:thumbup:

 

How long did the whole job take out of curiousity?

 

Taking our time, over seven hours of actual work. We were very cautious and simply refused to rush. Someone that knows what they're doing could do it in five hours; someone that knows both what they're doing and why could do it in much less IMO. This is what we replaced:

Timing belt.
Water pump.
Thermostat.
Two hoses.
All rollers.
Timing belt tensioner.
Four camshaft seals.
The crank seal.

Getting the cam sprockets off is a bit intimidating and getting the crank sprocket off was frustrating, and lots of time was spent on the seals themselves. Both removing the old seals and tapping in the new seals was tedious.

Extra time was spent going to the dealer (tip: if changing the camshaft seals, buy six, not four; if changing the crank seal, buy two, not one) and the auto parts store (tip: o-ring picks are not made like they used to be; get a few extras; also, the bolts that hold the rollers are M8X1.25 and the manual says to blow air into the holes to clean them, but a chaser done carefully and correctly won't hurt either).

What is the replacement interval on the Gates belt?

I was wondering too. In the little pamphlet that comes with the kit, the labeling and language is Subaru-esque as if it were a Subaru dealer part, and in the info there it states 105,000 miles.

 

What is the replacement interval on the Gates belt?

 

Good write-up, and I'm glad everything worked out for you :thumbup:

Having examined and installed the parts, I have no misgivings at this point. However, there is one exception; one part in the kit was nowhere near the quality of the rest, and in fact let the side down, so to speak: the water pump gasket. The Gates-supplied water pump gasket is IMO a bad choice. It's a shame, since the rest of the kit is very good. Buy the dealer's "Subaru" water pump and thermostat gaskets instead.

Thanks for the tip! I'll probably need to do my timing belt sometime in the next year and a half, so I'll keep this in mind...

 

Good write-up, and I'm glad everything worked out for you :thumbup:



Thanks for the tip! I'll probably need to do my timing belt sometime in the next year and a half, so I'll keep this in mind...

EJ257 on the receiving end of advice... my god I've seen it all, usually that dog humping a toy is dropping cold hard truth on bitches. haha

 

Thanks for the write-up and review SD. I will be staring 105,000 miles in the face in about 1.5 years... perhaps I will consider this to the OEM replacement.

Cheers.

 

w00t! Congrats on saving yourself a big pile of money! Good job m8!

 

Thanks again gents!

 

I've had the kit on my car for about 7k miles now. No issues. This is a good kit. Can't go wrong with Gates. The water pump gasket was wimpy looking but so far it has held up. :thumbup:

 

Do you plan on checking the belt at 60K? I think that's part of the manual's recommendation anyway and I've never done it.

My "Gates" water pump gasket arrived perfectly packaged with everything else, and it had already "failed" upon arrival, having a gash in it. Glad to hear yours is fine.

I changed my belt a few thousand miles "late" and when I saw the condition of the belt, at least on looks alone, I almost -- almost! -- thought "what a shame to change this..." The Subaru belt, and so also the Gates belt without the Subaru labeling I suppose, is IMO a quality item. Seriously. Eight years and over 105,000 miles and it at least looked very good.

Also, as daunting as the Subaru DOHC, two-headed arrangement seemed to me, I was just as impressed with how everything came apart, especially in the hands of a complete novice. Nothing was gorilla'd on, nothing was hard to access, and IMO the only questionable part of the process was the decision either by design or implemented in practice to leave off the bottom left roller, fit the belt, and then install that roller, as it's hard to get the roller's bolt on straight and easy to strip aluminium threads. Other than that, brilliant.

Although the timing setup makes a Honda 4 look trivial, the manual is clear, the room to work is ample once the correct pieces are moved away, and my feeling is that a pro would be very comfortable.

 

Do you plan on checking the belt at 60K? I think that's part of the manual's recommendation anyway and I've never done it.

My "Gates" water pump gasket arrived perfectly packaged with everything else, and it had already "failed" upon arrival, having a gash in it. Glad to hear yours is fine.

I changed my belt a few thousand miles "late" and when I saw the condition of the belt, at least on looks alone, I almost -- almost! -- thought "what a shame to change this..." The Subaru belt, and so also the Gates belt without the Subaru labeling I suppose, is IMO a quality item. Seriously. Eight years and over 105,000 miles and it at least looked very good.

Also, as daunting as the Subaru DOHC, two-headed arrangement seemed to me, I was just as impressed with how everything came apart, especially in the hands of a complete novice. Nothing was gorilla'd on, nothing was hard to access, and IMO the only questionable part of the process was the decision either by design or implemented in practice to leave off the bottom left roller, fit the belt, and then install that roller, as it's hard to get the roller's bolt on straight and easy to strip aluminium threads. Other than that, brilliant.

Although the timing setup makes a Honda 4 look trivial, the manual is clear, the room to work is ample once the correct pieces are moved away, and my feeling is that a pro would be very comfortable.

I forgot to ask, how was the crank bolt?

 

Alright, so I checked the new bolt.

This bolt was installed after I made sure the crank pulley is seated correctly all the way back. I put a touch of oil on the threads of the new bolt, torqued it to 35, and then to 95 ft.lbs. (the closest reading to the spec on my wrench).

It "wobbles" and in fact it may do so to a greater extent than the old bolt!

Knowing that it's normal is priceless!

 

sd_gr im due for my timing belt and i was wondering where you got your kit and seals? im looking at the gates kit with water pump for my 02 wrx but it doesnt come with the seals, did you have to go to the stealership for them? and im debating weather to tackle it by myself or paying some one to do it. i would love to do it myself and gain the confidence and knowledge but im affraid of screwing things up. its my only car unfortunetlly and im wondering if i can get it done in a day. did you need any special tools? I wish i had few friends that were more mechanically inclined then me but my friends look at me like a mechanic... what would a garage typically charge in labor to do this?

