rep insists that their parts meet spec, if so , it should be warranteed for the interval. The whole point of changing the timing components is to insure against catastrophic engine failure. Has anyone out there experience a premature failure and any though as to a possible recourse available to me from Beck?

 

[dp213]

Probably get nothing from Beck. On all interference motors I personally would only run the Aisin or Subaru tensioner. I run Aisin on all the early 2.2 motors and have had great luck with everything.

 

Just my opinion though

[DaveT]

On interference engines, I have only used OEM for timing parts.  Not worth the risk..

[idosubaru]

 It would seem to me that if a critical component has a required maintenance interval of 105000km one could expect a component to be guaranteed for the interval.  The Beck rep insists that their parts meet spec, if so , it should be warranteed for the interval. The whole point of changing the timing components is to insure against catastrophic engine failure. Has anyone out there experience a premature failure and any though as to a possible recourse available to me from Beck?

 

Install used heads to repair the broken valves, have them resurfaced, Subaru headgaskets, and coolant conditioner and you're good for another 100,000 miles (any outlier rare issues notwithstanding like you just had). 

www.car-part.com

 

It's rare but those new style tensioners do fail ocassionally.  It's not common but anyone around Subaru's enough has seen it.  

 

If the tensioner was incorrectly compressed during installation it's possible the tensioner was compromised by the installion process.  It's common to need to recompress and try again for a variety of reasons, namely the alignment marks being off one or two teeth. 

 

Did you ask the shop who installed it how long their warranty is?

 

If you installed it, then in the warranty is for the part only - they strictly and positively avoid covering any costs above the purchase price of the product you're attempting to have warranteed.  

They have to.  People would install new components on a questionable car and then blame the company to "abuse" the warranty.  Sure that's not most people, but that's how big corporate one-size-fits-all policies work, they're effective but inefficient.

 

Unfortunately the Beck rep is correct. very few components, or really any products, have warranties for their anticipated life times or intervals. it's one of those simple ideas that makes sense and sounds great but has limited practical application. 

 

In the US most shops warranty their service for 12 months, 12,000 miles even if the service their performing has intervals longer than that.  

 

as a simple example: The *timing belt* itself, H6 spark plugs (another 100,000 mile replacement item) aren't warrantied when new by Subaru for that long.  Insert many other maintenance items, intervals, and manufacturers here.