stevetro1

Success! Got 'er done. Fairtax4me's advice on re-setting the marks when all was askew was spot on. Got every thing all buttoned up and the Legacy is running smooth. Lucky for us we opened it up when we started hearing an idler bearing squealing or else it could have been catastrophe. We found the toothed idler on the water pump with its bearings all chewed up and it also tore up the water pump flange and mounting bolt - surprisingly enough the belt never skipped a tooth. So with the full kit installed we're in good shape. Thanks all !

Hey Mike - As noted in my reply a couple posts up, we had the belt slip on us while tightening the LH cam sprocket bolts, so to avoid rotating the engine any further and incurring potential damage, we did not pull the belt with the marks lined up - we pulled it right where it was and decided to start over. That's why the RH-Exh is in an unusual position. I imagine a slight tweak will have it spring loose, but just wanted to be sure what direction to go with it. Does that make sense?

Thanks Su-bah. My concern at the moment is that the RH intake and both LH's are unlifted, but the RH exhaust is lifted and the crank is not at its mark. Since the manual section never discusses the proper rotation direction of the RH's, I was concerned which direction to turn the RH-Exh to get it properly unlifted. So your initial description of the 1-5 o'clock and 6-12 o'clock rule would also apply to the RH cams? Thanks Again, Steve

Thanks for the feedback guys. Looks like I have a new problem with the timing belt alignment. Everything was aligned when taking the old belt off and eventually also when putting the new belt on. SInce we also had to do the water pump, we were torquing the left/driver cam pulleys with the belt on and a pulley skipped a tooth or two. We decided to remove an idler pulley and tensioner and start over. The problem is we went and took the belt off mistakenly at a random engine position, so now the alignment is unknown. I'm not sure what specific sequence to follow to get everything positioned correctly. We need to turn the crankshaft and all four intake/exhaust cams. The manual talks about the proper rotation for driver/left cams but not for the passenger/right cams, and the right exhaust is now partially compressed. What is the proper sequence to rotate everything to get back to the proper installation marks? Thanks alot!

The seals yes. What's the story with the oil pump screws; checking torque?

First time doing a timing belt and water pump replacement on a 1998 Legacy GT 2.5 DOHC engine. I have the timing belt kit coming in and am now breaking down the car. I have factory service manual in hand and have reviewed all videos, instruction I can find. I just want to confirm one observation: I've aligned all marks from crank and cams properly before removing old belt and when I release the tension from the belt and remove it, the left side intake and exhaust cam sprockets will jump off line as I imagine they are partially open and under spring load? correct? When I install new belt and align I will need to turn the left side cam sprockets in the correct direction one at at time in order to re-align. Question: When lining the left side back up, is it correct for both the intake and exhaust cams to be under spring stress when aligned as they were before removing belt? When turning each one more tooth would have it spring off alignment? I just want to be sure that this is the correct experience. Thanks for your help guys!