idosubaru Posted September 27, 2009 Share Posted September 27, 2009 well sounds like something confusing is going on. no...no...no....no, Subaru never had a timing chain on older motors. EA stuff definitely does not have a chain. please post pictures!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TahoeFerrari Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Ditto what everyone has said about re-tensioning. During the first 100K or so I had my '87 the driver side belt only lasted 40-50K but never 60. Then I heard about re-tensioning them at 30K and haven't had a belt break since (I know I just jinxed myself!!!). That was about 1991. I actually re-tension them every 20K on 3 SPFI EA82s in the family and change them at 60K. Total miles on the 3 cars: '87 313K, '89-1 240K, '89-2 (the baby) only 200K. For what it's worth, I've NEVER changed idler pulleys or tensioners, but I do change cam seals every belt change - oil is not your timing belts friend. If you cannot do it yourself, you can probably stretch it to 30K before re-tensioning. A knowledgable mechanic should be able to do it in an hour or less. A final word of caution for you low-time do it yourselfers: Be careful tightening the tensioner bolts - use a torque wrench. It's very easy to over torque them and strip out the threads (steel bolts in an alloy block!). Actually this is true for just about everything on a Subaru engine - steel bolts into alloy should always be torqued or if it is just a bolt holding a small bracket or such, tighten them less than you're tempted to. Sorry, I just couldn't resist beating this subject to death just a little more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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