Lots of installs to prep LGT for vacation

So here's the current list of parts to be installed:

-Inner/outer front LCA bushings

-Timing belt (Including OEM crank pulley, new seals and cover)

-Fuel pump

-Tires (Continental DWS 225/45/17)

-Alignment

As opposed to starting a thread each time I have a question, I might as well just start my own help thread

To kick things off, I'm having issues removing the nuts from the studs for the rear diff, as well as the bolt on the rear diff's crossmember. Any suggestions here? I have been soaking them in PB blast, but to no avail. I'm just looking for tips/tricks.

Also, any advice for the front LCA bushings or swaybars? My goal is to install them this weekend, and do the timing belt the following weekend. I leave for Tennessee on the 11th of April, so I'm hoping to have everything back together by then. Since I'm doing all of this by myself in my garage with hand tools, any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Use heat on those stuck bolts if you can. It'll work wonders when nothing else will do the trick.

Thanks.. I've got to locate my torch. Do I need to worry about the bushings with said heat?

I would assume so, thought you were trying to replace them...?

I'm installing the bushing inserts, not the actual bushing kit.

Crank pulley show up yet?

Maybe.. I'll check when I get home from work.

-Fuel pump

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Make sure your fuel tank isn't full or it will be a real pain

Otherwise follow this :

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2303133

Make sure your fuel tank isn't full or it will be a real pain

 

Otherwise follow this :

 

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2303133

Awesome.. Thanks for the walkthru

Update: OEM crank pulley came in today. Extremely clean! Thank you!

Yea I looked at it and was like, damn, shoulda swapped this one on!! Hope it helps!!

Relevant posts from other threads

I picked up my loaner truck for transportation purposes and prepped my garage for the timing belt install. I'm reviewing my install walkthru's, but does anyone have any specialty tools, tips, etc?

Crank pulley tool, then again you have an M/T so it shouldn't be too difficult. Check timing marks, again.. and again..

How important is it to lock the cams? There are all sorts of specialty tools suggested to keep the cams aligned, but it seems like you'd need to remove the clamps in order to remove/install the timing belt.

Locking the cams comes down to how good you are really, if the belt lines right up w/o any wrestling you shouldn't need the cam keepers, if you wrestle with it, and a cam turns, well, you can imagine..

the bumper definatly makes it easier on the back, the radiator doesn't need to come out but gives you a lot more room, and is worth the 20 min.

So, I'm going to start installing the final parts tonight. My plan is to start the teardown after work and hopefully install the fresh parts after work tomorrow. Any other experience/tips etc. would be greatly appreciated.

My question- How much should I worry about locking the cams? Will I be alright if I realign the timing marks, but not clamp the cams? I think I'm going to pull the radiator, as I could afford to flush the coolant anyway.

I also will be pulling the LCA's tonight so I can press out the old bushings at work tomorrow. Do I need any specialty tools for this?

do not remove the balljoint from spindle for the LCA, you risk cracking/damaging/needing to replace the spindle. Little bit of heat, constant pressure and patience, since your doing it at work Im assuming you'll have the right tools..

As I said about cams, get them lined up, and eye the belt on, if it looks like your going to be fighting with it, get the cam tool, better safe than sorry. I think I read a on a website (not sure if busted finger motorsports/DSG or a nasioc thread) where someone had a good way of not needing the cam tools (I think the location of where you start putting the belt on has something to do with it), but I don't remember what the thread was/or what the hints are. try a quick search on nasioc and see if anything helpful comes up

as far as starting today and ending tomorrow, I would not take the T-belt off and leave it apart overnite, I would get to it, wait till tomorrow then finish. Just something about leaving that wide open w/o cams locked for hours that would make me nervous

do not remove the balljoint from spindle for the LCA, you risk cracking/damaging/needing to replace the spindle. Little bit of heat, constant pressure and patience, since your doing it at work Im assuming you'll have the right tools..

So remove the cotter pin and retainer nut, then pull the LCA? I will have the right tools; I'm actually trying to decide what I need so a coworker can bring the tools tomorrow.