 

Shop around for the Gates kit from the site vendors, comparing prices and including the water pump.

Go to the dealer for the water pump gasket and thermostat gasket, the seals, the coolant, and the thermostat.

I had no special tools except torque wrenches. To remove the seals I used wood screws and o-ring picks but I ended up wrecking the picks. To instal seals I used motor oil as lube and socket wrenches as taps to hammer them in. To remove the cam sprockets I used the old belt and vise grips as shown in another thread. I did find the best quality 10 mm hex I could to use on the cam bolts, but everything else was hobbyist quality hand tools.

It took me a full weekend with a buddy and pizza breaks. I had another car so plan B was always to flatbed the Subaru to a garage if the luck ran out. Some parts were intimidating as I have zero mechanical ability. I recommend listening to blues music it worked for me.

In my area garages charge $800+ USD last I heard but you'll get the car in day if you insist. If you mess up bad you're out a motor; however for me with the help from the guys here and a local friend, I saved $500 or so. It's a $4K gamble but the car was designed by other humans so it's feasible to take it apart and put it together if you're careful, lucky, or both.

Doing it increased my respect for actual mechanics and the guys on the forum that posted to my rescue.

 

Update, 55K miles later:

During a routine gear oil change I noticed coolant residue, initially seemingly on the hose from the water pump base to the oil cooler. The more I looked though, the worse it looked: "oh, hose clamp; oh, hose itself; oh, water pump gasket, oh, water pump itself!"

I go through water pumps. My first, the Subaru original, was changed by the dealer under warranty around 60K. The second, I replaced as stated above in 2010. The third, the Gates, seeped in 2014.

I spoke with a trusted, experienced pro locally. He told me to try Aisin. He likes their pumps, doesn't like warranty returns or unhappy clientele, and uses them routinely.

Since I've had both a factory Japanese Subaru and a Gates fail, I felt I had nothing to lose. The car now has an Aisin pump.

Since the timing belt was coming off, it was replaced 50K early, with another Gates. Like the initial Subaru belt, this Gates belt looked just fine and I would have once again been tempted to keep it but as anyone that's done the job knows the belt is the least of the worries. I just sprang for it.

The tensioner and rollers were OK too, and they're back on the car. The seals are dry. I sprang for a new OEM thermostat and OEM pump and stat gaskets, blue coolant, and conditioner.

We'll see how the Aisin fairs, but let the record show my experience with Gates was comparable with the original Subaru pump, and I'd have just used another Gates if my friend had no suggestions (I'm curious and was feeling adventurous).

So 2 water pumps and two radiators plus one thermostat housing have failed so far.

The plan is to go 100K unless something unforeseen happens with this pump, or the rollers, tensioner, or seals don't make it to 150K total since I didn't replace those this time.

We'll see!

 

When tackling this project, would you change the water pump or just the theromstat and the gasket ?
I have 106000 and no problems with the water pump...would it be a good idea to change it anyways?

 

Yes. Mainly because of the bearing in the waterpump that is not serviceable or replaceable. If it fails then kiss your valves goodbye.

 

I agree. I'd change the water pump.

 

Quick quest, I aligned the crank sprocket tick mark and the passenger side lined up good but the drivers side white marks are 1-2 cm off from alignment, what do I do? Just take it of as is? BTW I'm taking off the old timing belt

 

Have you removed the old belt yet, or is this what you are faced with BEFORE removing the old belt?

 

Before removing it

 

You may be describing something similar to post #10, this thread:
http://www.clubwrx.net/forums/maint...orums/maintenance-service-repair/171263-timing-belt-water-pump-replacement.html

Follow those instructions.

Also see post #2 in this thread:
Meatys Timing Belt Changing Guide - NASIOC

and this thread's description:
http://www.scoobymods.com/showthread.php/diy-subaru-wrx-sti-timing-12617.html?

The sprocket marks should line up to the marks on the engine and to one another.

Is this the first time the car has had its belt changed?

(I think there is a 2-tooth allowance, but don't know if 2 teeth = 2 cm).

 

Thought this might help someone; Gates vs 2005-era OEM Subaru water pumps. The Subaru pump has an enclosed fan. Both have failed at 60K in my hands so I give the advantage to neither. The corrosion is from storage, not use.

 

I'm going to bring this thread back from the dead because it was one o the first to show up with a Google search AND because this last post is directly related to what I've been looking for in this thread and others. I watched a hot to video on YouTube about doing this and the mechanic in it mentioned that the "smooth" impeller(2nd pic in above post) is superior to the turbine blade style impeller(1st pic in above post). Can anyone comment on this? I wish I could piece together my own kit using a mix of what I've gathered in my research to be the best options for this job. What other brand water pump has a smooth choose medical impeller as apposed to the blade style? IIRC the smooth impeller is better because it doesn't cause as much turbulence as the blade style which in return means it has a higher flow rate. Can anyone here say that's true situation least a well educated perspective? Speculationdoes us no good here.

Also,and I'm sorry for getting slightly off topic here, but my bugeye is an off the shelf stage 2 tune. Is it worth it to pay $200 more for the "racing" timing belt? Is the standard OEM Gates belt thicker, the same size or thinner than the factory installed belt? Thank you in advance. I'm at just over 100k miles on the original parts, money has never been tighter or harder to obtain and this alone has been doing my head in.

 

The racing belt has a lower lifetime than the regular. For that Lone I'd go regular even if the cost were the same.

I switched to an Aisin pump when the Gates failed and have no clue whether the impeller is open or enclosed. Honestly don't remember. I also can't imagine how the video guy you speak of would have any actual fluidics data. In any case so far so good with the Aisin.