I am going to be scheduling an appointment to get all the belts, pulleys, and water pump done on my 97 2.2 Legacy, in addition to getting the left half-shaft replaced and a broken tranny mount replaced.

Are there any good "while you're in there" repairs that may save me some $$$ down the line? I'm planning to get the camshaft seal replaced as well.

 

Thanks.

o-ring behind the oil pump. The oil pump is retardedly simple to do once the pulley and belt is off. the front crank seal is there as well. 2 seals and some 7 or so 10mm bolts and a paper gasket/or sealant. the oil pump seal kit includes all 3 of these an extra 10-15 minutes' work on top of the rest.

*** Don't replace the axle.  Reboot it if it's an original Subaru (green inner cup) axle.  Aftermarket axles have a high percentage of failures/issues, do not waste your time. Do not replace it no matter how much a mechanic begs.

 

If you absolutely must replace the axle then:

1.  buy a used Subaru OEM axle (green inner cups) locally, search www.car-part.com by zipcode

2.  reboot it with Subaru boots

3.  send me your old axle in the replacement axles box, i'll pay shipping and i'll reboot it for another 100,000 miles of use.

 

If you don't know how bad aftermarket axles are or are unsure whether to take that advice, spend 30 seconds googling it to see how bad it is.  Widely known by anyone that does frequent Subaru work.

 

For the timing belt:

 

1. Get a timing belt kit from rockauto or amazon for $120 - $130. they have new pulleys, tensioner, and belt.  that's an interference engine so you want all new pulleys and tensioner.  the new style tensioner is also not terribly reliable (not as reliable as the old style tensioner) so it should be replaced every timing belt change on 105,000 miles interval engine or every other if it's a 60k change interval belt which some (all?) pre-1999 Subaru EJ22's are.

 

2. new cam seals, cam cap oring, crank seal and reseal the oil pump.  once the timing belt is off all of that stuff is really easy and very little extra labor.  an hour going real slow.

 

3. EJ water pumps rarely fail but it's a good thing to be done with as it is 15+ years old and requires removing the timing belt to replace, though you don't tell us the mileage.  if it's like 200k then i'd definitely be replacing it now.

 

4. Go with Subaru water pump gasket and seals, aftermarket gasket is cheap cardboard and some seals are lesser quality materials, though plenty of the aftermarkets do have good seals.

Cam and main seals. Idlers, tensioner water pump, T-stat (from Subaru). New Rad Cap. PCV valve. 

all radiator hoses as well - including the little hose off the water pump and associated clamps as needed.