Any Subaru tech's here?

[Bender78]

I've got to do a timing belt and camshaft oil seals on my daughter's 95 Legacy wagon with a 2.2L. The job looks to be pretty straight forward. I'm assuming that the cam seals need replacing........the engine leaks like a sieve on the drivers side front and I understand that this is a common problem on these cars.

Anyone have any experience on this?

 

[jwx]

It's a pretty straight forward job. Depending upon how rusty the car is, the crank pulley may be a pain to get off. Other than that, it should be easy. This is also a non-interference engine, so if you do mess it up, you'll just have to do it again. Only real general tip I can give you would be that when filling the engine back up, fill it from the upper radiator hose. Helps fill the engine faster, and with less air bubbles.

I'm one of those people who replaces everything that makes sense/I can afford to when doing a timing belt, as it's not a place I like poking my head in to often. So, I'd recommend doing all the seals(the two cam and the crank seal) along with the water pump while you're in there.

 

[Bender78]

Thanks jwx,

I ordered the crank seal along with the cam seals.....I definitely agree that doing everything including the water pump makes a lot of sense. I see timing belt kits available that include the idler pulleys. Is it a good idea to change these as well?

 

[tatra]

of those that are in the know, what would be the best, so far, subaru?............read about some specidfic issues with certain years...........

 

[Bender78]

Ummmm.....what?

 

[hicketts]

The cam pulley's can go, but by having the 2.2, as long as they look fine, I would keep using them. Also did you order dealer seals or ebay one's, I have had problems with the import one's. I have done a few head gasket jobs on the 2.5 and they are not that fun, but you should have a great car for the next couple of years.
I have a 99 outback sedan and a 96 outback wagon, there good cars and pretty straight froward to work on, and another great thing is parts are no more expensive then American makes.

 

[subaru]

your best bet would be www.nasioc.com. they will be able to assist you with your question.

 

[tatra]

seems they would be a little biased towards prezzys..........looking for opinions on the the most dependable drievtrain , best interior , rust resistance.....

 

[subaru]

nasioc.com caters to any type of subaru. ive been on there for years and own several subarus. mostly it is imprezas, legacys and foresters. it is the largest subaru forum and you can deff. get any questions solved on there. /endthread

 

[subaru]

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=13

here is the link directly to the legacy forum on nasioc

 

[tatra]

how about you guys weigh in with what you know/feel is the best of the best, subey wise .............don't really wanna join a another site .........kinda like this one best of all...........

 

[c39er]

Replace the oil pump O-ring -they leak. Also check the rear oil pump cover bolts for looseness. I like to use the factory Subaru oil seals -thermostats/and water pumps too. Torque the crank pulley to factory specs-you don't want it coming loose and destroying the crankshaft. 76ft. lbs I believe.

 

[scooby074]

how about you guys weigh in with what you know/feel is the best of the best, subey wise .............don't really wanna join a another site .........kinda like this one best of all...........

Ive had Legacys, Loyals and even Chaser at one time or another. Got my buddies into them too, one has a 08 WRX sedan and the other has a 02 bugeye WRX wagon

They were all good cars. No major issues. I just did the timing belt in the 02 for my friend.

Changing the belts on a subaru isnt hard. Pretty straight forward job. Just watch your timing marks and belt slack. Check the tensioner. Subaru recommends changing them along with the idler bearings. Look for any tell tale leaks when in there. Crank seal area. Cam seal. Oil pump. Loose bolts. Might be worth changing the oil pump if you plan on keeping the car for a while.


I think i still have a shop manual for the 2.2l somewheres if the OP has any questions.


As to whats the "best" are you talking current models?

Im partial to the current forrester, I also like the imprezza wagons. If i end up buying one it would likely be one of those two, I do loves me some Turbo WRX power

 

[Bender78]

Great information! Thanks guys. I did read on one of the Subi forums that the aftermarket oil seals have problems, so I got the OEM parts from Subaru including the oil pump o ring. Planning to get the timing belt and water pump from my local parts jobber. He has an Asin water pump and Gates belts so I'm thinking that those should be quality parts.

I'm really getting to like these Subarus. We have two now, this one and a '00 Outback that the GF recently handed down to her daughter. The '00 had the infamous head gasket issues when it was a few years old, but is now running flawlessly with almost 170K on it. The '95 has only 100K on it so it should be good to go for quite a few more years. They're both starting to show some rust on the underside so I guess its time to get them cleaned up when the girls come home from college next spring.

