11 replies to this topic

[LukeFranky]

Doing my timing belt and water pump this weekend on my B4.

 

Got a Gates belt and pulleys and a genuine water pump and tensioner.

 

Is there anything special to know about the EJ208? Or can I follow the guides written for other Subaru DOHC engines?

[Jimbo]

All the same, mate.

Just double check the idlers and pulleys incase you get a slight variance to what's on the car already. Otherwise, you'll get what happened to me yesterday and the smaller idler will fall out and take the engine with it. 

[LukeFranky]

 

Just double check the idlers and pulleys incase you get a slight variance to what's on the car already. Otherwise, you'll get what happened to me yesterday and the smaller idler will fall out and take the engine with it. 

- Yikes. So one of your idlers was smaller?

[natho]

there are different bolt lengths to suit the different pulleys. if you take a look how deep the bolt sits in the pulley it should make sense. my dayco timing belt kit included the right length bolt for the pulley, but no instructions to make it clear what it was. it became pretty obvious when the bolt broke the thread when attempting to torque it up - it only 'bit' the first two threads. thankfully the provided longer bolt went straight in and torqued up without issue.

[LukeFranky]

there are different bolt lengths to suit the different pulleys. if you take a look how deep the bolt sits in the pulley it should make sense. my dayco timing belt kit included the right length bolt for the pulley, but no instructions to make it clear what it was. it became pretty obvious when the bolt broke the thread when attempting to torque it up - it only 'bit' the first two threads. thankfully the provided longer bolt went straight in and torqued up without issue.

- If I remove my old pulleys and keep them paired with their matching bolts I should be able to simply compare those to the new ones and easily figure out what goes where?

[natho]

yes definitely. the one too look out for is the little one though - the difference is quite obvious when you're looking for it. a quick google found this: http://www.flatirons...ler-pulley.aspx.

[LukeFranky]

So I got my timing belt and water pump done without killing the car.

 

I see exactly what you meant about the different sized idlers/bolts. The new smallest idler had a bigger bearing which shortened the length of thread that could bite into the car. Bought a longer bolt from Autobarn.

 

I also wanted to do the cam shaft seals. Whoever last worked on the timing belt over-torqued cam shaft bolts and I needed an extension on my 1/2" breaker bar. Even then I struggled. Jumped a couple of teeth but eventually cracked them all off after locking a bar behind the tensioner to keep the belt tight.

 

I had a significant issue with the spring loaded passenger side cams. I believe you can only turn them a certain direction and because cam shaft bolts were loose I couldn't easily turn the lower left cam. Ended up wrapping the old timing belt around the cam gear and using it to slowly line it up. Took quite a number of attempts.

[duncanm]

I also wanted to do the cam shaft seals. Whoever last worked on the timing belt over-torqued cam shaft bolts and I needed an extension on my 1/2" breaker bar. Even then I struggled. Jumped a couple of teeth but eventually cracked them all off after locking a bar behind the tensioner to keep the belt tight.

 

don't know if yours were over-torqued -- there's lots of history of these being a bugger to get off.

[LukeFranky]

Here's a couple of pics. If you can't make it out I made the tensioner tight using a bar pulled down with some force with twisted tight rope. Extended the half inch braker with my jack handle.

Other photo shows short the bolt was on the new idler.
Oh and I also locked the crank in place with the spanner to crack the cam shafts off because the drivetrain has a lot of slop.

Attached Files

•  20160213_111854.jpg   53KB   5 downloads
•  20160212173548883909824.jpg   117.41KB   5 downloads

[duncanm]

why did you need to pull the tensioner tight?

 

You should just line up cams and belt then pull the pin on the adjuster.

[LukeFranky]

This was before the belt was removed, to crack the bolts on the cam shafts.

[duncanm]

ah - ok