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Servicing the Intake AVCS Gears..


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That picture looks like the moron didn't align the cam right, then tried bolting it down without it being properly seated on the camshaft. The only thing that could make that gouge is the actual camshaft front pin, and that only would do that if you didn't install the cam gear properly.
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thats the same part, the other picture is with that pin broken off. Same part ones broken the other isn't.

 

The cam bolt only holds the cam to the camshaft. I don't know where all this craziness is coming from. Our single avcs gears are way less complicated than the video you showed. The company 23 tool was made specifically for our model engines intake cam with avcs because the tool you are recommending is the one that breaks stuff.

Edited by Tehnation
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Why spend 50 dollars for gaskets, plus 50 for tools etc. when you can spend a 100 to have all that done for you without any stress and correctly? You aren't going to like this path especially if you aren't an experienced seasoned professional. If you are a weekend warrior I would think twice about taking on rebuilding your cam gears! Ive been on this forum for 10 years and I don't think I have seen many, if any, success stories which started this way! Your basically playing with fire and working on thin ice to save what, like 50 bucks at that point? You screw up and its gonna cost you a lot more, i would pay the 100 dollars plus shipping to have it done professionally, and I am not a squeamish person, but for the cost difference of like 50 bucks to have a pro do it versus myself, I would spend that 50 bucks all day, especially when failure means #ynansb!

 

I also think there is some very obscure part number for a seal kit for avcs from subaru. I am not quite sure, but I do recall there being a part number somewhere.

Edited by Tehnation
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I'm not trying to be an asshole, but armchair logic doesn't really fly here on this forum! Obviously the op hasn't even pulled the timing covers off the engine let alone pulled the motor out of the car otherwise they would know exactly what motor they have and how many avcs gears they have, let alone single or dual avcs and then another person who doesn't even have an avcs car are both giving irrelevant, theoretical information on the 4th gen. Meanwhile information from people who have been in the trenches and the shit who have actually done it are being ignored? If you don't even know what engine is in ur car or have never worked on said engine and pulling reference from old technology then I would listen to the people who have been there and done that! This is why the internet is dangerous, to much information isn't necessarily a good thing. If you #ynansb and your worrying about ur cam gears, then nuff said, u shouldn't be doing this! If you need new cam gears then you need a new short block which is 2 thousand dollars. This entire approach doesn't make any sense. I would be worrying about more important things like turbo, shortblock, heads etc. not cam gears. If you need new cam gears or want to rebuild them then you probably need a new oil pump, oil cooler, etc. None of this shit makes sense! If there was no engine failure why are you even going down this path? If you just want to rebuild your motor, then reuse them and move on. If your rebuilding due to a blown motor/turbo then I could understand this nonsense. But rebuilding the cam gears are the least of your worries! Who is rebuilding the shortblock, who is rebuilding the heads? There are so many other more important things to worry about.

 

And up til this point you haven't even stated the cel you got for the cams. If its the ocv code then your barking up the wrong tree! What code are you getting???? Why do you think you need to rebuild your avcs without an engine failure? Nothing makes any sense! A motor with 210k miles needing an overhaul doesn't mean changing cam gears and timing belts, cause thats pointless. You don't even know the cel code to come to that conclusion, and if ur avcs gear was bad you would know that cause your motor would be toast. I would worry about the shortblock and heads for an overhaul, why are you so focused on your avcs gears, AVCS gears don't cause a car to overheat. Obviously you have other more important things you should be focusing on!

Edited by Tehnation
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For sure Tehnation. I understand what you mean and I have learned to listen to those with experience.

 

I just wanted to get what I thought was the 'right' tool for removing/installing those Intake Cam Pulleys, and it really seemed to me the Company23 tool put so much torque on that area we talked about before.

 

I can always open the pulleys, clean them myself and send them to Outfront so they get them properly align/ready for install.

 

No, I'm not really planning on spending a lot of money, who wants to anyways, especially with my car being 210K miles.

 

It's just that on my effort to learn several things about my car(given it's my first Turbo Subaru ever), I had created this thread to better understand the process of cleaning/servicing the AVCS Intake pulleys which I had never worked on before and while researching, I found the controversial issue with the Company23 tool.

 

My main concern with my car is that overheats a little past operating temperature when I step on it for some time, when driven normally it doesn't. That has me worried. Others have told me that's not right, that doesn't happen to them..

 

btw, I never said I had a CEL code, not sure where that came from. I just have no idea what tune my car has since it came with a few modified parts and I have not been able to contact the previous owner to establish if there might be some 'hidden' codes.

 

No worries, nothing was taken out of context. I do appreciate yours and everyone's input/help. I'm a noob with these motors and will follow more experience people advise to avoid costly mistakes.

