no. 

 

it's really easy - just compress the tensioner with a c clamp and piece of wood or something else convenient.  insert pin or thin allen wrench and you're done. 

 

it can be done, but I don't recommend it.  get as much slack as possible in that region as possible, keep it there (don't allow it to be taken back up) and then turn the cam within/against the belt tension. it's possible but it's not easy and it's kind of silly considering how easy it is to compress the tensioner and do it again - verses risking it with an interference engine. 

 

wild mechanic method is to pry the timing tensioner back in place with a crow bar to gain some slack to remove the belt and install, or in your case adjust.  but i don't recommend doing that to your tensioner particularly on an interference engine. 

Thanks Idosubaru!

I ended up taking off the belt and decompressing the tensioner. Put it all back together, pulled the pin, all marks looked good.

However, after turning the crank 2-3 times, the 2 marks on the bottom cam drivers side is off by about 2 teeth.

Next time I take the belt off should I rotate the bottom cam 180 degrees? Would that make a difference?

I mean 360 degrees. Just turn it a revolution?

Do you mean the actual cam marks?

They need to line up. You shouldn’t need to do anything different or special. Line it all up, install and pull pin.

 

I sometimes install without the lower pulley on the passengers side. Then once the belt is on install that pulley, just push up on the belt while installing it and the bolt.

 

The timing belt marks don’t matter, they only line up every so many hundred revolutions after you install it.

These marks were lined up. After pulling pin I rotated the crank and this is how it looks. All other marks line up.

My camara was upside down. The exhaust or bottom one is the one that's off.

Looks like the belt is off one tooth.

Finally, after the 4th time I've got everything lined up. All that's left to do is install the radiator.

Thanks everyone for your help. Your checks are in the mail.

hahaha. 

 

good job, totally takes a couple times sometimes to nail it.  been there before. 

Here we are 5 months later, I've driven 2000 miles. It's running great with better gas mileage.

Should I be tightening anything or making any adjustments? The alternator and ac belts seem to be fine.

I'm fixin to do a timing belt on my 95 legacy 2.2. I was planning to buy the kits they sell with the belt, tensioner, pulleys, and water pump.

I thought I read here that it was better to buy a genuine Subaru timing belt. Is this the case or will I be all right buying the "premium" aftermarket replacement kit?

Also, I've been running naked for awhile, and there are no discernible paint or hashmarks on the camshaft pulleys that I can see to properly align them. Do I just need to look closer?

Stick to an Aisin kit or buy the individual parts from a known good Japanese vendor (NTK, Koyo NSF).  Mitsuboshi Timing Belt.

The crap made by other providers often have Chinese made bearings and they have been reported to fail earlier.

Hash marks will be evident once you remove the timing belt cover and use a good light.  The image below is from a SOHC 2.2L.  The DOHC has different marks so verify if you have the EJ22 or EJ25

These are from the EJ25 DOHC

Edited November 10, 20187 yr by Mike104

You can get a specific FSM from here

https://sl-i.net/FORUM/showthread.php?18087-Subaru-Factory-Service-Manuals-

Thanks Mike 104, I downloaded the FSM. I have an EJ22e.   

I learned about "running naked" on this site. The timing belt cover has been removed for some time, so the pulley rims are kinda crusty. I'll likely pressure wash the area real good and try to find my best bright light to help my tired eyes locate the hash marks. I ordered a Dayco assembly kit from rockauto $140. 

I'll be back when I get up the gumption to tackle the job. Thanks for your help.

 

I’d return the dayco and get an AISIN kit. But at least yours is noninterference so if it breaks there’s no damage, you’re just stranded. 

Edited November 11, 20187 yr by idosubaru

All of the dohc engines are valve to valve interference. This one in particular just isn't piston to valve interference. 

12 hours ago, 86BRATMAN said:

All of the dohc engines are valve to valve interference. This one in particular just isn't piston to valve interference. 

The current question and original poster are different, the current engine being talked about is non-interference:

On 11/7/2018 at 6:17 PM, bmaness said:

I'm fixin to do a timing belt on my 95 legacy 2.2.

 

OK so I pulled the radiator and can see much better. There do not appear to be hash marks on the camshaft pulley rims, but there does appear to be an arrow cast into one of the spokes of each camshaft pulley. Are these the alignment marks?

well, I can't say it's UNIVERSAL, but those cam arrows may very well all be pointing -uh - North-East , when aligned.

keep looking for the marks - should be ' similar' to mike's image posted above or try a google image search, however, EJ22 may be some older marking scheme ???

Edited November 16, 20187 yr by 1 Lucky Texan

You were right of course, I finally found all the marks and all 3 look lined up which explains why it runs so well.

I'll be back when I get in a jam. Thanks

 

In my Dayco kit there is a smooth tensioner pulley, a toothed pulley, and a smooth (green) pulley. There are 2 smooth idler pulleys on the car. Am I short a pulley or do I reuse the lower smooth (red) idler pulley?

hmmmm - unless you bought a kit with a tensioner, you will be re-using your present tensioner along with its pulley. ??? or, wrong kit ????

 

most folks here would have warned you to get a kit with all Japanese components and a new tensioner. Aisin or dealer-supplied parts

A member suggested an Aisin kit and, having never heard of Aisin, I bought Rockauto Dayco Kit No. WP172K3AS "premium replacement" kit instead.

This purchase came short an idler pulley (the red one at bottom left), hence my question above. So, in the interest of getting my car back on the road, I'll just use the old perfectly-serviceable red idler and put it on last before pulling the tensioner pin? 

My original question to the forum was, is it better to get a genuine Subaru timing belt or does it matter? The Dayco belt that came with the above kit was appropriately marked at the crankshaft, 44 and 40.5 teeth marks.

The Dayco kit came with 2 oil seals ( in a separate sealed packet) that I could not identify where they would go so I did not mess with them. They were different sizes and came with a small tube of lube. Presumably behind the camshaft pulleys?  Me no know. I'm not fixing what isn't leaking.

The Aisin one was the one to get since aisin makes the original water pump. Also that kit includes the original manufacturer belt, and the best pulleys, etc.

look for my post here Ultimate Subaru timing belt kit or something similar. It has everything you need

Aisin 

Others have a higher failure rate including Dayco. Don’t even use the aftermarket tensioner bolt that some come with - I’ve seen those fail. Just use the original tensioner and bolt  

 

Edited November 18, 20187 yr by idosubaru