As I said about cams, get them lined up, and eye the belt on, if it looks like your going to be fighting with it, get the cam tool, better safe than sorry. I think I read a on a website (not sure if busted finger motorsports/DSG or a nasioc thread) where someone had a good way of not needing the cam tools (I think the location of where you start putting the belt on has something to do with it), but I don't remember what the thread was/or what the hints are. try a quick search on nasioc and see if anything helpful comes up

If I understand correctly, you only need to lock the cams while tension is being applied to the belt via the tensioner? Or am I fighting the valve springs? I've got access to a decent variety of vice grips, so I was thinking about using these to lock the cams.

Also, is the crank pulley tool strictly intended to help remove the large nut, or is it a puller tool as well? I was going to fab a crank pulley locking tool, but I need to know if I need it to pull the pulley as well. If so, I'll be borrowing that from a coworker as well.

as far as starting today and ending tomorrow, I would not take the T-belt off and leave it apart overnite, I would get to it, wait till tomorrow then finish. Just something about leaving that wide open w/o cams locked for hours that would make me nervous

That makes sense- Maybe I'll get as far as possible tonight without removing anything, pick up the proper tools tomorrow, and do the deed. That also gives me time to pull the LCA's tonight and press the bushings tomorrow.

Update:

First, I removed everything in front of the block- Radiator fans, radiator hoses, etc. Next I removed the accessory belts, and prepped for pulling the crank pulley. There is a hole in the center timing belt cover from a mishap with the PO; The accessory belt pulled off and cut a large chunk out of the cover. I will be replacing the cover and seals, but I noticed that the belt appears new. What are some key details to note when inspecting a timing belt for wear? With any luck, the PO already replaced the T-belt, which makes my life easy.

I also started pulliing the LCA's. I was able to remove all of the bolts, and I decided to go the castle nut route. BUT... I started having a really hard time removing the ball joint from the LCA. I'm going to stop by Advance to borrow a tool that will hopefully make my life easier.

Don't wast time with the 2-jaw puller unless it is a really good quality one. Just wail on the control arm with a dead blow mallet and it will pop free eventually. Even in the limited space just hitting the arm from the side it will still knock it free from the tapered seat, it just takes a bit.

To lock the cams I made two wedges and tacked down a piece of an old timing belt on each one. I use a bar clamp to pull them in towards each other and lock the sprockets for setting the belt. Do NOT use this method for removing/torquing cam sprocket bolts! *edit* Also, don't overtighten the bar clamp! You want just enough force to keep them wedged together so the cams don't spin back due to the valve springs. Too much force and you will crack the plastic cam sprockets.

if you googled belt inspection there is actually a chart somewhere of cracks per mm to determine replacement. I would make sure the lables on belt were clean and not smudged, also look for any oil pump or anywhere else that makes it look like someones been there.

As far as pulley tool, its both, some peoples pulley falls right off after removing nut, others need the "puller" part

IMO, the only key detail to really look for regarding the timing belts is the receipt for the work being done. If you don't have concrete evidence that it's been replaced and you think it might be time, you just have to bite the bullet and do it. You already have the parts, right?

 

If you don't know, then you don't know--replace it and call it good for 100k miles.

Yea... that's a good point. As much as I would like to put that money toward something else, the parts are already sitting under my car about to be put in. Plus, even if the belt has been replaced, I feel like the integrity of the bearings, belt, etc. have been compromised by the hole in the cover. I was thinking about saving myself the effort, but it's worth it to suck it up for peace of mind.

This is the last of the big maintenance items and I just rolled 100k, so there were a lot. It also feels good that I'm taking care of all of the things that I'm unsure the PO covered.

Thanks all for the advice!

UPDATE: New timing belt, water pump, thermostat, and LCA bushings are in.

Install comments

Timing belt: The timing belt kit itself wasn't a difficult install. Parts came out of the way easily- the most frustrating part was the dripping coolant on my face while trying to wrench. Crank pulley came off with a bump of the starter, and I had everything out of the way in short time. New parts went on just as easily; The only hangup was timing the driver side cams. I spent a lot of time and energy trying to turn the top cam, place the belt, turn the bottom cam, then place the belt. It was cake once I had a second set of hands, and I was lucky enough to have a legitimate mechanic helping me with the install.

