My neighbour has a '02 Forester that he just bought, and was thinking of changing the timing belt. And the question came up as to whether or not the EJ25 is an interference engine or not. And are the Gates kits any good?

 

Mark

Yes it is interference, and yes gates makes a very nice kit.  Here at work thats the only t-belt kits we will use other than oem

All EJ25s are interference.  I may be mistaken but I believe there is one version where valve to piston interference is almost non-existant but in that engine because of the angles, valve to valve interference is likely if something goes bad with the timing belt.

All EJ25s are interference.  I may be mistaken but I believe there is one version where valve to piston interference is almost non-existant but in that engine because of the angles, valve to valve interference is likely if something goes bad with the timing belt.

 

I believe the only 2.5 that's not valve to piston interference is the 96 ej25d. Because in 97 they changed the pistons in both the 2.2 and 2.5 and made them interference. But the valves in all dual cam motors are interference between intake and exhaust.

_{Thanks, thats what I needed to know.}

 

_Mark

yes interference.  best to get a timing kit - with pulleys and new tensioner - those style tensioners are not very reliable for 200k of service.  theimportexperts on ebay sells good quality kits that have been used many times by folks on this forum - $160 - $200.

 

i replace the cam seals, crank seal, and reseal the oil pump (sealant and an oring) while it's apart - those are all easily accessed with the timing belt off.

tighten the backing plate screws on the oil pump - threadlocker on any that are loose - there's usually 2 or so that are.

i often replace water pumps since those are also easily accessed but they fail very rarely.

Subaru only on the water pump gasket, the aftermarkets are cheap flimsy cardboard.

XACTA or Subaru for the thermostat, aftermarkets look like childs toys compared to them.