I have a 98 2.5RS. Yesterday the bottom timing belt gasket started leaking bad and I replaced it. From the assorted messages I've seen on here that means I probably have a leak at the oil pump (right?). The parts guy at the local dealer told me it's probably the front main seal.

 

The car has 105k on it right now and it's had nothing but mobile 1 or redline (switched from redline since i was getting some valve train noise when cold) since I bought it (at 55k). I'm sure it's never had the timing belt done, so that's my new project for this weekend.

 

Questions:

 

I've already purchased felpro part # TCS 45957 (crankshaft front seal set), but should I get the camshaft front seal set also?

 

Has anyone ever used this gasket set? is it rubber like factory? (the dealer charged me $20 for the one lower gasket, this whole set is under $10)

 

Anyone ever make their own harm. balancer tool? I was thinking of using a 4'x1"x1/8" steel rod and just drilling holes and using corresponding bolts... anyone ever try this?

thanks for the help

the o-ring between the block and the oil pump could also be leaking... search and you will find posts...

 

what do you mean by a harmonic balancer tool? you don't need a special tool to remove it. you only have to loosen the crankshaft bolt. with a MT, put it in 5th and have someone step on the breaks while you loosen it, and in an AT, open the access hole on the bellhousing and drop a breaker bar through the flexplate to keep it from rotating. search and there is info on both...

I had a 95 Legacy 2.2 liter and around 105K is when I had the front seal replaced on my car. It is also a good time to do the timing belt (if you haven't yet) because they have to take that part of the engine apart anyway. You won't have to pay for labor twice (if someone else does it).

Thanks.

 

Theotherskip,

 

It's an auto, so I'll do the search for the access hole. Is the O-ring between the block and the oil pump a standard size? Or is it a dealer only part? I've got a good friend that works the counter at the best car parts store (probably in nor cal) around. So long as it's not a special order part I can return anything I don't use.

 

One of the posts I read in here said to retighten the oil pump, and to be extra careful only taking out one bolt at a time. What was that about? Are 70 springs going to shoot out if i pull the oil pump completely? Damn I wish I had a repair manual or detailed cut away view of this setup.

 

 

envy_petter,

 

Thank you. You're right. I'm at 106k and change right now. I've always had the "don't fix it until it's broke" motto, but not when it comes to parts that will instantly destroy my engine when they fail. I had girlfriend have that happen to her Honda. Luckily I have a good friend that dropped one of those 30k engines out of Japan in for her and I think he charged her like $200 or $300 over the cost of the engine, probably saved her $800 to $1000. I've already ordered my timing belt. I'd probably have a shop do it, but I don't have the $$. I enjoy working on my cars when it comes to enhancements. New heads, new intake, new cam, etc. But when it's fixing broken stuff...

 

 

slo5oh

i don't know if the o-ring is a standard size or not. it is only $2 from a dealer, so it is worth it to know you have the right one. when you remove the oil pump, you should remove the screws on the back plate and retighten them one by one with loctite. nothing will fly apart, but that is the easiest way to do it and not get any gunk in the pump.

It's my advice to replace all the front seals, the oil pump with ring and gasket, and timing belt(s). It will really save you a lot of headache later. All the gang on here are guiding you the right way sooooooooo good luck, boing

I must be retarted. I can't find anything about the access hole in the bellhousing. I've done sevaral searches. Can anyone tell me what I am looking for?

 

Thanks.

try this:

 

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=13239&highlight=breaker+flex+plate

 

look for josh's (legacy777's) post at the bottom, with pictures.

Thanks.

Mine does not have that access port. It's all solid alum behind the block. I pulled the starter and got the handle of a screwdriver in to hold her and broke the blancer bolt loose. I can't get the damn balancer off though. I don't need a puller for this do I?

nevermind... I got it... damn thing just wanted to be wiggled for 20 minutes.

old timing belt marks don't line up. When I'm at TDC (at least I'm guessing that's TDC) and all the built in marks line up... the I's are up and the IIs are facing each other, but all the marks on the belt are off to the right. Is this normal? Did I jump a tooth on my belt? what's up?

the marks don't line up each time the engine comes up to tdc, only every so many revolutions (i'm not sure of the exact number). the important thing to note is the number of teeth between timing marks:

 

for a 97 2.5L ej25:

 

there should be 54.5 teeth between the passenger side intake cam timing mark (at 12 o'clock) and the crankshaft timing mark

 

51 teeth between the crankshaft timing mark and the drivers side intake cam timing mark (12 o'clock)

 

28 teeth between the intake cam timing mark (12 o'clock) and the exhaust cam timing mark (at 9 o'clock)

this will correspond to the marks on the new timing belt, as well as the old if they are still visible.

It's my advice to replace all the front seals, the oil pump with ring and gasket, and timing belt(s). It will really save you a lot of headache later. All the gang on here are guiding you the right way sooooooooo good luck, boing

I agree 100%. I only did the crank seal when I did the timing belt on my Legacy, now I think the oil pump could use a reseal, and I can definitely tell the cam seals are leaking . I made sure I replaced all oil seals when I did the XT's timing belts.

next question..

It's abou 8:30 and I'm losing light quick. How the hell do i compress the tensioner? It's not playing nice.

nevermind.. got it.

Update.

 

It's monday morning and I drove my soob to work. Next time I'm starting on a Saturday. I got the front of the engine apart so late that I didn't want to spend the extra time cracking down to the oil pump. The instructions I have say you need to drop the water pump to get to it. I replaced the front crankshaft seal and whoever wrote that it comes out easy with a dentist pick is soo right. I unfortunatly can't find my tool similar to that and ended up using a real small hex key, but it worked.

The stupid mitchell repair instructions (CDs) are off with the timing marks... when everything is lined up the sprocket "behind" the crank is at 12 o'clock, but the arrow on the crank is at 3 o'clock. The damn drivers side cams are slightly open when lined up... so a warning in the instructions would have been nice.... something like... "don't sneeze near drivers side cams or they will spin like a top". Damn I miss the timing chain on my 5.0.

Thanks to all of you for telling me about the "access port" in the bellhousing, but my car does not have one . So I had to pull the starter and put the handle of a big screwdriver in it. There was no way to get the working end of a screwdriver between the teeth and have it hold the engine.

Looking back on it, I wish I had taken a million pictures, it seems that's the main thing we are lacking. There is no Haynes or Chiltons... so we are stuck with the "online" manuals. I haven't seen all of them, but I can tell you the Mitchell one has very few pictures. If (crossing my fingers it's not) my oil leak was from the oil pump and not the crank seal I'll probably be back inside it again next weekend and I'll take pictures of everything.

you can get the factory service manuals from:

 

http://techinfo.subaru.com/html/index.jsp

 

very worth it. lots of illustrations.

If this is a factory service manual I should be able to find it at a library... right?

I can go to the library and copy pages from it. Does anyone have the book that covers the 98 Impreza? Would you be willing to scan those pages?... at least the engine mechanics (should be 10 to 20 pages at most). I think the copy rights don't allow those pages to be sold, but given away is fine.

If someone will do that I'll be happy to stick them on my website for anyone to download.