Dispatch20 Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 So I was swapping out a timing belt on a car I just bought (2004 Legacy L, manual), and I noticed the metal belt guard that goes around the crank cog had been dragging on the belt. In the Gates kit they include a guard spacer plastic piece to help prevent this, but it didn't seem to help. I actually had to slot larger holes in the bracket to get a reasonable clearance from the belt. Anybody else ever run into this? Obviously it's a common issue and Gates tried to remedy it, but for whatever reason on my car it still was too close for comfort. You can see in the attached picture some black buildup of where the old timing belt had been ground off and belt dust collected, and some polished areas where the belt contact had scrubbed it clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osei Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 download the fsm and use the specs given for clearance. O. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orndog Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 Is your tensioner worn and letting the belt slap? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dispatch20 Posted September 3, 2015 Author Share Posted September 3, 2015 download the fsm and use the specs given for clearance. O. The specs given by Gates most likely match the FSM. http://www.gates.com/~/media/files/gates/automotive/resources/tech-tips-and-tsbs/subaru-spacer-tool.pdf. I didn't have a feeler gauge to be sure, but it didn't look like .019"-".059" to me. I can eyeball that clearance because .060" is the width of a typical computer circuit card. The problem is that it looked like it might be making contact at rest. The Gates instructions mentioned slotted holes in the guard cover, but my guard didn't really have slots or much play to change the clearance. Is your tensioner worn and letting the belt slap? This may have been a problem. The reason I changed the timing belt was that I might have been hearing a knocking sound near the timing cover area (I just got the car last week at auction). It's possible a slack belt was hitting the belt guard but I never ran the car with the cooling system removed and the timing covers off. I guess I'll find out in another day or so when I have the car all back together with the new belt, tensioner, and idlers. It's very possible the noise is something else like piston slap. Is the belt guard in place to prevent a belt from jumping teeth around the crank cog? I read somewhere that not all 2.5 SOHCs even had them installed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osei Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 They were only installed on MT cars. O. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dispatch20 Posted September 15, 2015 Author Share Posted September 15, 2015 Update: the knocking on a cold start was from the timing belt tensioner (or poorly adjusted guard cover). I've come to learn that tensioner knock is very common on these engines. I do have a ticking sound related to RPM that remains when the engine is warm. It may be piston slap. Or it may be valve lash. I'll install new valve cover gaskets and measure/adjust the valve clearances this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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