59ctd Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 One more question on timing belts. I know it is generally recommended to replace the water pump and belt pulley bearings when replacing the belt since it is open/apart. How about if the vehicle has relatively low mileage on it but the belt is past the age req for replacement though? My 08 2.5i has ~60k and the 09 GT has 44k on it. Replace the water pump and bearings still or leave them in service longer? I am leaning towards only putting new belts on the two cars this summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesA Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 One more question on timing belts. I know it is generally recommended to replace the water pump and belt pulley bearings when replacing the belt since it is open/apart. How about if the vehicle has relatively low mileage on it but the belt is past the age req for replacement though? My 08 2.5i has ~60k and the 09 GT has 44k on it. Replace the water pump and bearings still or leave them in service longer? I am leaning towards only putting new belts on the two cars this summer. It's a judgement call. If you are doing the labor yourself, ask yourself when you will be back in there to replace the other components. You probably do not want to wait another full 105K miles or 105 months to swap them out. The things that fail are most often the tensioner or the idler bearings. If it were me, I would replace at least the tensioner and belt for now. Tensioners get weak over time. Inspect water pump and idlers to see if they are quiet. Replace if they don't pass inspection. Check cam and crank seals while you are in there. If not replaced this time, water pump and idlers I would be sure to replace before they have done 100K total. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apexi Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 For what it's worth, when Subaru did my timing belt at 104k they didn't touch any of my idler pulleys (I thought they would replace them). I requested that they do the water pump, not sure they would have done that to be honest, I sort of think they would have just done the tensioner and belt. I replaced the belt again myself early at 195k because I was worried about the idlers, which seemed fine when I removed them. The tensioner was leaking though after only around 90k. I've heard Subaru water pumps can last a long time, so it's a tough call on that one. No question I'd do the belt and tensioner though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
59ctd Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 That's what I was thinking. Belt and tensioner. I recall when I did my father's back in 02 that it is so much easier with a new tensioner rather than trying to compress the old one, etc. I will check the bearings carefully when I am in there. Thinking on switching to the Subaru blue coolant at the time I do this service this summer. Maybe a new thermostat would be a good idea too. Thanks guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dishwasher Posted March 27, 2017 Author Share Posted March 27, 2017 You kind of have to decide if the cost of the additional parts now is worth not going back in there in the next 50k miles to redo it. For me dropping the extra $100-$150 in parts for water pump, tensioner, and pulleys was a no brainer. Also though my pulleys and tensioner were defenitely wearing at 84k miles. (Tensioner was leaking at the top, and pulleys made yucky sounds while rotating). The thermostat is pretty easy to access with or without the timing belt on. If yours is still working I would just replace the gasket for it and put it back on, it's only two bolts while you are under the car. Brought to you by Pfizer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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