I hate to think about how much longer this one might have held out for... 

 

 

Check your timing belt now!!

Thanks for sharing that--very informative.  And good-on-ya for catching it!

woah!  nice catch indeed.

 

best to replace all the pulleys/tensioner as well as the belt can get heated up and delaminate like that due to bearings getting overheated or seizing and the belt sliding over them.

how many miles/years?

Great indeed that you changed the T-belt when you did.

 

Nice looking grill & bumper treatment on your Subie in NZ. Not sure what year, or model the car is, but it is definitely different then what we have here in the USA. I suspect it may be a Liberty, which is named the Legacy here in the US.

Oil/fluid contamination of the belt. Some type of fluid dripping between the seams of the timig cover onto the belt. Steering pumps often leak onto the timing cover. Could also have been oil spilled onto the cover during an oil change. Either way, make sure the leak that put the oil there is fixed, or that will happen again.

woah!  nice catch indeed.

 

best to replace all the pulleys/tensioner as well as the belt can get heated up and delaminate like that due to bearings getting overheated or seizing and the belt sliding over them.

 

Thanks! I already have - just finished doing all the pulleys, the tensioner, new water pump and belt. Better safe than sorry.

 

how many miles/years?

 

Just a baby - 204,000km (or 126k miles). I think this may be the first time the belt has been changed.

 

Great indeed that you changed the T-belt when you did.

 

Nice looking grill & bumper treatment on your Subie in NZ. Not sure what year, or model the car is, but it is definitely different then what we have here in the USA. I suspect it may be a Liberty, which is named the Legacy here in the US.

 

Thanks! It's a 1997 Forester C/20 - runs a SOHC EJ20J with a dual-range five speed manual trans. Only has about 120hp, but it's a good little car

 

Here's a photo of it in it's natural habitat

 

Edited January 25, 201412 yr by rxleone

You are a wee bit late on that timing belt, in the US it is 106,000 miles. Hope your chaining all the extra tidbits at the same time.

You are a wee bit late on that timing belt, in the US it is 106,000 miles. Hope your chaining all the extra tidbits at the same time.

 

 

In New Zealand we usually change our belts every 100,000km (60,000mi) as a rule. Doesn't look like it happened. I have already replaced all the pulleys, tensioner, water pump etc.

so your doubly late

a '97 might have been a 90K miles TB interval - not sure though.

 

 

Glad you got it before it broke, but your engine may be non-interference. Still, they usually break when your are far from home. at night, in the rain.

98' 2.2 had a 80,000 interval..and 01' 2.5 had a 90,000 interval...That's what the owners manual said in mine anywho

had mine replaced at 70k because of a knocking sound. I think it was a tensioner. the belt looked brand new and the mechanic changed a tensioner and it sounds real quiet now.

damn good catch .......bad marriages [thing get twisted up ] do happen at times at the worst time ........