Im NEW to the site and NEW to Subies so be gentle. Im sure theses questions that I have have been hashed over dozens of times but here goes. Recently bought my first Subaru. Nice little 93 Loyale wagon. 160K miles minimal rust, body straight. Previous owner 82 y.o. man. Decent maintenance history i.e. basic lube/tune up stuff. Only glitch is I was looking at the supplied paper and only saw mention of 1 timming belt change @90K miles. So, apparently, the current belts have 70K miles!!! I realize these need attention ASAP. First question if the belt/belts break will I do valve damage???Second question is parts. I saw a good deal @ RockAuto on a Gates Kit. I would also replace water pump and cam/crank seals/accessorybelts as needed. Are the Gates parts good? Any other after market parts better. I realize that O.E. subaru is probably BEST, but does the diffrence in price warrant this. I plan to use this care VERY sparingly, maybe 2-3K miles per year as a good mpg snow car. If this was a D.D. I would probably plunk down for O.E. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Bob

Broken belts will not damage the engine. Just a pain, not a car killer.

 

The after market stuff is usually just fine. Make sure you get new tensioners and idlers, as they will be worn. Don't bother with cam and crank seals unless they are leaking. Consider resealing the oil pump if it is leaking or if the valves are clattery.

My '86 GL wagon broke a timing belt while it was still under its new car warranty, while sitting at a stop light. The car shut off & I couldn't restart it so no damage done to the engine.

 

How does a timing belt break while only a few years old? It did not have very many miles on it, so who knows.

The gates brand with rollers is a good product. Longevity is more based on driving habits, and oil seal maintenance. if you want to go all out, do the cam, crank, and oil pump seals.

 

you can ditch the inner and outer timing belt covers to make any future maintenance a breeze.

 

do the water pump and timing belts now, ditch the covers, and do the cam and oil pump seals when they leak or if you get a lifter tick.

Thanks for the responses. Very timely! I belong to several other forums and they are sometimes pokey to respond. When I was looking for a good cheap MPG snow car I really wasnt looking at Subarus but a friend of mine , knowing I was a cheap bastard steered down this road and Im glad he did. I was really ignorant of the quality and longevity of a properly maintained Subie.Ive only had the Loyale a few weeks and its allready impressed. Can you say that about a 90H.P. car? I think I will be an owner for life!!!

You still have 35k left on them. Subaru recommends replacing the belts at 105k miles on all of their engines that use belts.

non interference - no chance of internal engine damage with breakage.

 

ebay kit are the way to go - EA82 kits are really cheap - like $60 or $80 for the belt and all new pulleys. excellent deal.

 

You still have 35k left on them. Subaru recommends replacing the belts at 105k miles on all of their engines that use belts.

Not for this engine, that's only for newer EJ engines. EA82's and EJ18's and some EJ22's are 60,000 miles.

i have seen factor original belts go to about 135-145,000 mi before they let go on their own. The timing belt CAN outlast its service interval by twice.

 

after the nd belt change, consider the new rollers and tensioners.

 

if you just removed the covers, you could keep the spare belts in the trunk. with open covers, its literally a 20 min job with 2 tools, you can do it off the side of the road in no more time than it takes to change a tire.

You still have 35k left on them. Subaru recommends replacing the belts at 105k miles on all of their engines that use belts.

 

Not on the EA82.... they said 60K... and mine rarely lasted that long

Yeah I looked into that after I posted and was shocked to see my computer was right for the 60k timing belts....:-\

 

Now, this doesn't mean that people should go over the mileage interval. I just had a customer in that snapped the timing belt in his Hyundai because he was 25k overdue for the belt to be done.

 

$5,000 for an engine vs. $650 for a timing belt.