Rooster2 Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 When I bought both my used 98 and 99 Leggy OBWagons a few years back, I had a private shop mechanic replace the timing belt on both cars, since I had no idea when the timing belts had last been replaced on each car. I also had the front oil seal, and water pump replaced on each car. Since reading this forum for some time, I have learned that I should have had the timing belt tensioner replaced too. At the time, I did not know this. How difficult is this to do myself? Does it require special tools and a lot of time? Thanks for any advise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 there are no special tools *required*. there are some made if you like to buy them, but there's plenty of info here from those of us that have done it over and over without any tools. from my experience i'd be more concerned about all the pulleys than the tensioner. i've seen more bad pulleys (a couple) than tensioners (none personally). at nearly 10 years and 100,000+ miles at least one pulley (usually the sprocketed gear pulley with teeth) could use replacing due to lack of grease and noisey bearings. how many miles now and how many when the belt was replaced? i'd at least wait some time, assuming the dude that last replaced it would have noticed a failed or failing pulley anyway you have time. i just wouldn't trust them the full 100,000 miles.....100,000+xxx,xxx (whatever you replaced them at) is probably a large number to expect all the parts to make it. on older vehicles it's never a bad idea to go in and inspect the components, particularly with these cars having 100k timing belt intervals. until i know your mileage i can't say...but i'd probably put 25k-50k on this belt and go back in to check the tensioner, pulleys, and replace the water pump. older vehicles had 60k intervals so you were given more frequent checks on the other related components. another user just had a timing belt failure most likely cause by a failed component just like i'm talking about - but it was at 282,000 miles too, so you have room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hohieu Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 Once you have the timing belt off, replacing the tensioner and idler pulleys is simple. If you haven't already seen it, here's the pertinent Endwrench link: http://endwrench.com/images/pdfs/2.5Timing.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 checking the pulleys is the same work as replacing the timing belt. the only difference is the cost of the belt. but you may be buying pulleys instead. the way i see it there are only 2 problems facing you for a pulley inspection, and neither is huge. 1. the hamonic balancer / crank pulley can be diffficult to remove due to rust or corrosion. but yours was off recently so that may not be an issue. i rented a puller from autozone. 2. lining up the cam pulleys when reinstalling. one side is not an issue but the other side wants to jump or spin around. but lots of people have over come this and had good success. lots of help here on how to... the only question i would have is, if you are going through all this labor to check the pulleys, why not spend another 50$ and put on a new belt. then you don't have to go back in for 100k miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrach Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 Your mechanic would have had to "reset" the tensioner to install the timing belt properly (or replace it). They can be re-used numerous times from what I understand if they have been re-set. I would ask the mechanic what he did; if he didn't re-set it, then I'd have him do it over with a new one; this is a critical item and needs to be working properly to avoid an issue. With your interference engine a timing belt "accident" could trash your engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davebugs Posted June 11, 2008 Share Posted June 11, 2008 The tensioner 'reset' takes patience or I understand you kinda blow them out. I leave it in a vise and crank it a little every 10-15 minutes when I'm walking buy and it takes me an hour or two. Not simply putting it in a vise and cranking it compressed immediately. I'm pretty sure endwrench covers this well. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted June 11, 2008 Author Share Posted June 11, 2008 To answer questions about year and age. My Leggy 98 OBW has 113K on the odo. My Leggy 99 OBW has 161K on the odo. I bought the 98 about 4 years ago. After replacing the timing belt, we have driven the car about 28K miles. The 99, I bought about 18 months ago. After replacing the timing belt, we have driven the car about 11K miles. I suspect that all pulleys and tensioners are prolly the originals. After reading the responses, my thought is run each car to about 50K miles on the existing set up, then replace the belt, pulleys, tensioner, water pump etc. at that time, providing that we still own the cars. Yea, it is somewhat of a gamble, but prolly one that I will take. Any agreement or disagreement? Advise still wanted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 After reading the responses, my thought is run each car to about 50K miles on the existing set up, then replace the belt, pulleys, tensioner, water pump etc. that sounds dead on like a great plan. i'd plan on 150,000 miles or like you said 50k on the existing set up. 60k intervals were nice - 60k belts - 120k add water pump with it. basically replace pump with every other belt. the newer 105k interval is tougher. 