guysk

I just finished the modification of adding two pins in the crankshaft pulley to match the two holes in the crankshaft sprocket. I temporarily tighted the crank pulley (not full torque yet because I wanted to see if it worked first) and ran it with no belts on. The good news is that the pulley runs true with no wobble. But... It idles smooth and runs smooth at any RPM. The problem is that I hear some ticking when I give it a little throttle and let it off. As the RPM drops through about 1000 or so, there is some significant tapping noise for about a second until the throttle stays at a consistant RPM. What is it? I don't know for sure but I don't think that noise was there before. I am not sure if I should put it back together and let it go or if I should find out if I have a more serious problem caused by the wobbly pully in the first place. Here is how I did the mods in my non-machine shop. I never removed the timing belt, although it would have been easier, as I carefully measured the location of the holes in the crankshaft sprocket. Then I transfered the hole centers to the crank pully and drilled both holes on my drill press all the way through. The holes on the sprocket were slightly bigger than 1/4" but all I had for pins were some 1/4" bolts. The drilled hole size was whatever I needed so I could tap 1/4" threads into it, which I did. I cut the head and some of the threads off the bolts so that I could thread them all the way in to the non-threaded shaft of the bolt. The pin part is about an inch long. I used some blue locktight and tightened them into the crank pully very well. After that, I installed the pulley and viola, no wobble. But I still have some noise...

You guys made a good call! The crankshaft pulley was loose. I removed the crank pulley and the keyway on the pulley was ground around almost to about a half circle. The key on the crankshaft is slighlty bent and not very square any more but at least it isn't completely gone. I searched the archives and it seems that in my situation the best thing to do is to do is remove the crakshaft sprocket, replace the key, replace the crankshaft pulley and torque it tight. Is that correct and is there anything else that I should be concerned about beside checking the pulley torque for a few weeks? The problem with this soution is the time the car will be down and I don't care to remove the timing belt and deal with all that. So, why can't I just bore two holes in the pulley that match the holes in the crankshaft sprocket and add two steel pins and tighten it well? That way I don't have to pull the timing belt off. I know this is a bit of a cludge but it seems to be a better idea than the way it was designed in the first place. Is there any reason not to do it this way?

It's not the crank key, it is at the outside back edge of the pulley just beyond the belt contact area. As far as glitches during the timing belt replacement. The belt tensioner and one of the pulleys, I can't remember which one but I have the old part, were bad. The pulley and tensioner were replaced with ones from the salvage yard. I didn't personally check them myself but my mechanic checked them and he thought that they were just fine. I trust him completely. $50 at the junkyard compared to ~$250 new and no waiting for the parts to get delivered.

I will check the crank pulley this afternoon. I wonder if it was damaged when it was removed to change the timing belt? I noticed that a small piece of metal was missing from the back where the belt goes around (~1/16" x 1/2"). I will take your advice and deal with the crank pulley first. That sounds more serious than I thought. The wires are OEM wires and I replaced them after the codes started appearing with no change in the results. If the timing belt were off by a tooth wouldn't that cause the engine to run very rough? It seems to be running fine, although, the idle is not as smooth as it should be. It starts fine and under load seems to be at full power. The gas mileage is also great (32MPG) and hasn't changed; I keep track of it pretty well. How do I check if the timing belt were off by a tooth? I would take it to the guy that changed the belt but it is a major hassle to get the car there so I would rather check it myself.

Hi all, My Subaru is putting out cylinder misfire codes for all four cylinders, P0301,0302,0303, and 0304. I am looking for some help in diagnosing it further. Here are the things that I replaced so far: o coil pack o plugs o wires, o PCV valve o fuel filter o air filter o timing belt o water pump o knock sensor (had code P0325) This started to occure within a few weeks or so of having my timing belt and water pump changed because of a sqealing timing belt pulley. I reset the light numerous times and it comes back on around 20 to 50 miles later. I can't notice any rough running when the light flashes. If I read the code shortly after the light comes on then I don't always get all the cylinder misfire codes but if I drive it a couple hundered miles then they all get set (P0301-4). Just today I noticed that the air conditioner belt was very loose and I know that it was tight a few days ago. I re-tightened belt expecting something to be loose in the tensioner mechanism but found everything snug. That seemes odd. I also noticed today that the crankshaft pully is not well balanced. When it spins, it is out of round - not grossly out of round but more than I am comfortable with. Any ideas on where to go from here would be greatly appreciated. '97 Legacy Outback 2.5L 177,000 miles 32MPG

Hi, I am confused about which clutch kit to get for my 1997 2.5L Legacy Outback. My local parts store has a Sachs KF738-02 which he says should fit fine. I looked online for the same part number and found nothing anywhere. There are other Sacks clutch kits that supposedly fit the '97 too. Any suggestions on which clutch kit I should get and where to get it for the best price? Thanks, 1997 2.5L Legacy Outback

:-\ My girlfriend called last night and told me about a strange ABS malfunction. She tried to stop on a moderately snowy road (not ice) and her ABS kicked in - Only it didn't stop her! She heard the ABS whirring sound and felt the pulsating brakes but kept moving forward through an intersection. At first I thought that she was on ice and that was the normal functioning of the ABS. But after I asked her many more questions, I think that there really is a problem. The car is a '97 Legacy Outback that I bought for her a few months ago. I have an 88 BMW that did something similar. When I was going slow and I stomped on the brakes, the ABS would kick in and barely stop the car. I pulled a couple relays under the hood to disable the ABS and never gave it a second thought. But I want her soob to have the ABS working. Has anyone else experienced this and what could the problem be? Also, she is four hours away needs to get home safely this weekend before I can look at it. Is there a fuse that she can pull to disable the ABS for the drive home? Thanks, '97 Legacy Outback 2.5L, 144K

Hi all, I am new to the Subaru world and would like advice/opinions on a 1997 Legacy Outback thatI am thinking of buying. It has 140,000 miles and a few minor body scratches. I drove it twice now and inspected everything under the hood and I was impressed. The motor is quiet and it has great acceleration. It has a new timing belt and a few other parts. The clutch is original but seems smooth along with the five speed transmission. The only problem is that it has a rebuild title. I did a carfax and found out that it was totaled in 1997 with 10,000 miles on it. It was then salvaged and rebuilt and appears to have been running fine for the last 130,000 miles. Does a price of $3700. seem like a reasonable price? Is there anything specific that I should be be aware of before I buy it? Thanks