tcspeer

I had one of my timing belt pullys go out and it cost me an engine. You can get them cheaper than the price you mentioned. Try first Subaru parts or Lithia Subaru, you should be able to get them for nearly half the price you quoted. If they are not smooth and quite I would change them. An change them at least every other belt change anyway.

Most likely your thief has a set of pro lock door opening tools, the ones locksmiths uses. They are not that hard to get a hold of.

I did not see in the oringal post where drewd said this was the pully that was on the outer belts. It may be the idle pully on the timing belt and if it goes out it could cause the engine to be destroyed.

Emurray, I am also a carrier here in Tx. I ran a 97 Legacy for nearly eight years on my Rt. before losing the engine due to Idle pully coming apart and valves getting bent by pistons. I was at 287,000 miles on mine. Have you looked in the national rural carrier magazine their is sometimes a good selection of right hand drive Subarus, Saturns, and Jeeps in there. A lot of the carriers are selling them because they have had the LLV's put on their routes.

Replace it! and any of the rest of them that are not smooth and quite. Especially if it is a 2.2 and newer than 1996.

I dont want another interference engine, I lost mine by pully failure, belt was fine.

Thats a shame, We had transmission rebuilt in our Saturn and a few day later it was raising cain, they had left the lug nuts loose on one of the wheels.

I dont know how to do the links but see post # 8 here by Subaru 3 for details of the 2.2 interference engine.

Ferret, You are 100 percent right. This started in 1997, and somewhere on this site their is a post explaining how Subaru had coned the pistons top for more horse power causing them to be interference engines. Like I said before I know this from experience. I lost a great 2.2 engine with 278,000 miles on it. I had time to fix my squealing idle pully but did not get in a hurry because I thought it was non interference.

My 1997 2.2 that was in my Legacy wagon was a interference engine. And I dont have to take anyones word for it. There was no compression on three of the four cyclinders when it was put back together after timing belt faliure due to idle pully coming apart.

Yes you are due timing belt change, I was able to do my 97 Legacy wagon with the help of Haynes manuel. The hardest part for me was getting the crank pully bolt to break loose. The T-stat is there were you thought.

I have seen a real mechanic check them by driving about 20 miles per hour and turning the wheel back and forth and listerning for some sound. I dont know if this is the best way.

Went to Wal Mart to get penzoil it was 22.00 a case. Super Tech was ten dollars a case and it says on the container that it meets or exceeds new car warranty protection. I also heard that it was made by Quaker State, does anyone here have a good reason not to use it?

If eveything is tight it should not be a problem, but you cant know that without looking at it. Some times hub caps will make a clicking noise if you have hub caps take them off and try it. Also check and make sure lug nuts are tight while hub caps are off. Brakes are very easy to do if you have a friend with mechanic skill and a Haynes manual see if he will help you.

That is great advise on the idle pullys,check and if need change those. That is what got my 97 2.2 I was under the impression it was non interference but I was wrong.

one of your rotors may be sightly out of round. If you can do your own brake work find out which side is doing it and put that rotor on other side, if the sound then goes there the rotor is bad.

Colorado has a good point I would try that first. I am also wondering if the timing is off by one or two teeth if it might make it run hot, I know on some older model cars like Chev. and Ford I have heard they will run hot if timing is not correct.

You should be able to tell if the valves are o.k. with compression gauge. When my Idle pully came apart on my 97 2.2 after getting it back together it would not start. I checked the compression on the cyclinders and only found compression on one cyclinder, I think it had around 150 p.s.i and the rest had none. I dont know if this works every time but it worked in my case. Of course if it starts you wont need to check it, and you cant check it untill it is back together.

Or you could pull the engine and replace it as someone else suggested.

I would put the dealer wires back on. You can buy them at discounts from 1st. Subaru parts or Litha Subaru in Oregon by mail order their # is 866-717-2512 they send parts by priority mail and you can get them in two to three days. Their is no distributor they plug into the coil pact.

Sorry, Sea# 3 didnt see your post I think you are right. I did not remember that pully being on the water pump when I changed my pump.

Yes the 1996 2.2 is non interference, however the 1997 2.2 is interference. That looks like it is broken on the block instead of the head, or the waterpump housing. I did not think the head went that far to center of engine but I guess it does.

Sweden, is most of the auto parts in Sweden made there? Most of our after market parts are made out of the U.S. and then shipped in tariff free.

Sorry but the board says city Sweden, not country, as far as Auto Zone in the country of Sweden you can use the internet to order and have U.P.S. world wide delivery.

Speaking of Auto Stores, local radio host Ed Wallace that does WHEELS here in Dallas Ft. Worth market just said last Sat. that one of the richest men in China is here in the U.S. to buy most of the supply houses for auto parts. That means they will make most parts their and then control the market here also. He used the word circular.