I have a 91 subaru loyale with the ea82. The timing belts wont stay on the pulleys properly. Any ideas as to why would be great I cant seem to figure it out.   I will try to add some pics of what I'm talking about

It is like this on all of the pulleys on the drivers side and not quite as bad on the passenger side

Is it rubbing the dust cover?

Yes and so is the idler pulley

25 minutes ago, Josh1276 said:

Yes and so is the idler pulley

Then the dust cover is warped. The idler looks find, that's how they sit on the belt. I took my covers off and used a heat gun and flattened them back out.

Is it supposed to be like that on the cam too?

Thank you for the input. I'm fairly new to these engines 

8 minutes ago, Josh1276 said:

Is it supposed to be like that on the cam too?

As only as there isnt belt hanging off the back of the pulley its fine. On cheaper belts I've had to flip them to get it to ride well, because they arent square.

Ok they are napa brand belts so I will try that. I am also going to replace the idler and tensioner because I noticed abnormal play in the idler pulley. Guess I should have mentioned that

You definitely need to replace the 3 idlers.  The bearings don't last much longer than the belts.   If there is extra slop, it's on it's way to failure.   The belt should be fully on the pulleys.  I have had a couple that tracked weird, and flipping them helped.

 

Replace the Idlers, you can clearly see the scuff line on the cam pulley and that's where the belt should be riding, a small misalignment will cause this. i would recommend replacing both tensioners as well. 

3 idlers plus 2 belts in a kit are available on EBAY for the best price that I could find.

O k thank you guys

Don't buy timing belt parts by price.  Buy by quality. 

What are the best ones to get?

not sure about older cars, I got a Mitsuboshi for my WRX. That or OEM (possibly made by M'oshi ?) would be my choice.

maybe on an older secondary vehicle, I'd risk something else (Gates ?) but, only if I was desperate.

Back in the 90s - before after market idlers existed, and Subaru wanted $90 per idler - I converted the brackets on some old tensioners to use replaceable standard bearings.  The idler with the teeth is already a standard bearing.  I buy known name brand bearings with contact seals, and replace only the bearings.

The tensioners have a swaged post with a standard size bearing [looks like] friction / spin welded onto it.  I turned bar stock into posts for standard bearings, and swaged them onto the flat brackets. 

On 12/9/2020 at 9:50 AM, Josh1276 said:

What are the best ones to get?

Last time I checked you could still buy all but one of the idler bearings new from Subaru of America.

1.  replace all of the pulleys. 

a. cheap kits, run no covers, and check or replace them often.  no big deal, easy to check. 

b. or use better stuff and replace at longer intervals

2.  i would look at the crank sprockets and make sure they're not warn or damaged from prior crank pulley bolt looseness/failure.  it's not uncommon for people to not tighten the crank pulley bolt enough (someone just posted a thread about rebuilding and engine because of it last week) - it loosens and wobbles and hogs up the crank snout, crank pulley, and timing sprockets.   they then replace the mangled crank pulley and bolt but leave the damaged sprockets in place. 

I'd pull the crank sprockets, or at least verify the outer edge of the first one is fine and see if they're not sitting square or flush.  Although my guess is they are perfectly fine based on which side is worse - but being remote and not seeing the car it would just be a good idea to check it. 

idosubaru

I run no front TB covers on 1991 Loyale. So, can just as well leave back covers off?

Ditch all the covers. Waste of plastic. 20 minutes to change the belts without them. Carry spares. 

IIRC (and it's been a while so maybe I don't), the oil pump sprocket has the lip that keeps the inside edge alignment on the DS belt. Should at least look to make sure that's intact and in the correct position. 

GD

Thx for the good info. And YES. The oil pump has that sprocket lip.

I have been running without the front covers for quite a few years now...  no problems.  In fact,  I caught a failing idler bearing early once, because I could hear it.

Without TB covers can swap out just the worn belts and then keep tabs on the tensioners and idler.

I once had a cheap set of ITM (Chinese knockoff) TBs and one belt would wander back n forth across the cam gear. I think I now have Mitsuboshi belts.

Edited January 12, 20215 yr by rickyhils
sp Mitsuboshi