Water pump

This part sucked a big one. At 100k, the coolant lines were corroded to the point they had to be cut off, which meant they needed to be replaced. It was hard enough to get them off the water pump, but the lines going to the bottom of the motor were a PITA. The vacation pics tell you to remove the cam gears and cover, but that seemed to be a bit much so I worked around it. A good set of needlenose pliers can help you remove the clamps from the bottom. Another note- don't buy regular heater hose and expect it to work; Those (3) coolant lines have such sharp bends that standard tube will flatten out. Either go to Subaru and purchase those tubes specifically, or buy some random curved sections that are close and cut to fit. Another note: The thermostat needs to be seated well before you install the cover. I couldn't get mine to seat, so I mistakenly used the cover to compress the gasket/thermostat into place. Well, that didn't work out so well. I ended up draining the coolant, replacing the gasket, reinstalling, and applied silicone sealant for peace of mind. No leaks as of yet.

Front LCA bushings

The LCA's came out quickly once you figure out the right tools. Breaker bar and a 19mm socket removed the rear bolts/nut and castle nut. A 17mm box wrench and a 17mm socket removed the LCA inner bolt. I couldn't get the LCA to separate from the ball joint until I picked up a Pittman Arm Puller tool. Basically, a glorified C-clamp to pop the arm loose.

Pressing out the bushings without the proper press tools was nearly impossible. I was able to remove the OEM bits by pressing out the cores, then using an air chisel I rolled back the outer sleeve of the bushing from the LCA. With the large bushings, the air chisel removed the sleeve just fine. The smaller bushings proved to be much more difficult. I ended up rolling enough of the inner sleeve back to give me a good surface to press, and used a hydraulic press to do the dirty work. Pressing in the new bushings was easy with the supplied grease.

It took some serious work to re-install the LCA's. After approaching from a bunch of different angles, I found it was easiest to install the ball joint, bolt on the rear of the control arm to the body, then force the front bushing into place. This last part was the main issue- the bolt just didn't want to line up.

Here are my impressions of the results:

Timing belt, etc.

I didn't realize I was having issues with this until after the install. There were a lot of noises that disappeared after the install, and the OEM crank pulley may have had a lot to do with this. Either that, or the bearings of the idlers were starting to fail due to the hole in the timing belt cover. The car now idles like a dream and is extremely responsive. I noticed a slight decrease in performance, but it was well worth the trade for driveability. Since the install yesterday I've yet to experience any shudder going into first, and best of all, my decel noise is essentially gone. I can finally engine brake, and coasting in gear is much more pleasant without all of the gear noise.

Front control arm bushings (both kits)

Exactly what the car needed. Not much NVH, but a little extra firmness to the wheel, and you can actually feel the road through the steering wheel. Honestly, that's not really a bad thing in my eyes. The turn-in response is amazing now. I find myself turning in too aggressively now, whereas I had to overcompensate for the slop before. The car feels like it's on rails. The combination of the LCA bushings and the swaybars is perfect for anyone looking to DD a LGT that doesn't drive like a Continental. The handling more than keeps up with stage-2 power, and I'm still on stock springs/inserts.

Overall

I'm pretty content with the way the car drives/feels now. I'm glad I got everything out of the way before the trip; Now that I know how the car feels, I can't believe I was driving it like it was before. The OEM crank pulley/ACT LWFW combination is the best of both worlds- quick revving and responsive, but doesn't create a bunch of noise or vibration. Every shift is smoother, and the engine just seems more stable. Thanks for all of the advice, especially to Rick from Underdog!

Now I'm officially in the doghouse- the fiancee actually mentioned that my LGT could break us up if I continue to spend so much time and money on it. Hopefully I got all of the bugs worked out, because I'm going to be in serious trouble if I buy anything else. I actually agreed to talk to her about every purchase from now on.. Stupid, right?