I have a 89 Sub GL Wagon, just had to replace the timing belt AGAIN, broke after 20,000 miles, my mechanic told me it was because I did not get it adjusted, says I need to adjust after 1000 miles. I asked another mechanic & he said there is a tensioner, so it does not need to be adjusted at all.

 

Any one know if the timing belts on 89 Subaru Wagons need to be adjusted?

 

Thanks!

They have Tensioners, so They really Don't need any adjustment...

 

I've seen Belts fail early in their lives due to a worn tensioner's ball bearing that decided to Stop running, so I Kindly suggest you to change all the Tensioners when you change the Belts.

 

Here's a Link to the Milesfox's awesome Writeup about Timing Belts:

 

http://ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=50768

 

It has Pictures that will clarify the Situation.

 

Kind Regards.

The "tensioner" is just an idler once it's tightened down. It is only a tensioner when you are doing the installation. After that it ceases to further tension anything. Thus EA timing belts DO NOT have active tensioners.

 

This is not particularly unusual. Honda and Toyota have been doing that for years and probably still do. Last one I worked on was an '02 and it still had the spring loaded automatic slack adjuster... once tightened it's set for the life of the belt. No further "active" adjustment takes place like it does on EJ's, etc.

 

If the belt failed that soon it is not because you didn't retension it - it's because it wasn't tensioned properly to begin with and/or you are not using quality belts.

 

GD

Thanks for the help. Still stumpped, the link on the one reply says I need to adjust th belt & the other reply say I do not.

if it is done correctly the first time, you dont really "need" to do it again, altho it doesnt hurt to check it...

 

that said, i would be looking at other things for the reason the belt failed so early - such as the bearings in the tension/idler pullys, and/or water pump...

also the quality of the belts can make a difference.

 

Another thing to be aware of is oil saturation - does this car leak oil from the cam/crank seals?? or anywhere else up front? if so, it could be getting on the belts and that can cause early failure as well. (been there, done that - tried to do the job cheaply once & only changed the belts - stripped several teeth some 25-30,000 later due to oil saturation cause I didnt replace the leaky seals - wasnt so cheap in the long run.)

 

Seems to me I used Gates brand belts and they held up fine (other than the above)

once the belt stretches, you loosen the tensioner bolts so the springq takes up the slack and then tighten them down again. Watch the 'art of subaru maintenace" video for timing belt procedure

Thanks every one for the help....I love my Subie, but I am crappy mechanic.