hi. I am new to this, and to working on subarus. we have had our for 4 yrs, now has 170xxx miles. recently overheated- radiator fizzling near top seam. eased it home, ordered new radiator, had a new timing belt and water pump. stripped er down, found oil in spark plug wells.

my chilton guide said to remove the fuel pump relay but it was too hard to get to, so did not.

chlton also indicated an interference engine, but mfgr of timing belt kit said it was not.

old TB looked good but did not know condtn  of water pump so took it off to replace both. did so.

turned it over with wrench on crankshaft  and timing marks did not align after two revs, but maybe three.  reassembled,(with new valve cover gaskets)   but did not start.

so...stripped it down again, noticed that first time i missed changing the timing mark on crank sprocket to the "other" setting (not the TDC mark),.   checked timing- it looked OK. still does not start. cranks like a champ tho. noticed that the marks on the new tming belt did not seem to align with timing marks on cam and crank, but finally got it close

what did i do wrong? should i have undone the fuel pump relay? should i have ??? new to all this. thanks for your advice. t

Welcome to USMB--you'll find a lot of warm, friendly help here.  But you've got to post in the right place! 

 

Go to the "New Generation" forum and post the questions.  Oh, and add what year and model your Subie is--it can make a difference.

Have a 1999 outback small oil leak   near the first spark plug on the right . Is this going to be a problem ? gunner

Welcome.

 

I'm going to move your post to the new gen forum where it'll get some more attention.

interference engine and the fuel pump and relay don't matter, no one does that step.

 

timing belt marks are for *** installation only***.  once the motor turns over they no longer line up except every so many hundreds or thousands of revolutions.  use them to install only, ignore them as soon as the engine turns over the first time.

 

to install:

1. use the correct crank mark

2. line up the crank and cam marks

 

don't even need the marks on the belts if you follow #1 and #2 above, they're just an aid and check.

 

you probably used the wrong crank mark or a vacuum hose or sensor is disconnected.

 

any check engine lights?

did you pull the holder for the timing belt tensioner?

 

if you turned the engine over with the wrong crank mark lined up - valves could be bent - but even then it'll usually run but poorly.

 

if you didn't turn the engine over, which it sounds like you didn't, then there's no worries.

Edited August 23, 201312 yr by grossgary

you probably have bent valves now. probably explains fast cranking. Check compression.

Edited August 23, 201312 yr by 1 Lucky Texan