Help to Set Timing for a 2.5L DOHC

Hello,

 

I am a bit new to Subaru and I had a timing belt idler pulley go out on my 2005 Legacy GT and I decided to take on the job of replacing the timing belt. The engine that I have is the EJ25 with a Turbo.

 

When the idler went out, there was a horrific sound coming from the engine compartment, but the engine was still running fine and it had not lost timing, so I quickly returned to my home and turned off the engine. During the process of removing the crankshaft pulley, my timing belt had slipped some teeth. I then proceeded to hand-crank the engine in an attempt to diagnose how bad the timing was off. In my further infinite wisdom, I decided to remove the belt to attempt to re-align things, only to find that I had made things worse. I removed the belt when the crankshaft pulley was at its timing mark.

 

During the process of accidentally un-timing my engine, I never attempted to start the car, I had only turned things by hand, so I think everything should be fine internally. However, I am a bit nervous since I had encountered some resistance when hand cranking the engine when the timing belt was still installed, but off on timing. I had assumed this to be compression resistance, which leads me to my first question :

 

Can the valves still bend when cranking the engine by hand? I wasn't using a breaker bar, just a regular ratchet, so my lever arm wasn't too big. I also didn't apply excessive force.

 

I have searched the internet high and low for a method to properly set timing in these engines, but I have not found too many answers. I was hoping that posting to this forum could help. I purchased a Haynes manual, but that only shows how to deal with the timing belt with an already timed engine. There is nothing about setting timing from an unknown state. I understand the timing markings, but I just want to know the process to get them all safely aligned.

 

I have the crank on its timing mark, but none of the cams are. How do I properly and safely rotate the cams? How do I tell the difference between spring resistance and valves hitting a piston? I want to know what a bad resistance is so that I know when to stop.

 

Can the crank be set to 180 degrees out of phase? Or does that not matter as long as all of the timing marks align? I noticed that the cams rotated once for every two rotations of the crank.

 

If all of the timing marks align, will it be safe to start the engine (after belt install of course)? Or is there a chance that I may have done something wrong and not see it because timing marks are aligned?

 

Any advice that you guys can give me for properly setting timing will be greatly appreciated. I want to spend my money on going E85 rather than an engine rebuild.

None of my statements will tell you exactly how to set the timing, just places to look for help.

 

1. Where are you? Fill out your profile and local members may be able to help.

2. Search "vacation pics" on this website.

3. How many miles are on the car? Might be time for a complete new timing set. Most use Gates brand kits.

4. Said Gates kit contains a good set of instructions and a tool to set belt clearance guides to correct measurement.

5. There may be a walk through on setting the timing on youtube. I had someone else come over and help so I didn't search there.

6. There is a likely a walk through of removing and installing a brand new timing belt on this site. It should also describe how to properly set the timing.

7. What kind of resistance did you encounter? Like the crank wouldn't turn anymore by hand or it got tough but then easier?

 

Welcome to the site, great wagon combo. PICS!

See the DIY forums There are a few timing belt threads.

None of my statements will tell you exactly how to set the timing, just places to look for help.

 

1. Where are you? Fill out your profile and local members may be able to help.

2. Search "vacation pics" on this website.

3. How many miles are on the car? Might be time for a complete new timing set. Most use Gates brand kits.

4. Said Gates kit contains a good set of instructions and a tool to set belt clearance guides to correct measurement.

5. There may be a walk through on setting the timing on youtube. I had someone else come over and help so I didn't search there.

6. There is a likely a walk through of removing and installing a brand new timing belt on this site. It should also describe how to properly set the timing.

7. What kind of resistance did you encounter? Like the crank wouldn't turn anymore by hand or it got tough but then easier?

 

Welcome to the site, great wagon combo. PICS!

 

Will do, I updated the profile with a bit more info. The car does have 110k miles on it, so it was in need of a new timing belt kit anyways, it just failed before I had a chance to get one. I did purchase the Gates TCK328 kit w/o water pump and have an OEM water pump on the way. I will break open the Gates kit later to see if they have info on setting timing. As for the resistance, it was more of the "it got tough, then easier". In retrospect, I should have removed the spark plugs, then I would have known that any resistance wouldn't have been compression. I will do that moving forward.

 

You say you have the crank on it's timing mark. ARE YOU SURE?

 

If so, where were all of the marks (crank and cams) when you removed the belt?

 

Yes, I am sure that the crank is at its timing mark. Its at the one where it is a few degrees clockwise from pointing straight up. Before removing the belt, the crank was at this position. As for the cams, if they would have been aligned, they would have been at their 180 degrees from their timing marks. At that point, I couldn't turn everything without timing slipping even further due to lack of adequate tension on the belt. That is why I decided to remove the belt and attempt to realign the cams with the crank.

 

I've seen some posts that state if the crank is at its timing mark, then the pistons should be mid-stroke. Is this true? I will still follow your suggestion of feeling the pistons for myself.

Make sure the line on the crank gear lines up with the timing mark on the engine, not the arrow. The first time I tried it I had the arrow pointing up. Luckily I couldn't remember if I turned the driver gears in the correct directions, so we took it all off and started over and caught the crank gear timing mark.