 

[nate379]

I have one of them things. Fun little car to drive. 03 WRX with an 05 STI front clip. Has a 2.5L STI block and turbo with 2.0L heads.

Transmissions aren't the best. I'm on #2 and it's acting up. Car has ~80,000 miles.

Had a Legacy about 5 years ago and that thing was tough as nails. I beat the **** out of it and it still got 26mpg. When I sold it, the fuel tank only held about 10 gallons (17? gallon tank) and I had to sledgehammer the floor boards back down!

 

[tatra]

really more interested in a spirited daily driver.............snow shouldn't even be a concrern and ride over handling..........xcept braking........then the best possible...........looking seriously at an investment vehicle for 5-8 years, maybe a coupla years old............know there were some engine issues on the dohc's ............heard of certain trans probs too, jus don't remember offhand what they were.............btw, would love a svx..........but not really practical......

 

[Bender78]

Transmissions aren't the best. I'm on #2 and it's acting up. Car has ~80,000 miles.

The result of a bit of "spirited" driving, perhaps?

 

[paranoid56]

the trannys depend on what you have. i have had 3 imprezas all with no issues.
03 RS 2.5. this was a great little car. a little slow, but never had an issue.
06 wrx wagon. super fun car. fast and nimble. could hold all kinds of ****. (06 had great brakes on the wrx)
08 STI my curent car. and damn, this has been the best car yet. crazy fast, great handling and a sporty 4door car. i have done engine management and a full turbo back exhaust and this car is even faster. if you are looking for a fun car to drive check one out.

also Nasioc is a great site. but some can be pricks on it. so make sure you do some searching on it before you go posting.

 

[jwx]

Thanks jwx,

I ordered the crank seal along with the cam seals.....I definitely agree that doing everything including the water pump makes a lot of sense. I see timing belt kits available that include the idler pulleys. Is it a good idea to change these as well?

I usually just feel them, if one feels gritty, I go ahead and replace all of them unless one feels new. That's a bit hard to do if you don't have a couple project engines laying around, like I tend to when I have a timing belt to do for some reason.

I'd also recommend factory seals, and I tend to get only OE parts(except oil filters) but a quality aftermarket wp and timing belt should be fine. I only use OE for most everything because I get the parts at cost.

 

[jonny o]

I have had trouble with the rubber seals on the plastic timing belt cover swelling and keeping the cover from re-seating properly when it's all going back together. I ended up trimming and reworking the original, but if I had the easy ability to buy one just in case and have the option to return it, I would have.

I did my first one with an x-tech and he recommended just like you are hearing: replace the 3 stick seals and pump. Hand test the idler and tensioner and replace if needed.

 

[scooby074]

really more interested in a spirited daily driver.............snow shouldn't even be a concrern and ride over handling..........xcept braking........then the best possible...........looking seriously at an investment vehicle for 5-8 years, maybe a coupla years old............know there were some engine issues on the dohc's ............heard of certain trans probs too, jus don't remember offhand what they were.............btw, would love a svx..........but not really practical......

SVX or WRX? Quite a difference

SVX was ahead of its time. Very $$$ back in the day. I loved it. Almost bought a used one a couple years ago, but couldnt swing it.

I also had a chub for the Xt's. Crazy design.

I did put the ****** out of my legacy, but that wasnt subies fault. I was burried doing the old R-D to get her rockin... Chewed the teeth off the front diff in the process

Spitited daily driver... Id say WRX. The dollar is getting up there again. Up here theyre in the 40's (IIRC). My buddy bought his in the states for 23 (dealer demo) last time the dollar was up.

Subies sell for way less south of the boarder,

The Forrester Xt's are suprisingly quick (2.5L Turbo)for what they are.

Wanna see a 11.5 Second AWD shoebox???

 

[nate379]

Probably. Not by me though, just bought it this fall and have put maybe 1000 miles on it. Was going to be my daily driver, but I have to do some work to it and haven't had the time.

The result of a bit of "spirited" driving, perhaps?

The SVX is a FUGLY car IMO. It's one of those you either love or hate I guess... kinda like a Pinto or Gremlin

This is why I like them....

Sounds so much like this:

 

[FoMoCoPower]

It's a pretty straight forward job. Depending upon how rusty the car is, the crank pulley may be a pain to get off. Other than that, it should be easy. This is also a non-interference engine, so if you do mess it up, you'll just have to do it again. Only real general tip I can give you would be that when filling the engine back up, fill it from the upper radiator hose. Helps fill the engine faster, and with less air bubbles.

