SubVAN

Got it last night so installed it ;D Amazon Prime can be useful sometimes. $20 and next day service!

Oh and I ordered a new lower sprocket like was advised. It is the dual bearing NSK 59TB0515 made in Japan. Very nice looking and feeling piece, for cheap!

To update, It's running great! I did the belt/tooth marking technique just to make extra sure. Its such a huge pain to get my covers off so I went far to make sure it was perfect. It started up like new! Thanks for the advice. I'll be back for more but hopefully not soon.

I realize why the marks are confusing me after trying to get it perfect again today. It has to do with tension on the belt. If it's loose on the bottom, for example, when everything rotates on startup the unequal tension between the top and bottom sort of equalizes things and the cams/crank positions end up where they will. I don't feel like its possible to get it 100% perfectly set unless its by luck. Got the new tensioner from Subaru directly today. It is definitely different than what came out of there. $160 with tax but I feel better about it now, compared to ordering another off-brand from the net. It's marked with the Aisin brand by the way which I've seen for sale, even at Amazon, but I don't trust anybody but the dealer for this kind of thing.

I just found this on another site btw:

Yeah but have you tried telling a parts counter guy that? They only want to come back at you and tell you that they have different parts listed and then demand a VIN. I felt lucky to even get him to agree to order anything. The service guy saved my day. Let me get this straight... so even if I set the marks like shown, get the belt on and tensioner, etc., start it with everything lined up perfectly, THEN if I check it again after it runs, the cams can be off from the crank marks this time??

The tensioner def. does not have anything stamped on it. China for sure! I just ordered a new one today at the Subaru dealer. They said it will be a couple days and its $150!! It was a pain since he wanted a VIN. Without a VIN, he had three part numbers all for pre '94 2.2's. He got a service manager to make a solid guess so Im hoping for the best. I may get that lower toothed pulley too but I'm out of money plus all of this stuff has 10K miles on it since the full reman so I think the rest is ok. It's all NSK Japan. The belt seems perfect so I'm leaving it in. I noticed an issue with keeping things lined up today while cleaning things up. I'm confused about how to keep the timing perfect when putting the belt in. I understand that you count the teeth but exactly what tooth to start and end on is unclear when looking it in real life. I did look at the diagram but when actually doing it, I get .5 or 1 tooth either way depending on how the belt lands and then, for example, the left cam moves super easy so that will screw me up. Also, after rotating with the belt on, the right cam wheel ended up one tooth off from where it was before. It's like the tension on the belt changes how the cams line up slightly from where I had them to begin with.

Thanks. The brands are confusing as hell. Most of the kits I see smell like China. I have a Sub parts dealer near by. I guess I'll go there for real parts when needed. I don't want another one of these tensioners!

The pulley seems fine and its an NSK. Isn't that the preferred brand? What about a best brand of tensioner to order? ITM? ACDelco? Tell me what do do guys! Oh and no bearings found. I looked at the hyd tensioner closely but its really hard see the brand. I see something that looks like "Janson". ? What was the original brand? Also the belt says something like Mitsu_osi? Should I get a gates blue belt?

Other pics. The lower left idler has white grease on it. Seems odd.

Got the cover off today.. what a PITA! On these, the motor mount blocks the cover from coming off! Check out this video! Does this look right?? (I bet not) Tension video This pic is looking up at the crank. (Sorry access is tough for a camera) My cams are set for belt installation so my crank appears 180d off! Also, my belt says something weird on it. It looks perfect but made in Thailand?? The tension pulley is a Japanese unit at least.

Thanks for the help. I researched this some but still have one question about that setup above. Couldn't the driveshaft be out of phase with the cams if you are simply going by the mark alone? It looks like you'd have a 50% chance of getting the timing correct unless you are confirming the valve positions visually. By all means correct me (please recall that I am new to this motor).

If I have a tooth or two skipped, isn't still likely I'd get some kind of stumbling start? I've had many engines with bad timing and I can usually get some kind of start. This thing wont even fire for a few seconds with starting fluid so Im worried it's something else unless its common that it could skip several teeth.? I'll update when I get all the crap off. Can anyone point to a good write-up on setting up the tension properly?

Hey guys. Glad to join the forum! I have a unique 4x4 VW van with a professionally engineered 2.2 conversion. The motor is from a 1994 Legacy. New long block installed a few years ago. Issue: Was running perfect. Parked after a trip. Went to move it a week later and it just cranks. Sounds like it fires once during cranking but never picks up. No weird noises I'm fairly experienced working on engines, just not this one! Checked within ohms specs on coil, crank/cam sensors, TPS in spec, plugs look good, fuel pump firing up. Disconnected MAF, no difference. Battery is fully charged up, plus using a 50amp charger/helper while testing. Tried starter fluid- two second blast into intake hose: no difference! Watched plug fire outside motor while someone else cranked it, definitely lots of sparking. So... timing?? The reman'ed long block was $3500 and came from ATK motors with 3y warranty but of course it just ran out. Now I'm worried that maybe they used those Chinese idlers/tensioner or maybe didn't set something correctly but it's only got 10K miles on it. What else should I be looking at? Accessing the entire belt is tough but I think I can do it, just wanted to check other things before taking all that stuff off. I did take the side covers off and the belt is like new. Doesn't feel weird but Im not familiar enough with what the tension should feel like. I can reach in there and flex the belt downward without too much effort but there's definitely some springy tension on there.