Supernoobie Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 Hey everybody, Thanks for having me! I am trying to get my mothers 2001 Subaru Legacy caught up on maintainance. It has 109k on it now and has been treated fairly well, but its due for the water pump, timing belt, and tensioners to be replaced. it started leaking coolant from the front of the engine area and I am sure its due for this service. We bought the car back in 02 with 60k miles on it and its now at 109k. I also think the valve cover gaskets are gonna need changed as well, as I smell oil on the exhaust when it sits and idles. After this is done I need to change the rear diff fluid, and wheel bearings because they are growling. The car is a 2001 Legacy Wagon which I think has the SOHC engine? I will have a closer look tomorrow and confirm. I am leaning toward using Subaru parts, but am open to suggestions for a kit that would included ALL of the tensioners, the belt, water pump for the job. I really dont want to take this car to a shop to have this work done because we are on a budget. The single cam 2.5 engine looks fairly straightforward and want to make sure the job is done perfectly because its my mothers car, and I am meticulous when it comes to mechanical repairs. I want to replace all of the heater hoses, and radiator hoses when I do this job as well. I apologize for signing up and asking tech questions immediately, but its my mothers car and I dont want her driving it like this so she is out of a car until I get this done. If you all can provide me direction on what brand of parts to use, maybe some service procedure links/ torque specs, etc that would be greatly appreciated. I do not have a service manual for this car at this time. Thank You Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 Are you sure the coolant and oil leaks aren't headgaskets? That engine is known to leak externally and was part of a recall and extended 100,000 mile warranty for that issue (though you'd be way past the time constraint for that warranty). It's usually coolant in that year but can be both or either. Subaru requires a coolant conditioner in it. It's $2.50 from Subaru. It will stop almost 100% of initially leaking factory jnstalled headgaskets on that engine. You should verify and change coolant/add conditioner immediately. If it's leaking oil they need replaced. They can be driven 50,000 miles and only get worse very very slowly. So a lot of people ignore it or wait for a convenient time to repair. The original gaskets will almost never fail catastrophically. Although doing timing belts and headgaskets together makes perfect sense. FSMs are readily available free all over the Internet digitally. Get one! Any 00-04 4 cylninder engine is the exact same timing belt parts and process. Gates kits were really popular, always use the original Subaru timing pulley bolts,not any that come in the kits. There's a recent discussion or two about verifying OEM parts as the kits tend to change suppliers. So yeah Subaru is about the only guaranteed parts if you don't want to research current info and discussions that are ever changing. Water pump Austin brand. Always use a Subaru water pump gasket and thermostat. They don't leak often but is relkace the cam seals and reseal the oil pump while you're doing this. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 Subaru online parts places are 20% cheaper than local. And welcome. I live in wv as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supernoobie Posted January 30, 2017 Author Share Posted January 30, 2017 Thanks for the replies. I guess I need to do some more research on the locations where this 2.5 is prone to leaking on the head gaskets. I am sure the conditioner has not been added yet since we have owned this car since 60k miles and 1 year old. I have all of the service records for it, since all of the work was done at dealers when I lived out of state. I think it may be the most safe choice to stick with OEM parts, and I will replace the cam seals when I do the job. I didnt see anything about the oil pump on any of the how to videos online, so thats another detail I will look into. I sure hope this car doesnt need head gaskets. That job is gonna be kinda crappy to do in a parking lot. I havent decided if I am staying in WV yet so I havent built a garage here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 Oil pump - only need the oil pump oring and crank seal and a tube of sealant: Pull oil pump (bunch of 10mm bolts) Tighten backing plate screws Replace crack seal (it installs in the pump) Install oring Use anaerobic or rtv sealant around edge Install and done. Easy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 The timing belt is easy - can be swapped in an hour. Pulleys water pump cam seals and oil pump and cleaning water pump mating surface add time. Subaru water pump and gasket failure is rare so a leak is likely to be coming from somewhere else. It's pretty common to replace EJ water pumps at the second (200,000) timing belt change because they're robust. Crank pulley - gradually wiggle it back and forth if it's stuck. Work side to side 100 times if needed to walk it off. Leave lower passengers side timing pulley off until the belt is installed so belt goes on easier. If you're dealing with rust and the timing cover bolt capture nuts break - just use zip ties instead of bolts when reinstalling. Those are the only possible tricky parts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supernoobie Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 You guys are very helpful! Thank You I am gonna take a better look at where I am getting the oil burning smell and where the coolant is going. I wanna say they are both at the front of the engine, I will confirm ASAP. Then I will decide how to proceed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 headgaskets leak at the bottom head to engine mating surface. check front to back on passengers and drivers side. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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