Timing Belt Replacement 2.5T

I struggled for hours trying to remove the Harmonic Balancer. The strap wrench failed and a chain wrench failed. I found a very easy solution with tools around the garage. I stuck two long sockets into the hole pattern around the main bolt of the Harmonic Balance. Then I created a counter level using a grade 8 bolt and a pipe extension. This provide enough counter torque to remove the bolt.

You must have missed the post where you rest the breaker bar on the ground and bump the starter over.

^^^ Or buy the "right" tool for the job. http://www.grimmspeed.com/crank-pulley-removal-tool-subaru/

Put it in gear and ave a friend hold the brakes.

I struggled for hours trying to remove the Harmonic Balancer. The strap wrench failed and a chain wrench failed. I found a very easy solution with tools around the garage. I stuck two long sockets into the hole pattern around the main bolt of the Harmonic Balance. Then I created a counter level using a grade 8 bolt and a pipe extension. This provide enough counter torque to remove the bolt.

 

Nice job! I'm guessing you weren't obsessing over the posts in here, and just figured it out on your own.

 

Watch out for the pulley separating. I've wondered if they people who have the pulley fail had a strap wrench used on it at some point.

Many of the timing belt walkthroughs I've found online mention locking the two driver side cam sprockets together so that they remain in position and the valves don't come into contact with the pistons. Why doesn't the FSM mention locking the cams in place? Don't answer that yet, I'm building up to my real question.

 

I have to remove my TB this weekend so that I can remove one of my cams (valve/bucket adjustment), and now suddenly it's pointless for me to lock my cams in place because after the belt is off I obviously can't keep the cam sprockets locked together.

 

Why is it recommended by so many internet people to lock the cams when changing a TB, but then to remove a cam sprocket it's irrelevant/impossible?

I just recently did my timing belt. The cam spun because I took off the sprocket to change the seals. No worries about it spinning, just need to get it all properly lined back up.

My drivers side cams spun on me also. I just rotated them back to TDC marks.

I got mine on / off this past weekend without any issues or special "cam lock" tools.

Trying to get the belt back on the sprockets was a royal pain until I did it how the FSM says. It's funny how well things can go when you follow instructions.

Don't feel bad about having a hardtime getting the belt on, others have done the same thing. I had to go have lunch and then came back, looked it over and go "duh" put it on this way stupid.

 

That was after a hour or more of screwing with it.

Can someone tell me the post number for this FSM method for aligning the belt??

Can someone tell me the post number for this FSM method for aligning the belt??

 

If your '08 3.0R is like the '05's it looks like you have a chain instead of a belt.

 

For the '05 2.5L turbo it's in the FSM on page ME(H4DOTC)-46.

"Align the alignment mark on the timing belt with marks on the sprockets in the alphabetical order shown. While aligning marks, position the timing belt properly."

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161118/548cabde4e916d36e7b6a1b7d1fad7ab.jpg

 

Crank Key location reference

Thanks for posting the picture. Hopefully people can get a understanding where the pistons are in the cylinder.

I didn't put any blue locktite threadlocker on the threads of the idler pulley bolts. Think I should be OK since there is so much side force on those bolts from the belt tension?

I didn't put any blue locktite threadlocker on the threads of the idler pulley bolts. Think I should be OK since there is so much side force on those bolts from the belt tension?

 

If it was something easier I'd say take it all off and put threadlocker on the bolts, but the TB is too much of a pain in the butt.

 

Can we assume you used a torque wrench? In a few hundred/thousand miles take off the belt covers and re-torque the pulley bolts. If they're all still torqued down and don't need tightened then I'd say you're good to go as-is.

Yeah I torqued all pulleys to spec. I think I'm good. It didn't look like Subaru put any threadlocker on the bolts either.

 

I did also forget that gasket on the side of the water pump. I seem to recall it is there to deflect any seeping coolant away from the timing belt?

 

This was my first Subaru timing belt change so I think it went rather well. I made a cam pulley lock out of some flat stock and ran a bolt through it to jam the pulleys from moving.

Can you post a picture of your DIY cam pulley lock tool?

 

I'm in the middle of helping a friend replace his motor and when it's time to put the TB back on I'd LOVE to try something different than what I've used in the past.

Ha OK - but don't laugh. It was as primitive as you can get. Just 2 pieces of metal with a hole in the middle. Through the hole I put a very thin bolt. One side I just cut so it would fit between the cam gears. The second I had to cut to fit more precisely so it would be tight when bolted. I don't have a pic of it installed but I think you can figure it out. If not I can mock it up better.

 

http://i1256.photobucket.com/albums/ii483/devobuzz/20170714_224244.jpg

Any hints/variants for a 2010 LGT? I did my 05 XT, and now my 2010 LGT needs this. Seems different enough, I'm surprised no one has done a separate walk through.

Ha OK - but don't laugh. It was as primitive as you can get. Just 2 pieces of metal with a hole in the middle. Through the hole I put a very thin bolt. One side I just cut so it would fit between the cam gears. The second I had to cut to fit more precisely so it would be tight when bolted. I don't have a pic of it installed but I think you can figure it out. If not I can mock it up better.

 

http://i1256.photobucket.com/albums/ii483/devobuzz/20170714_224244.jpg

That's awesome.

 

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

Any hints/variants for a 2010 LGT? I did my 05 XT, and now my 2010 LGT needs this. Seems different enough, I'm surprised no one has done a separate walk through.

 

Since I haven't seen any 2010 LGT specific info, I'll put in my experience from doing it this weekend.

 

1) Bought the rock auto 328N kit, all the parts seemed to be OEM as far as I could tell.

