they have different part numbers for CA and non-CA here

 

http://www.mvreader.com/cgi-bin/multiview/dayco.cgi?autoCatalogSearch=1&l=n&make=SUBARU&model=LEGACY&year=1998&engine=A2E

 

but the spec are the same, any difference between the two, can i use them interchangably? thanks

they have different part numbers for CA and non-CA here

 

http://www.mvreader.com/cgi-bin/multiview/dayco.cgi?autoCatalogSearch=1&l=n&make=SUBARU&model=LEGACY&year=1998&engine=A2E

 

but the spec are the same, any difference between the two, can i use them interchangably? thanks

You will notice the CA spec belt comes with sunglasses, a laid back attitude and smell faintly of pot.

 

Really, the CA belt is supposed to have a 105,000 mile life vs the 60,000 for the "federal" states. It is an effort to reduce waste and protect the consumer from needless expensive repairs (I make no editorial comment on whether the timing belt is a needless repair, however I agree it is costly).

 

http://www.subaru.com/owners/schedules/index.jsp?navid=SCHEDULE_1998

 

There was some talk on this forum a while back about the different belts. I know one tech mentioned he put CA belts on all of his customers cars even though he was not in the state.

Great info on the timing belt. Was just going to change mine and my parts dept guy I saw today could not tell me the difference in belts just that one had a CA and the other did not but both would fit my car. LOL

was there a price difference?if the cal. belt is heavier built i want that one,how good are the glasses?

they are the same belts now. if you order the non-cal spec belt you will still receive the cal-spec belt. in other words they are the same. the non-cal belt part number is a newer part number than it was when it was first available...there's like one number different indicating a "revision" to the original part. the only revision is that it is now the same belt as the cal-spec belt.

 

the only thing you want to make sure of is that you're not getting what they call "new old stock", which is older parts that are still brand new, never used. but they are the old part numbers. it is still debatable whether those older belts were even any different, but best to just get the new ones. i think you'd have a tough time finding a new old stock timing belt anyway. that kind of stuff ends up on ebay on occassion.

was there a price difference?if the cal. belt is heavier built i want that one,how good are the glasses?

 

is it blond?

 

nipper