Dinosaurs In Space Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Hey guys I have a car That had a fully rebuilt ej257 about 13,000 miles ago and has been running fantastic. One cold morning a week ago I went to start the car and it ran for about five seconds and then died. The car would not start again and after two days of investigation it look like the timing belt had slipped on the driver side intake by about three teeth. I ordered a new belt and tensioner and installed it last Friday. It started up right away but I only ran it for about 30 seconds. The next day I started it and it ran for 30 more seconds idling and then shut off again. Thinking that the ECU had not learned the Idle yet, I restarted it with a little bit of throttle which caused it to start but after running for about five seconds the belt jumped again and this time it actually broke the timing belt cover. Since then I’ve tried putting the timing belt on eight more times! Each time I put it on everything is lined up but is soon as I pull the pin and rotate the engine twice it looks like the driver side intake and exhaust cams off about the tooth. i’ve even counted the teeth three of the times painstakingly and it just doesn’t want to line up. It almost looks like I need to have 52 teeth between the crank and driver side intake cam instead of the recommended 51. Every Time I try to install the belt and start the car it won’t start. I’ve checked fuel pressure (aftermarket fpr with gauge) and checked all my fuses twice. Additionally, my battery light and parking brake light are on. Had the alternator off and checked at the store and it’s fine. Please any input! It’s been a very rough new year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xt2005bonbon Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 This is strange. Never heard of such an issue. Did you make sure the timing guides are not too close to the belt? Is it an auto or manual btw? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 This is an interference engine. Almost surely the valves got bent when the timing belt jumped (happened to me). It's rebuild time, sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xt2005bonbon Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Well, it may still be OK. FSM says if below than three teeth, you are fine. More than that, and yeah the valves start to kiss the pistons. One of my cars did 3.5 teeth and it was OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinosaurs In Space Posted January 9, 2018 Author Share Posted January 9, 2018 It’s a 5spd. I’m not ruling out a rebuild and I will do compression test later but anyone have any idea why the timing marks won’t line up? Or why it won’t start? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xt2005bonbon Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 I hope it is not, but it could be that one or more of the intake cam sprockets are improperly installed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xt2005bonbon Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 check out this video and jump to 18:50 to see what I am referring to. Now, in this video, IIRC this issue occurred because whoever built that engine overtorqued the camshaft caps or something. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4zJ-7s4Mik&t=1850s]Engine teardown of 2015+ WRX STI and inspection #boostaholics - YouTube[/ame] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinosaurs In Space Posted January 9, 2018 Author Share Posted January 9, 2018 See the thing is that I cant Imagine something like that happening at idle... maybe under load Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xt2005bonbon Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Then, I would doubt that what I've posted above happened to you. Still never know though. This is really strange.. Have you made sure the clearance between the TB guides and the belt is at least 1mm or so? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 It’s a 5spd. I’m not ruling out a rebuild and I will do compression test later but anyone have any idea why the timing marks won’t line up? Or why it won’t start? Do a leakdown. Bent valve = 100% leak = no start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infosecdad Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Wait, how long have you been taking to compress the tensioner? They are super sensitive to doing it really, really slow (minutes). If you do it fast, then it doesn't work right any more. If it isn't keeping tight, I would suspect the tensioner may have failed you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xt2005bonbon Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 ^+1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinosaurs In Space Posted January 9, 2018 Author Share Posted January 9, 2018 I bought a new tensioner and “recompressed” it 3 times before installing it and it takes me about 5-7 mins to compress it using a clamp in the vertical position..it almost seems like the tensioner is pulling the belt too much causing the drivers intake cam to rotate 1 tooth backwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinosaurs In Space Posted January 9, 2018 Author Share Posted January 9, 2018 Well after spending some time looking it over, the drivers intake cam is significantly harder to turn compared to the other three... I’ve never had to turn it because I always setup the timing marks before removing the belt. This explains why the belt is slipping there. I guess it’s time for it to come out again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infosecdad Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 I could see that causing a belt to drag over it... hopefully nothing major there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xt2005bonbon Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Hopefully not like the video I linked above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Tensioner or not chances the valves are not bent are not good. Good luck to the OP, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucasoil4u Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 Do a leakdown test or start with a compression test. If compression is really low or 0 do a leakdown test to see if its the valves Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinosaurs In Space Posted February 2, 2018 Author Share Posted February 2, 2018 Update for future reference: Pulled the engine and did leak down test, driver’s cylinders leaking bad so the valves were indeed crashed. Pulled the head and the forged pistons are fine. *whew* What happened is I unfortunately put the cam cap on backwards.. it only took 2 years and one cold morning to realize that. The head / cam is ruined so time to get a used head. The intake cam gear alignment pin hole was destroyed just like in the video as well. Morale of story is don’t assemble your first Subaru engine at midnight after work every day using a flashlight!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xt2005bonbon Posted February 2, 2018 Share Posted February 2, 2018 Oh man. that's really too bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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