Edited by RumblyXT
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Your AVCS is a not a part you should be worrying about! Other things will fail waaaaaay before your AVCS gear, its just metal on metal run on oil pressure, VERY simple and basic mechanics! You clean them when you have engine failure, meaning your turbo or bearings took a shit and dumped metal debris into your oil which then circulates through your oiling system contaminating your oil cooler, oil pump, intake cam gears, and heads. If that is not the case WHY the hell are you trying to rebuild a technically unserviceable part?????

 

You are barking up the wrong tree! What made you think you need to rebuild your AVCS in the 1st place??????? AVCS codes are almost ALWAYS related to your OCV's, Oil Control Valves! Your OCV will take a shit 10 times over before your AVCS gear would!

Edited by Tehnation
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And 210k miles means u need a 2nd timing belt kit if it hasn't been done already. Timing belt kit and maybe some new OCV's. Plus do a compression test to check the health of your longblock. Doing all this overhaul nonsense without any real baseline is retarded! Especially when you focus on such a pointless thing like your intake cam gears. Your pointed in the WRONG direction. FORGET ABOUT YOUR AVCS GEARS! Worry about real problems, this car isn't that cheap of a date where you can have that luxury!! Money and aimless/pointless projects is a bad combination, trust me, been there done that, look at my title! This car will rob you blind on the nonsense, like you are doing, then come over and F*ck you up the ass with REAL issues, like #ynansb! Edited by Tehnation
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Do you have a check engine light on??? That's 1st step! If you do, then you need a code reader or go to autozone or some shit, pull the codes and then come back here and post them!

 

Next thing is you should drop the downpipe and inspect your turbo for shaftplay to make sure thats in good shape, if that takes a shit in ur engine then you are spending the max amount for repair. Turbo failure which destroys ur engine or contaminates the oil is the WORST case scenario! So make sure your turbo is in good shape, 1st thing!

Edited by Tehnation
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No check engine lights thankfully.

 

I do have a scanner, I have put it on a couple times and no CEL codes came on either.

 

Non related question: Can previous owners 'hide' CEL codes? Is that something that can be done or is that more related to "hiding a tune"?

 

I ask because of the car slightly overheating when driving it hard for some time. MaxCapacity told me to replace the rad caps, will do as soon as I can.

 

I was suspecting the thermostat, but the bottom rad hose does get warm, meaning thermostat does open. I looked under the car and I did not see the H/Gs leaking either.

Edited by RumblyXT
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No cels, and "slightly overheating" Do you have an accessport or vag-com cable hooked up to a laptop giving you the temp readings?

 

I assume no COBB accessport, so if you have opensource tuning you can hide codes, but you can check that with a tactrix or vagcom cable. There should be a sticky about all that crap in the tuning section...

 

https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/using-ebay-vag-com-cable-datalog-96737.html

 

Are your fans working, is your coolant temp sensor giving accurate readings, did you get all the air out the system by raising the passenger side and burping the coolant system? Could be a lot of things.

 

What do you think is overheating? Does thermostat go into red or past 3/4 ths?

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Was the water pump changed with the timing belt? Thats a vague thing, normally you change the water pump , timing gears , timing belt and tensioner. What exactly was done with the timing belt?

 

I would inspect the turbo and get a compression test 1st to figure out whats up. Then figure out how to get ECU data, via accessport or opensource to get realtime data, to better diagnose any issues.

 

If overheating is the only issue, then I would start with trying to get realtime coolant temps. 180-190 degrees is where you should be, could get hotter or colder give or take 10 degrees F.

Edited by Tehnation
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I have no Cobb AP nor a tactrix or vagcom cable.

 

I'm assuming the engine is slightly overheating because the dash coolant gauge goes up past the operating mark. Once it does, I no longer drive the car hard out of fear of something getting messed up. When I keep driving afterwards and maintaining it at 2K rpm, the coolant needle doesn't go any higher, but obviously I don't step on it again when I see it go up like that.

 

It was doing this before I replaced the coolant, but replacing it didn't change anything.

 

I did burp the coolant for about 15-20 mins till I saw no more bubbles, but the car was not raised in the front like you mentioned, just seating on all 4 tires horizontally.

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To properly burp the system I raise the passenger side of car higher via a jack, then let all the air come out. If the pump wasn't changed or is just crap it might not be applying enough pressure. If the thermostat is old it may be giving inaccurate readings. But the main issue is your basing this again on what you THINK is a bad temperature, hence why you need to know the exact temp the coolant temp sensor is reading! Look at your gauge and where is the needle relative to something like a clock or degrees if your mechanically inclined. Overheating is like going past 10 oclock, my car is usually at around 9 oclock warmed up. Edited by Tehnation
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I'm not trying to be an asshole either, but I am a certified subaru technician. jesus christ.

 

Just because I don't personally own one, doesn't mean I haven't worked on dozens of these engines. you're thick dude.

 

I'm out, yall can have your "arm chair" logic.

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