2010 Outback timing belt

[metalfanmartin]

Gday everybody, went ahead and bought a 2010 outback with 122,000km's on the clock. 2.5Litre manual.

I'm gonna book in for the timing belt change including water pump. Is there anything else I should get done whilst they've got the car??

[GeneralDisorder]

Valve adjustment inspection should be performed and it likely needs valve cover gaskets anyway. Plugs if they weren't done already.

 

Radiator and hoses are due. 8-10 years is max useful lifespan on plastic tank rads. Get hoses from the dealer.

 

PCV hose cracks on that model. Get the updated hose.

 

GD

[idosubaru]

OEM belt and pulleys are more important than the water pump.

OEM water pump and gasket

 

AISIN is supplier and can be found outside of dealers

 

the water pump can easily make 200,000 miles and they have essentially zero stranding failure modes so it's a shoulder shrug decision. i often replace them just to be done with it but if you're DIY it's no big deal to move on without it sometimes either if there's a compelling reason.

 

if i was doing it for someone else i'd do it, if it was my own car i wouldn't care to just leave it and replace it if it starts weeping, which is highly unlikely.

Edited April 28, 2018 by idosubaru

[tylertrend]

Nobody else thinks 122,000 Km's or 75,000 miles is a bit early for a T-belt? Especially if there's the expense of going to a shop? I would probably wait a couple years on that.

[Gloyale]

Nobody else thinks 122,000 Km's or 75,000 miles is a bit early for a T-belt? Especially if there's the expense of going to a shop? I would probably wait a couple years on that.

 

I can never be too early......Only too late.......lol

 

But seriously you have a good point.  Most of us probably saw that as 122k miles not kilometers.

 

belt can go to 105k miles or 10 years.....so yeah he could wait.

[idosubaru]

Nobody else thinks 122,000 Km's or 75,000 miles is a bit early for a T-belt? Especially if there's the expense of going to a shop? I would probably wait a couple years on that.

it is a little early.

 

But also It’s 9 years old, no big deal to replace now either. I thought it was 105,000 miles or 105 months which is just under 9 years so it’s past the age limit.

 

The chances of most owners owning it another 9 years are slim - so for those people they will only ever need one timing belt change wether it’s now or next year.

 

It’s not like people are routinely buying new subarus and owning them for multiple timing belt changes so parsing it finely isn’t gaining much mechanically speaking - you’re going to basically own it for one belt change and in rare cases two or three.

 

Doing it now is preventative in your favor but risk of possible benefit if the car is totaled or stolen in the next year before when it *could* have been changed, then you just wasted your money for little gain.

 

Small change either way.

[metalfanmartin]

Just to re-iterate, I am getting the shop to do it. I thought the belt was due at 125,000 kilometers? This is an Australian car by the way

So a new radiator and hoses is a good idea?

And how much would valve cover gaskets be, not too much if the cars already in for a belt change I'd hope?

I havent had a chance to actually inspect the belt yet, I've put a deposit down and pick it up this week.

 

Thanks for your input guys/girls.

[GeneralDisorder]

Yes the radiator is plastic. Hoses are rubber. They have a useful life of 8-10 years. If you don't then one day it will just fail and that day will come before you need another timing belt.

 

GD

[Gloyale]

Yes the radiator is plastic. Hoses are rubber. They have a useful life of 8-10 years. If you don't then one day it will just fail and that day will come before you need another timing belt.

 

GD

 

I really don't think it is necessary to replace the radiator preventively.  It wouldn't hurt, but I can't see it as "necessary"

 

He's not overheating, he's not even having any cooling issues, this is just a mileage based service thing.  Subaru does not recommend replacing radiator as part of the 105k mile service.

 

MOST radiators in these cars last 15-20 years, 200k miles or more.  My 98 Forester has original rad with 240k miles.  Never runs hot.

[GeneralDisorder]

We recommend replacement of any radiator that has hit 8-10 years. We see failures every summer on 10 year old factory units. For the ~$250 it costs when you are already in there doing timing, etc, its not worth the risk.

 

GD

[idosubaru]

The one I see rarely fail that early but it happens. I’ve seen a few early failures but most are 200,000+.

[GeneralDisorder]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=How+long+do+radiators+last

 

GD

[idosubaru]

Have you guys seen that aftermarket radiators have higher failure rates than OEM?

 

Do radiators in previously overheated vehicles have higher failure rates?

 

We all understand they fail, no one is saying they don’t, sure replace those plastic side tank crusty jokers.

 

But with gobs of 200,000 and 300,000 mile running and driving original radiators the rates are such that universal replacement won’t be ubiquitous. I’ve done it but I can understand why most don’t.

[GeneralDisorder]

The failure rates vary. And surprisingly it depends on factors you wouldn't expect like how hard the car is driven and how much regular body flex is taking place due to acceleration and cornering loads. The 05-09 Legacy platform (especially turbo models) are notorious for too much core support flex and premature radiator failure. The 02-07 Impreza has the core support reinforcement beam so not as common.

 

There's too many factors to be considered so we just swap them after 10 years. Usually the hoses are junk by the timing belt interval and often so are the head gaskets so we are routinely doing HG/Rings/Timing/Radiator jobs often with a clutch as well. Seems like that's the "105k service" on '99 to '10 single cam engines.

 

I haven't seen much to indicate aftermarket is particularly inferior to stock. We use Koyo and Denso almost exclusively and I haven't had any repeat failures that I can recall.

 

GD

Edited April 29, 2018 by GeneralDisorder

[idosubaru]

I haven't seen much to indicate aftermarket is particularly inferior to stock. We use Koyo and Denso almost exclusively and I haven't had any repeat failures that I can recall.

 

 

that's awesome, makes it more appealing given how inexpensive they are.  i've never seen any failures but it's anecdotal on my scale.

 

i've wondered if rough roads/struts impact *bang bang bang* the radiators similar to what you've said - i feel like i see more cracked radiators on cars driven on poor (gravel/pot hole) roads or cars with terrible 200,000 mile never replaced struts, but again my scale is too small to know if that's real or perceived.