I'm one of those people who replaces everything that makes sense/I can afford to when doing a timing belt, as it's not a place I like poking my head in to often. So, I'd recommend doing all the seals(the two cam and the crank seal) along with the water pump while you're in there.

Yeah,my buddy just bought one of these "non-interferance" motor cars the other day with a bad timing belt. Turns out someone recently did the belt,and overtightened the tensioner thus breaking the bolt. Every single valve is bent,the heads are apart sitting on my work bench if you wanna see.

 

[jwx]

Yeah,my buddy just bought one of these "non-interferance" motor cars the other day with a bad timing belt. Turns out someone recently did the belt,and overtightened the tensioner thus breaking the bolt. Every single valve is bent,the heads are apart sitting on my work bench if you wanna see.

What year is it and what type of motor? Also, remember that even a "non-interference" motor can bend valves if you try hard enough. Hell, I've had one that broke a timing belt at a HPDE and it broke 4 valve heads off broke 2 pistions(ruined all four, but two where in pieces) and had metal bits coming out of the tail pipe.

Either way, you guys want to get rid of it? Sounds like you guys don't think its worth fix'in...

 

[FoMoCoPower]

Either way, you guys want to get rid of it? Sounds like you guys don't think its worth fix'in...

I never said that!!

 

[RAYJAY]

try here lots of information on the timing belt changes

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/index.php


FYI you can get the full timing belt set from e-bay ( you will need to change water pump and all the timing pulleys and tensioner and all seals too


Jeff

 

[Bender78]

try here lots of information on the timing belt changes

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/index.php


FYI you can get the full timing belt set from e-bay ( you will need to change water pump and all the timing pulleys and tensioner and all seals too


Jeff

That's a great price on the timing belt kit. How is the quality of the parts?

 

[hicketts]

Here's a little trick that some don't know about Subaru's. There is a little U shaped piece welded on the passenger side strut tower, thats where the prop rod can fit to make the hood stay up at 90 degrees. You can take it out of the rad-support side, it just slides out of the rubber grommet, no tools required. Next insert the hood prop rod up side down in the hood receiver hole, then place the bottom into the hole on the strut tower bracket. This makes it much easer to work on and allows more light to get down on the motor.

This is a great site for real subuaru stuff
http://endwrench.com/main.php?smPID=HTML::home.html

This is the artical about the 2.2
http://endwrench.com/images/pdfs/2.2SingleOverWin01.pdf

<a href="http://s470.photobucket.com/albums/rr66/Hicketts/?action=view&current=hoodprop2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i470.photobucket.com/albums/rr66/Hicketts/hoodprop2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

<a href="http://s470.photobucket.com/albums/rr66/Hicketts/?action=view&current=hoodprop.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i470.photobucket.com/albums/rr66/Hicketts/hoodprop.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[Bender78]

Thanks hicketts,

It's those kind of little design features on Subarus that impress me.

I found the endwrench articles on an earlier web search along with download links for the factory service manual. Pretty good to have access to this king of information for free.

The guy in the brown truck delivered the package today from subarupartsforyou.com containing all of the factory seals and o-rings. I'll probably tackle this thing next weekend.

 

[RAYJAY]

That's a great price on the timing belt kit. How is the quality of the parts?

check the post here, most guys use all the parts but the belt, most either buy a Subaru belt or a name brand belt,


http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=106034&highlight=timing+belt+kits

or here

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=95187&highlight=timing+belt+kits

Jeff

 

[holland_patrick]

how about you guys weigh in with what you know/feel is the best of the best, subey wise .............don't really wanna join a another site .........kinda like this one best of all...........

Nothing better then a Baja.......

 

[tatra]

i like those too......never see any for sale tho.....and they were only made how many years?............don't care for the cladding tho...........and love the svx of old, like the rex, probably wind up with a legacy if anything........since toyota has their hand in there now, have things improved or anything?

 

[Bender78]

Well guys, I did the timing belt/oil seal job this weekend. It was pretty straight forward; thanks to everybody for the advice and the links to the instructional papers. The only problem I ran into was the need to make a tool to hold the damper pulley in order to properly torque the crank bolt. Nothing that 15 minutes and some scrap steel couldn't fix!

So, new timing belt, idler pulleys, crank and cam oil seals, water pump and re-sealed the oil pump. Should be good for another 100K.

 

[holland_patrick]

Can I come over and have you do mine also???


The baja was made from 03-06 with 04 to 06 having the turbo as an option

 

[Bender78]

Can I come over and have you do mine also???

/QUOTE]

Give it a shot! I'll even let you borrow my handy-dandy crank pulley tool.