Hi all, so a lot has happened since I last posted, right now I'm up to my neck in rebuilding my engine. Sort of. Long story short, my last oil change I decided to try synthetic blend because my buddy kept bugging me about how good it is and how much better it wears and blah blah blah. I know it's good stuff, just when it's used in the right situation. I put blend in and then unknown to me, my engine started leaking oil a lot faster than I realized. One day coming home from work the engine died on me and when I started it again I got a terrible knocking noise. My oil had gotten way too low, and the damage had already been done. All my rod bearings were shot and I just found out my crankshaft is toast. Due to time and money restrictions I've got a reman'd short block on it's way as well as a new clutch and a master seal and gasket kit that has new oil and water pumps. The only thing left is I would like to replace the timing belt and all its paraphernalia. I've looked at the stuff direct from Subaru and I've also looked at kits on eBay and Amazon and I'm not sure which would be better. Can anyone recommend one or the other? I'm not afraid to just get them from Subaru but are the cheaper kits on eBay and Amzon any good?

 

Thanks for any help in advance

 

David

I bought a full kit from E-bay, and the belt has been just fine. Got about 40K miles on the belt with no issues. It looked good and sturdy, and well made upon purchase.

Yes, the EBay or Amazon kits are fine, but only get a brand-name timing-belt. Such as Gates or Mitsuboshi. If they don't specify the TB brand-name, then don't touch it.

Edited February 22, 201610 yr by forester2002s

Gates kits on amazon are great.

theimportexperts on ebay was my previous main supplier but i think they've gone up in price, haven't bought in a few years. 

Gates. For sure.

 

Had great success and they aren't much more expensive than the cheapies.

 

Synthetic is no good on older cars. These subies are happy on cheap oil and regular changes. I buy the off brand stuff and change every 3000 miles religiously and have never lost a motor and run several cars over 300k.

Thank you all for the help, turns out the belt and sprockets all came with the rebuild kit so I'm covered!