105k is soon and 210k is long....add to that the fact these are interference engines with tbelt driven water pumps and a pump failure could ruin or cause extensive damage to the engine. i prefer to get the ebay EJ timing belt kits for the pulleys/tensioners but use a Subaru belt. to buy an entire set of pulleys/tensioner is way too expensive from Subaru - no one does that. i'd rather have new pulleys than have to pick which of the 10 year old ones will make the next 105,000 miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShawnW Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 If the tensioner isnt making noise and is holding it will probably last thru the 60K. They dont really fail very often once they have been compressed and decompressed for a belt change. ONe of those if you make it 5 minutes after the belt is installed you will probably be OK things. Too bad they didnt stay with the old kind. (89-97 or so). Those RARELY failed. You can retrofit them if you get the bracket behind it, the rubber behind the bracket, and the 2 little bolts and the tensioner itself. They work fine on everything except the WRX with the 2nd mini idler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voodoo Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 Yep, too bad: one vise with a 4" throat and one 4penny nail does the trick. BTW, one of my 91 Legacy's has just over 600k on the old style tensioner - they either compress and decompress or they fail in the vise. Remember to wrench the engine over at least two full revolutions to set the tensioner to full extension. Good luck, voodoo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted June 12, 2008 Author Share Posted June 12, 2008 Thanks for all the advise, I really appreciate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 lots of people know more than i do, but... putting another 22k miles on the 98 sounds ok, it will then have 135k miles on it. i would think the original pulleys would last that long. putting another 39k on the 99 means it will have 200k miles on it, this sounds like a lot for original pulleys, if they are. this seems like a bigger gamble to me. you might consider a mid point inspection. just my .02 worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OB99W Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 Since it wasn't mentioned in this thread yet, I will -- the newer style tensioner should not be compressed in a typical vise, as it's not supposed to be done in the horizontal position. Subaru recommends using a hydraulic press, etc., or replacing the tensioner; see pages 16-17 of the EndWrench article mentioned in post #3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 putting another 39k on the 99 means it will have 200k miles on it, this sounds like a lot for original pulleys, if they are. very good point. it comes down to how you feel and how you personally manage risk. (duck - made up numbers coming!!!) it's like the difference between .5% failure and %5 failure...not a huge quantity increase but still a 10 fold (%1000), significant statistical increase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98obster Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 just out of curiosity, if and when a timing belt fails, is the primary cause the belt (i.e., belt teeth) or a failed pulley or tensioner? I'm pretty anal about the sounds my car makes so would there be any indication (noisy pulley) to forwarn me of approaching trouble? Also, the 2nd belt seems to be the concensus for replacing the water pump so would it leak from the weep hole prior to failure or just die? what the are recommendations for WP brand? So, it seems that the second belt change is mostly to replace components, possibly including oil seals-but I haven't seen mention of those. and then just putting on a new belt I picked up my 98 OBS with 94k on it. it has 131k now. the first belt was replaced anytime between 60 and 94. So I'm thinking 150k is my deadline to get my act together? Anything on the oil pump-is it a lifetime thing? The other thing is, the inner timing belt covers just seem to crack at the threads so ordering the left and right inners might be a good preventative measure-PB Blaster beforehand maybe? do you have a Ebay store recommendation? PCI etc.? jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrach Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 Also, the 2nd belt seems to be the concensus for replacing the water pump so would it leak from the weep hole prior to failure or just die? what the are recommendations for WP brand? So, it seems that the second belt change is mostly to replace components, possibly including oil seals-but I haven't seen mention of those. and then just putting on a new belt I picked up my 98 OBS with 94k on it. it has 131k now. the first belt was replaced anytime between 60 and 94. So I'm thinking 150k is my deadline to get my act together? Anything on the oil pump-is it a lifetime thing? The other thing is, the inner timing belt covers just seem to crack at the threads so ordering the left and right inners might be a good preventative measure-PB Blaster beforehand maybe? jon I wouldn't install any water pump that wasn't OEM. Also the oil pump could use a new o-ring if I understood the mechanic properly. I've found that not rushing the removal of the timing cover studs helps in not twisting the nut out of the rears. A liberal application of a quality rust penetrant would help also (Kroil or Yield are the best; PB blaster isn't nearly as good). Replacing the studs with never-seeze will make it easier the next time you do a belt. The rear covers can be found easily at a wrecking yard; just make sure the nuts are not spun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.