Well its that awful time again where i may be forced to drive my ea82t with over 250,000 miles on it on a long road trip. Though not of my choosing it must be done. I have never done the timing belts on this motor and wondered what the process entailed or whether they could be checked before hand so i wouldnt have to replace them.

pull the side timing covers (it's only like 3 10mm bolts, very easy) and look for belt cracking/wear.

also look at all the bearings in the center of the pulleys - look for failed bearings - they will have pushed the grease seal out and be showing and the belt will slide over top of the seized pulley.

 

other than that you really can't tell.  replacing the belt alone isn't the biggest concern, at this age and mileage the pulleys are all devoid of grease by now.  you can prick them with a needle fitting of a grease gun and inject a bit of grease in them - this freshens them up and costs $2 for a needle fitting and some grease.  eventually the bearings fail, pulleys seize, belt slides over them, glazes over, overheats, and the belt breaks. replace it all.

 

the best option is to install a complete timing belt kit:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/400333159844?lpid=82

 

only $55 buys you excellent reliability.  well worth it and they don't take long to do. 

Thank you for the quick reply, ill take a look into it.

You also do the water pump at the same time. And you put some gasket maker into the top hole that allows dirt to get into the bearing/seal. Otherwise, it wears out faster.

those three or four M6 bolts holding front covers are often seized/too tight inside their respective brass captive/cast into the plastic nuts. End up breaking something to get them undone, so not always 'easy' .. When refitting I use a tiny rubber O ring as a washer to do the fastening, without letting the underside of the washer like bolt head bind on the plastic casing ever again - they come undone with true ease the next time !

The belts are adjustable through the rubber plugs in the front casings, but takes some experience to work out the lock bolt and the adjuster bolt of each plug. Can't remember if it is 12 or 14mm head ??

Edited March 13, 201412 yr by jono

Great video available on ea82 timing belt replacement by MilesFox on Youtube as well.

I did the timing belts on my '89 DL wagon with a Chilton's, a Haynes and zero Subaru experience. Not too bad really. Mine started from the opposite side; water pump was fragged, so I decided to go ahead and do the belts. I did the whole kit with tensioners and the idler. Biggest issues for me, was getting the correct water pump, and having a machine shop make a custom bolt for the idler, as someone had stripped out the hole in the block, fixed it with a heilocoil, and then put in a non standard bolt tho which the old idler gear was frozen. 

 

John

Pretty simple to do. probably the most difficult part is removing the crank pulley and the timing belt covers bolts. If you are generally experienced in auto repairs, you may find this one novel. Be sure to complete the 360 degree crank rotation after installing the first belt before installin ghe 2nd belt to keep timing in phase. you'll find the vids easy eoung by searching the internet for 'ea82 timing belt' or 'art of subaru maintenance'. The vids have been posted in the forums about as often as the subject of ea82 timing belts comes up.

Very cool. I do love to tinker so this is all fun for me. Luckily the belts look brand spankin new. I bought the car about 10,000 miles ago and i couldnt remember if the previous owner had said whether they had been replaced recently. Looks like they had. So lets see if i can baby another 1500 miles out of her! After that i think its just grocery runs and general woods malarky for the old snow beater.

You also do the water pump at the same time. And you put some gasket maker into the top hole that allows dirt to get into the bearing/seal. Otherwise, it wears out faster.

 

Maybe YOU do that.

 

The rest of us don't.  That's a vent hole.  One top, one bottom.....

 

That's so condesation doesn't build up inside the chamber and rust around the seal.  It's supposed to be open so moisture can vent out.

 

Can't say that putting RTV in there would cause anything TOO bad.......but it's not helping squat......not nessecary at all.