2) The instructions in the box talk about failure of new timing belt installs, and how their engineering dept has looked in to it, and they are pretty sure it was because people weren't gapping the belt guides properly. They include a gap tool and some locktite

3) I followed the factory service manual pretty much exactly. Off the top of my head

a) Remove fans

b) Remove alternator

c) Remove power steering pump (don't disconnect hoses) and put it off by the wheel well

d) Remove pitch stop

e) Remove PVC hose and blow off valve

f) Remove charge pipe from turbo to intercooler (That's why you had to remove all the previous stuff!)

g) remove timing covers

h) I used the Company23 cam locking tool. I will sell it to the next person. Worked well!

h) Now normal timing belt change.

4) No need to remove the radiator! No mentioned in FSM either.

4a) I also never did anything from below even the the FSM said you had to do some things from under. I didn't see the need.

5) Bleeding the tensioner was both easy and hard. I used a c-clamp (who has a vertical vice?). I'd never done that before. Lots of caution words about not doing it. The shaft spun with the clamp, but it was easy enough to the pin to turn it back and line it up. Just go slow, and when it's hard to push, slow down.

6) There were double white stripes on my upper cams on both sides on the top (where there is a single mark on the cam. I couldn't understand that until I was putting the belt on, and it appears the rear cover guide was off somewhat. The belt goes on the mark on the cam, but the cam needed to be lined up one tooth off on the cover (where the 2nd white mark was) to get the belt to line up on the lower exhaust cam.

7) Putting the belt on is always tough for me. I can never get all the marks lined up and then the belt on the last pulley straight away.

a) Had to use the company23 tool to turn the upper and lower drivers side cams one tooth to get the belt to go on.

b) I put on crank, DS upper cam, DS lower cam, PS upper cam, PS lower cam, then the last idler as shown in the FSM. It took me about 2 hours to finally get the belt on. It didn't go on until I rotated the DS cam a tooth off from the cover marks, but they then lined up with the white marks the factory put on there. The belt lined up on the original cam marks as intended.

c) I used a pry bar to line up the last idler so I could thread the bolt by hand. I made the mistake 5 years ago on my XT of trying to use the bolt to pull the cam on, and stripped some of the threads in the block. This time it was super easy once I got the idler lined up.

5) I wish I had more locktite for the belt guides. I was scrapping bottom on the blue tube that came with the timing belt

6) Putting it back together was pretty easy. I did have one belt guide bolt in a cover bolt hole on the bottom. That took me a few minutes to figure out why the cover wouldn't sit flat. They are the same thread size.

 

My ops-es -

1) I have one bolt left over, and have no idea where it came from. I remember the point early on when I realized I needed to be more orgnaized, and started making sure the bolts were with the item I took off, but couldn't identify where this one went to. It was very much at the start, so nothing super important. It's just bothering me!

2) I'm pretty certain that I didn't tighten the hose clamp on the BOV. I'll have to reach down and do that soon!

 

Good luck to any Gen 5 LGT owners out there going after this!

 

Tom

After some massive procrastination I finally did the timing belt job on my 2005 LGT. My old belt and components have been in use for 64,000 miles and 166 months ( 2 months shy of a full 14 years). The old belt was surprisingly free of any visible defects, on both sides. The tensioner had a slight amount of fluid on top. All the pulleys rotated smoothly and silently. The only unusual thing I noticed was on the small pulley. Most of its contact surface was covered with a very thin, irregular layer of black stuff, presumably from the belt.

 

I used a Gates kit that I bought in 2013. I bled the tensioner 3 times before installing. The pulley bolts did not have threadlocker on them from the factory, and that is how I installed them. I did however use blue Loctite on the tensioner bolt, as Gates recommends.

 

The process was a bit more challenging than is depicted in the "how to" videos. This was the 3rd timing belt job I have done in my life, but my first on a 4-cam Subaru motor. I used the cam lock and crank lock tools from Company23.

 

I followed the belt install procedure as shown in the FSM. Putting on the last pulley (at the bottom) was impossible without some mechanical assistance to line up the bolt holes. I made a half-round pulley cradle out of a small piece of wood, carved another small piece of wood (the base) to fit on top of the exhaust heat shield (at the front of the engine), and put the whole assembly of pulley and wood tools on top of the exhaust. To raise and align the pulley, I inserted a wood shim between the wood cradle and wood base, and tapped it with a hammer. I am saving these wood tools for the next time, 10 years from now.

 

The preferred method for installing a new crank pulley bolt is a 2 stage torque to angle: 33ft-lb followed by 65-75 degrees of rotation. I don't own a $600 Snapon Torque Angle Wrench, or an accurate angle meter, so I did a two stage torque application of 33ft-lb, then to 133ft-lb (while monitoring the torque angle the best I could). I used M1 0W-20 oil on the bolt threads and bolt head. Judging from the noise generated while tightening, this bolt will not be coming loose.

I see some are still worried about lining up the marks on the belt...The belt doesn't care where the marks are. Just put it on. It rotates as it spins so it doesn't keep hitting the pulleys in the same spot.

 

Also you should be able to easily lift the belt over that last pulley on the lower left looking at it. It's been a long time for me, but I think you do that before pulling the pin.

 

I think I talk about it in the end of here, (orange type in post 26)

https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/replacing-timing-belt-94193.html?t=94193

Edited October 30, 2018 by Max Capacity

I see some are still worried about lining up the marks on the belt...The belt doesn't care where the marks are. Just put it on

 

The belt does not care, but the camshafts and crankshaft do. The correct number of belt teeth between the reference marks on the crank sprocket and intake cam sprockets is very important, as is the correct number of belt teeth between the reference marks on the intake cam and exhaust cam sprockets. The marks on the belt help insure that the correct spacing is maintained while doing an install. I found them to be very helpful.