Piston to valve clearance

[exercion]

I am a current Subaru owner (1988 GL) and have been given the opportunity to get a free but dead 1989 model. What I know about the car:

1. a mechanic I know and trust thinks it's either the timing belts or fuel injection.

2. The car was moving up the road at the time of it's demise and shut down with no warning.

 

I suspect the timing belts as well, and I do know how to check to see if it's the prob. What I can't remember is if this engine is a zero interference type when the belts break, or if it's likely that a piston did come up and whack the valves. I won't be doing the belts myself, so I have no interest in the car if it seems likely that there's major internal damage.

 

Eric

[edrach]

That model is non-interference. No worries; I've had the belts break twice on me while at highway speeds (I owned the car for over 150K miles) with no internal damage.

[idosubaru]

4 cylinder EA82's are non-interference. all 1980's subaru motors are non-interference. the block is fine.

[Syonyk]

 

Why not? Timing belts are easy!

 

Anyway, yea. The engine is fine if the belts broke. It's also a good idea to carry a spare set of timing belts in the back of the car. Stock, it's a bit of a pain but doable on the side of the road. If you've removed the timing belt covers (see other threads on this, they're still protected from junk), a timing belt change is downright trivial.

 

-=Russ=-

[Qman]

To answe the question first. The engine should be fine. To check for belt condition just remove the distributor cap. It has quit running so if the rotor doesn't turn the belt is broken or teeth have stripped off of it.

 

The reality of the repair is that it isn't really that difficult to do. If you have a basic metric tool kit you coulfd do it. However, not everyone is mechanical so let your mechanic you know that it is about an hour or less for an experienced mechanic to do.

 

Good luck!

 

 

...If you've removed the timing belt covers (see other threads on this, they're still protected from junk), a timing belt change is downright trivial.

 

-=Russ=-

 

Why not try to convince me how they are protected without covers? Almost everyone who has done it has experienced premature tensioner failure.

[calebz]

 

Why not try to convince me how they are protected without covers? Almost everyone who has done it has experienced premature tensioner failure.

 

Really?

 

Every time I see this come up on the board, the only person that responds with a failure is miles fox..and that had something to do with an errant cornstalk or something

[exercion]

Thanks for the help everyone. As to the oft asked question of why I'm not doing them myself, it's simple: I don't want to. I know how to, have many years of experience wrenching on all sorts of vehicles (including my own Subaru) and have finally gotten the luxury of being able to pay for a job I don't want to do.

 

Eric