MR_Loyale Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 It has been a little over 4K miles since I replaced the timing belt. WHen should I be opening up the access hatches and retensioning it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 i never retension them until i install a new belt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bratman18 Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 If they are done right in the first place there is no need to retension them. I have heard of shops having people come in to retension the before, but they were not shops that ever work on Subarus, and again, if they are done correctly you shouldn't have to retension them until they need to be replaced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackbombay Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 I had a T-belt skip when it was 18k miles old, it had not been retensioned at 10k as is recommended. The local subaru mechanic retensions them at 10k, fwiw he's be wrenching on subarus for 25+ years now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Hmmm, my owners manual said it's supposed to be done at 20k, but by 10k they're probably about as stretched as they're going to get, so you're probably safe doing it then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bratman18 Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 I had a T-belt skip when it was 18k miles old, it had not been retensioned at 10k as is recommended. The local subaru mechanic retensions them at 10k, fwiw he's be wrenching on subarus for 25+ years now. The subaru mechanic I worked for was working on subarus for at least 20 yrs and has done them the same way since he started and has never needed to retension them. The only time he ever goes back in is to replace them again 60+ thousand miles later. That's what I'm going by. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
()__1337_CRAYOLA__()> Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 so what your all saying is..... retension you t-belts after they snap and you put the new set on :-p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loyale 2.7 Turbo Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 i never retension them until i install a new belt. Me Neither! ... is that Necesary? ... ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 belts stretch some i suppose but i've never heard of this being a problem. i think this will be a personal preference item. retensioning is not necessary. I had a T-belt skip when it was 18k miles old, it had not been retensioned at 10k as is recommended.that it skipped one time doesn't mean not retensioning caused it. my guess is there's a good chance it would have skipped even had it been retensioned at 10k. something else could have caused it. The local subaru mechanic retensions them at 10kthat doesn't hold much water either, i'd prefer easy money every 10k versus every 60k too! if you listened to every mechanics recommendations your 20 year old subaru would probably cost $3,000 a year to maintain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88RxTuner Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 (edited) Applies to EA engines: Due to the NON-SELF-ADJUSTING nature of the tensioners, Subaru recommends tensioning of the belts every 10-15k miles... Every 4 oil changes, guys!!! It only takes about a half hour if you've ever done it before, isnt that well worth not breaking down because your cam timing jumped 6 teeth? Failure to re-tension the timing belts has different results, depending on the quality of your last T-belt, your normal usage of the car, etc. NEW belts will stretch the most in the first 5-8k miles, depending on how hard you run them..and YES, they will stretch enough to skip time. I lost a Tbelt at 20k, but I regularly rev over 7,000rpm... If you are nice to your engine (<<< NOT me...) you may actually see 60k out of a non-adjusted timing belt....but probably not. I've averaged the life of a non-maintained timing belt at around 35-40k miles, based on my customers.. But I try and convince them that if you tension it at 15,000mi it may last over 70k, thus cutting back on having to replace them. 88RxTuner EDIT: Timing belts skip cause they are loose.... I.E. Have not been tensioned for 20k miles... Edited January 31, 2009 by 88RxTuner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Here's what I have done for the last 20 years. Replace belts between 40-50K miles. I never had one make it to 60K. Even the originals. New bearings on the idlers w/ new belts. Put belts on. Roughly tension them. Run the engine for 10 - 20 seconds. This lets the belts walk to where they want to run. Adjust the tension, using the new belt tension numbers from the FSM. The FSM lists lower tension for used belts. I have re checked them ocasionally, the extra tension seems to take care of the new belt stretch. Another advantage too the short run is you get to see how the belts track. I actually had one that wanted to run hard up against the flange on the crank pully. I flipped the belt, and it ran true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loyale 2.7 Turbo Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 ...if you listened to every mechanics recommendations your 20 year old subaru would probably cost $3,000 a year to maintain. Well... I Agree, at least it is the situation here in my Country. I`ve NEVER retentioned the timin` Belts in my Subies... Since 1985 my EA82 had them to Last Around three Years or around 60,000 Miles so Far... and the Drivin` Conditions here are too Hard, but due to this Thread`s Ideas, I`ll Check them next time I Change the Oil to see if they`re Properly Adjusted. Kind Regards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 This has been debated in the past and the conclusion is that it does nothing beneficial as the EA82 belts are going to fail around 60k no matter what you do. Numerous people have tried it both ways and if anything retensioning them seems to make them fail earlier. Leave them be and change them every 50k. They are cheap. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
()__1337_CRAYOLA__()> Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 so my girlfriends old loyale with 190,000 on original everything is a freak of nature? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackbombay Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 that doesn't hold much water either, i'd prefer easy money... The retension was free... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackbombay Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 so my girlfriends old loyale with 190' date='000 on original everything is a freak of nature?[/quote'] Yes. Our original T-belt made it to 88k miles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 so my girlfriends old loyale with 190' date='000 on original everything is a freak of nature?[/quote'] it's probably highly likely everything isn't original. it's easy to miss that info from previous owners, etc. a friend of mine still owns his 1997 Toyota with 250,000 and it has the original timing belt on it. he bought the car with very few miles on it, so i would assume it's original. although even if it was replaced just before he bought it, the replacement has 200,000 miles on it. i was hounding him a few years ago at 180,000 miles that he needed to replace it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loyale 2.7 Turbo Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 I have a Friend who owns an Audi A4 which she Never Changed the Timin` Belt... Then one Day it broke while Driving, so a Tow Truck took her car to her Mechanic`s repair Shop... All the Valves got Bent plus the Valve`s Lever rotor (I don`t know its English Name, but I Hope You`ll Understand) along to head`s damage too, all with serious Scratches to the Cylinders & Pistons... ...Now That`s Serious interference Engine! ... Such a Nightmare! I Wish there could be some way to Swap Gears in the Place of Belts to do the Timin` Job... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bratman18 Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 I bought a 92 Loyale. The previous owner(a friend of mine) had not touched the car for nearly 40,000 miles. I bought the car, put 70,000 miles of ABUSE on the car, and then sold it,(to another friend) and it kept going for another nearly 20,000 miles before it rusted out and couldn't be driven. Never was the timing belt or anything under the timing covers touched! That adds up to 130,000 miles!! Now being conservative it still would be around 120,000. I then bought another EA82, a 1989 touring wagon. I put a fresh motor in it and ran that one for roughly 75,000 miles, with no problems with the timing belt. Both were previously maintained by my friend the subaru mechanic, and this was normal for the life of the timing belts he installed. Now I'm not saying that it may be a bad idea to retension the belts but I believe if they are put on correctly it helps a lot! Now my friend taught me in a similar way, as in putting them on turning the motor over repeatedly and then retensioning them. It always worked for him:-\ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88RxTuner Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Once again... I change mine every 50,000 miles, but I REGULARLY (before she broke) spin the motor past 7,000 RPM... This is what I consider abuse, and YES, I abuse my engine... but I also treat it right in the way of maintenance. I suspect the 200,000 mile timing belt IS in fact a "Freak of Nature" and perhaps the gentleman that manufactured that particular belt was either very happy on that day or very intoxicated that day... Either way, the VAST majority of these timing belts do not make it to much past 60,000 miles. I beat the ever loving crap out of my car, on a daily basis, between street racing every day it runs and turning the rallys at the end of the month, and I have never, NEVER gone past 50,000 Miles on a timing belt...Because I choose to change them when I WANT to, rather than when they break in the middle of the flippin road... 88RxTuner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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