Gates Timing Belt Kit's Are No longer OEM Like

I just got the 2.5i Gates TCK307 kit and the first thing I noticed is that the tensioner is no longer NTN/NSK, but a Gates branded one that's made in Canada. Next thing was the Belt itself, didn't feel as good as the TCK304 kit I bought earlier this year for my 2.5i. Finally the geared idler was Gates branded but made in China, and last 2 idlers were either NTN or Koyo.

When I first fired up the car I got this awful knocking noise, I was sweating bullets thinking timing was off, after the car warmed up it stopped knocking, and the friend who has been driving it says it hasn't knocked so far. This amazon review video sums up the noise: [ame=http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R3GCLBGZN8K5EN]Amazon.com: Anthony C.'s review of Gates TCKWP304 Engine Timing Belt Kit with...[/ame]

Another review mentions they jumped 2 teeth within a thousand miles. I cannot in good faith recommend Gates to anyone anymore. Looks like OEM is the only choice unless someone knows a good alternative. OEM parts are stupid expensive though and from my 2012 Outback's barely lasted to 92k miles.

Pictures:

Here is the new styled gates tensioner, the rod that pushes down does seem to be thicker, but that knocking noise that it made is frighting. I wonder if they are a first run defective bunch.

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=227757&d=1459826489

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=227758&d=1459826489

Gear idler, Gates branded and made in china, not going to dis simply because it's made in China, it might actually be good, guess will see how long it lasts.

http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=227759&d=1459826489

I bet there's a lot more stuff made in China than we realize.

That's a valid point, lots of quality things come from China, but it's just a big unknown in this case.

There are two issues here, first we no longer can get factory like NTN/NSK kits for real cheap. Second issue is Gates is rolling out their own tensioner which knocks so badly it sounds like you spun a rod bearing.

I removed the timing cover and rechecked the timing marks and luckily it didn't jump any teeth while it was knocking. So far 100 miles in and it doesn't seem like the loud knocking noise is there.

I'm "hoping" that replacing my new Gates tensioner with OEM will cure my chirp/squeal/knock noise coming from that area. Not the greatest noise to hear from a new motor...

Good luck man, does your Gates tensioner look like mine or was it a blue NTN one?

It has the blue bearing in the pulley. But the housing looks different than your pics. Do the 2.5i and XT/LGT kits use the same parts?

It sounds exactly like the YT videos when guys take the cover off and watch the tensioner jump. But the catch is that the noise does not get louder when I pull that side of the cover off. Or when I put my super fancy garden hose stethoscope in there. But I have to pull it all anyways to fix a leak...and I already bought an OEM tensioner and idler pulley.

Well this stinks. I purchased the TCK307 kit from rockauto a couple weeks ago, and got the same tensioner as you. I've never replaced a timing belt before, so I'm already a little nervous about doing the job. After reading some reviews on amazon, seeing the video below on youtube, and reading some reviews on other forums, I'm reluctant to use the new gates tensioner.

I hate to spend $100 on an oem subaru tensioner, but I think I might just do that for peace of mind, especially since I'm already saving a lot of money by doing it myself.

It doesn't look like ContiTech comes with a tensioner, according the 06 2.5i RockAuto Pic.

I'll keep an eye out for Aisin kit, do they only come with water pumps? Can't seem to find one without a WP. Any reason you guys just don't get the OEM water pump? They are $95 at Heuberger.

Also 08SpecB_DE, $20 for a belt guide??? Man I'll start collecting them and treat them as gold lol.

I just got the 2.5i Gates TCK307 kit and the first thing I noticed is that the tensioner is no longer NTN/NSK, but a Gates branded one that's made in Canada. Next thing was the Belt itself, didn't feel as good as the TCK304 kit I bought earlier this year for my 2.5i. Finally the geared idler was Gates branded but made in China, and last 2 idlers were either NTN or Koyo…..

Do you think you might have received a counterfeit Gates kit?

I'm pretty sure it's not counterfeit, I got from RockAuto and people on Amazon are complaining bout the same issues. It's just gates trying to safe money by making their own now. Both new bearings actually have the Gates logo embossed on them, I doubt a counterfeiter would go that fancy.

We don't know how reliable the new gates tensioner and toothed gear is, but it doesn't instill confidence when it makes a loud rod knock sound when you first start the car.

The recent amazon reviews don't look very good.. Looks like people have the same complaints about the tensioner and a different bearing, or bearings.

http://amzn.com/B0033DM4UA

*I don't know how to link directly to the reviews without a broken link, so that's jsut a general tck328 link.

http://www.nitomainc.com/npss3.php

This site has oem supplier part numbers for japanese vehicles. I found this while searching for a quality water pump with a cast impeller for my lgt. Put year and manufacturer in and click submit. For a list of more parts, click "all" for your chosen vehicle.

...but it doesn't instill confidence when it makes a loud rod knock sound when you first start the car.

What do you think is the actual source of the knocking sound? Is the tensioner bouncing?

What do you think is the actual source of the knocking sound? Is the tensioner bouncing?

Yup tensioner is bouncing because pulling the grenade pin doesn't make it start doing it's job. Looks like running it for a few minutes fixed that...

Last night I was thinking, how would I know if there was a problem with a lot of the new timing belt tensioners? It's not like Subaru, who has my address on file and can send me a letter.

So last night I decided to email gates, and I basically said I've heard of a few people having issues with the new subaru timing belt tensioners, have there been a lot of complaints/problems with the new tensioners? Gates replied back by saying "We have had a small few, but nothing excessive.". So hopefully some of the negative reviews I've read are just the small few.

EDIT completely missunderstood what you asked. Clarifying...

If it's a Subaru kit, Subaru will usually post a TSB and if it's major enough it will become a Recall, at which point they will use DMV records to contact you.

I wonder if it's the first batch of the new design hence the noise. What sucks is the friend I replaced the belt for lives 3 hours away and is not car savvy. This is why after a week of driving I removed the belt covers and made sure it didn't jump any teeth.

Sorry I completely miss-understood what you asked. Your right, Subaru has no way of knowing that you bought a Gates kit. You really have no way of knowing, just keeping an eye out on Gates website.

Maybe if your lucky Gates will reach out to each authorized vendor for a user list to send a warning to. I highly doubt it though.