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Source for a complete timing belt kit - EJ22


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i recommend subiegal too, but in this case you might want to go with an Ebay kit, complete with all the pulleys, if price is a concern. most of the time, those kits are more reliable for the average owner. the reason i say that is at dealer prices, very few people driving even the newer cars (almost no one driving 10+ year old) wants to put the kind of money necessary into replacing all the pulleys. the people who i deal with won't bite, they won't pay the Subaru prices for the pulleys (and i wouldn't either). hundreds of extra dollars from the dealer. the ebay kits are way cheaper and you get all of the pulleys. at this age you're almost guaranteed to need at least one pulley (usually the cogged one on this motor), but easily more than one. they are likely noisey by now due to lack of grease. those pulleys seize and when they do they take your timing belt with it, i've seen it and there are threads on this forum with some sweet pictures of them exploding. this isn't my recommendation for all EJ motors, but for yours it is.

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i recommend whatever your comfortable with, given the following guidelines. when i'm doing someone elses vehicle i give them the prices and let them decide. on non interference engines i see no need to use Subaru belts, the aftermarket belts seem to hold up quite well i am not seeing any failure of them either personally on here, or the other boards. and this is on vehicles that have 20 year old pulleys and tensioners that should be replaced but are not. the newer the vehicle, particularly 1997 and up interference EJ engines i start recommending more and more OEM. not because i have any quantitative info to go on, i personally think there are perfectly good aftermarket timing belts out there, but as the value of the engine/vehicle increases i think the higher maintenance costs just like taxes and insurance, etc is justified. oppinions, comfortability, etc come into play.

 

for friends and family my bottom line is that a new set of pulleys and an aftermarket belt is a better deal than just replacing the belt with a Subaru one. often people won't spring for OEM all the way around - belt, pump, pulleys - in which case i'd rather install a complete set of new stuff. new, smooth pulleys that actually have grease with an aftermarket belt are far more encouraging to me than a new Subaru belt with 15 year old pulleys with little grease left in them.

 

i just bought an EJ kit today - $145 for everything, new water pump, timing belt and all new pulley set. you would pay close to that just for the water pump and timing belt from Subaru. in my experience it gains you nothing, i've yet to see a higher number of aftermarket failures verses Subaru failures.

 

now if you want to get into really piecing kits together you could try and source the pulleys, or buy the kit just for the pulleys, or regrease the pulleys yourself (i have a write up in the USRM for it), and get a Subaru belt. again, there's no guarantee, you have to make the decision that fits your situation (mechanical abilities, time, resources, etc).

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I agree with what you are saying Gary. I just put in the kit from the ebay guys Import warehouse. I upgraded to a german made belt for $10 more but I got belt, water pump, timing belt and new idlers for $156. Only issue I had was two of the pulley's were the wrong size but all the parts were OEM quality & the water pump had the same numbers and maker as teh OEM subaru part.

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Ive installed 2 kits from the Ebay seller out of Washington state.

I contacted them direct from there phone number on ebay and saved $10.

$156 shipped to the door and it had....

Tbelt

pulleys

tensioner

oil pump seal/crank seal

Camshaft seal

drive belts

valve cover gaskets

H20 pump

Never had a problem with there stuff and it was all good materials.

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Great feedback. Thanks.

 

I am comfortable going with one of the EBay kits. All parts do not have to be OEM. I would like to keep this under $200. Can anyone post the name of the EBay vendor? I did a quick EBay search and didn't come up with exactly what I was looking for. P-mail would be fine if you don't want to post it to the list.

 

Also, what are your thoughts on the parts that definitely should be OEM - if any? Several folks on the SubaruVanagon list strongly recommend using an OEM thermostat vs. aftermarket....

 

Thanks again.

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Don't mean to hijack this thread, but does anyone know when to replace the idlers (bearing - 3 or 4 of them) without having to take off the cover and inspect them manual/visually? I saw all these kits that have the idlers as part of them and I'm just curious. Should they be changed as part of timing belt change?

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Well dont expect the idlers to last more then one timing belt change. If you have the originals at the 2nd belt change, swap them out. If you dont have an interfernce engine you can wait untill you have to call a tow truck if you want. Also dont forget your cam main and oil pump seals. They wont make it to the second belt. Water pumps can make it if you change the coolant every 3/36000 miles.

 

 

nipper

 

PS I dont trust ebay stuff for interfernce engines.

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Well dont expect the idlers to last more then one timing belt change. If you have the originals at the 2nd belt change, swap them out. If you dont have an interfernce engine you can wait untill you have to call a tow truck if you want. Also dont forget your cam main and oil pump seals. They wont make it to the second belt. Water pumps can make it if you change the coolant every 3/36000 miles.

 

 

nipper

 

PS I dont trust ebay stuff for interfernce engines.

 

Thx...will do just that with my next timing belt change. It has been 100K+ miles since the last timing belt change. It's about time for another one but winter is coming and it's getting cold so I will wait until summer to do mine (assuming the car will last until then).

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