I just bought a "98" Legacy L Wagon (2.2 4eat) with a production date of 09/97.

 

All of the timing belt kits on e-bay claim to fit up to early '97 (feb cutoff?) or '99 and newer.

 

My question is: what is the difference between the early and late '97 engines and kits? Can I use most of the parts from a kit and just order whatever bits are different from a dealer? I did a search and didn't come up with what I needed.

 

thanks in advance,

 

Nathan

The only difference is the tensioner. You can either swap over to the older tensioner and bracket (more reliable) or buy the 98+ tensioner. Everything else is the same. The idler used by the tensioner is seperate in the older version but is part of the tensioner in the newer version.

 

GD

My question is: what is the difference between the early and late '97 engines and kits?

 

the tensioner change around that time. but if you can look at yours, on your car, you will know which you need.

 

this kit shows the ''new style'' tensioner.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/3-1997-1998-SUBARU-LEGACY-IMPREZA-2-2-TIMING-BELT-KIT-/370536155213?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Make%3ASubaru&hash=item5645ad084d

 

this is the old:

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Genuine-Timing-Belt-Tensioner-/290600510604?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Make%3ASubaru|Year%3A1995&hash=item43a923e48c

Thanks, GD! I think I have a bunch of parts I stripped off a '95 EJ22 block I scrapped which probably includes the tensioner bracket. It'll bolt right up with no problem? I suppose I should probably buy a fresh early style tensioner?

 

Nathan

Thanks to you also, John. I don't know why that later kit didn't show up in my e-bay search. Now I feel like an idiot! It's good to see the two different styles side by side.

 

Nathan

every 97 I've seen is the new style tensioner, unless i'm forgetting one. but I think it's GD that says most 97's he sees are old style - don't know why, regional difference or something - but either way 97 is a mixed bag. personally i don't do 97's until i actually see the tensioner and verify which one it is myself. you can remove the drivers side timing belt cover and have a look - only 3 10mm bolts and 15 minutes and you can remove it to have a peak. leave it off if you're going to do the belt anyway, doesn't hurt anything.

 

i have a spare old style tensioner in case i ever end up with an EJ as a daily driver that has the new style. cheaper and more reliable. although - you don't really "replace" the tensioner in the old styles, kits don't come with the tensioner mechanism, just the pulley. but - they never fail so not that big of a deal either.

OK, I did some poking around and found an old style tensioner from a '95 leggy it's been sitting around for probably 4-5 years in the fully extended state. OK to carefully compress and reuse?

 

Does anyone have the part # of the old style tensioner bracket I'd need to convert from new style to old in case I go that way? I take it I'll need some hardware too...

 

Finally, I removed the driver's side T-belt cover and it doesn't seem that I can get a good view of the tensioner- is it really possible to tell which style it is w/o removing the center cover too? I want to order the parts prior to having the car "down." The belt on this puppy looks like it might be original- 214K miles! Yikes!

 

Nathan

subaru's opposed forces site might have the bracket you need on it. it's just one bracket and some bolts. someone recently posted a thread with pictures of the brackets.

 

if the car is in good shape and you want it another 120,000 miles i'd get a brand new tensioner on an interference engine. if you install the 95 it'll probably be on there a few years...so it'll be pushing 2 decades, that's a lot for an interference engine.

 

but - the old ones do have a very low failure rate so in general i wouldn't be that worried about using it either.