Hey Guys,

I am new to the forum but not to Subaru's. My baby recently passed 250k and is need of a timing belt and water pump. My question is should I have a shop do it or is it possible to achieve by myself (maybe some help from friends)? My wife is saying scrap it but I am hesitant to since less than 1k miles ago I put new struts on all corners. Anyway any info would be awesome! Glad to find a board with so many people who love Subaru's as much as me!

Welcome to the board!

 

Doing that swap is pretty straight forward, but can be intimidating if you aren't at least a little mechanically inclined. But there's plenty of help and guidance to be had here. There's also a fair number of members from your neck of the woods. And, if there's enough beer and/or food involved, some of them might be enticed into coming out there to help you out with it.

http://www.endwrench.com/pdf/engine/FtCamBeltReplaceW01.pdf

 

here's the endwrench article for timing belt replacement. Certainly possible (and MUCH cheaper) to do it yourself with the help of friends. Much easier on a manual transmission to remove crank pulley (5th gear/assistant on brakes). A torque wrench and a (? 22mm) socket and you're good to go.

Thanks for the warm welcome! I do consider myself mechanically inclined (I am the guy who keeps a toolbox that has a tool to fix about everything on the side of the road in the trunk). So yeah I will get the parts together and give it a shot. If it is just a lot of wrenching then I should be A-Ok. I was just apprehensive of taking everything apart and then going ''Ah! What am I doing!??''. Anyway I do have a Chilton Manual so I should be set. Also have a couple gear head friends, so I should be set. Of course I now have USMB so I am doubly set. Later everyone.

Welcome. There are quite a few USMB members in the Gorge. If you have any problems post up a message.

welcome to the greatest Subaru site in the world!!

 

doing timing & water pump on a Legacy isnt hard at all. I mean if a "girl" can do it (me) then you should be able to!!

 

seriously tho - dont forget to check/replace the oil seals, chk & replace idler pulleys (some great timing kits on feebay with all the pulleys & stuff), check & tighten the oil pump backing plate screws & a new t-stat, and might as well do coolant hoses too while you are at it.

 

the tensioner on these needs to be compressed s-l-o-w-l-y so as not to damage it - a vice does work, just dont get crazy with it.

 

plenty of info available here - the "search" function is VERY useful - there are also "similar thread" links at the bottom of the page in a thread that can be quite useful...