Nightpath Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Howdy all, Bought an American Legacy GT 2.5 with 89000miles on it (140000 here in Canada). I see it has a small oil leak where they replaced the water pump but IMO never tightened (or it loosened) the plastic cover where the pullys are at. I can fix that. Going to change the transmission fluid, oil change, differential fluid front and rear and coolant. I find conflicting ideas of what tranny fluid and coolant to use, but I'm sure that the differentials use 85w. For the oil change I'm going to use 10W30 Castrol GTX High Mileage. Anyone have any tips or info before I dive in tomorrow? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushey45 Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 If you have an oil leak from behing the plastic timing cover it's either a crank seal or a cam seal(s) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightpath Posted July 17, 2011 Author Share Posted July 17, 2011 Are they hard to replace? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushey45 Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 if you were comfortable with doing to water pump, then no it would not be hard. you might as well do all of them while you are in there. just remove the crank/cam sprokets, pry the seals out, and tap the new ones in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Donated broknindarkagain Posted July 17, 2011 I Donated Share Posted July 17, 2011 The timing cover doesn't hold oil in. If you have oil coming out of it, then your cam seals are leaking. As far as trans and gear oil.....if your a 5 speed use Subaru Special S in the trans and rear diff. I don't remember what the automatic trans calls for -broknindarkagain My Current Project - Click Here COME AND TAKE IT "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnegg Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 the timing belt on your car is/was due at 105k miles or 105 months. so it is past due if it has not been done. if it was done, they didn't do ''EVERYTHING" or it would not be leaking oil . so plan on doing the timing belt, ALL idlers, water pump and all front seals, 4 cams, 1 crank, and the oil pump o-ring. i would buy the seals from an online or local dealer, and get a timing belt kit, belt, all idlers and water pump, from ''theimportexperts'' on ebay. (the 96 will have the old style tensioner and does not need to be replaced as long as it is not leaking.) once done you should be good for 100k miles. the kit and the seals will run you over $250, maybe $280 us. not sure about your price. if the timing belt or any component fails while the car is running you will likely need to do a valve job, due to bent valves, in addition the timing belt job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightpath Posted July 17, 2011 Author Share Posted July 17, 2011 Warerpump replaced at 60k,the leak is a smallslooowwww drip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnegg Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 replacing the water pump will not cause or cure an oil leak. there is no interaction between the oil and the water pump. it's the cam seal. it is not hard but you do need to remove the belt and the cam sprocket to get to tit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightpath Posted July 17, 2011 Author Share Posted July 17, 2011 Does it take long and does the seal cost alot? Waiting for my Haynes manual to get here lol. I might change out the oil separator too, dollars to donuts that's also leaking. I take it when I remove the plastic timing cover I'll see where the leak is coming from in the front. And yeah, my subie is an automatic, think it's Dexron II that it uses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnegg Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 the time required for replacing the cam seal, or all 4 cam seals is only slightly moer than replacing the timing belt. you can do it in an afternoon but i would start before lunch just to be sure you have time to finish. the extra time is in removing & re-installing the cam sprocket. the seal takes only a few minutes. just be sure not to ''scratch the cam shaft. the oil separator plate is on the rear of the engine behind the flex plate / flywheel. you have to pull the engine to get to it. you don't have to pull the engine to do the front seals and timing belt components. it really would be foolish, in my opinion, to replace only the leaking seal. they are all the same age and they all leak sooner or later. no subaru will go it's entire life on the original seals unless it gets totaled in the first 100k miles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightpath Posted July 17, 2011 Author Share Posted July 17, 2011 Not a bad idea if it only takes a bit more work. But pulling the engine would be a bitch. Any idea on the price of the cam seals? I buy from NAPA, get a nice military discount. The engine runs smooth and really quiet, a LOT quieter than alot of other subies I've seen in the past few weeks. From the maintenance notes it seems like most of the seals have been replaced but I'm thinking that 1-2 weren't replaced good enough. Can I get a rundown of things I need for a camshaft seal replacement? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnegg Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 link to 1997 FSM:. . http://www.main.experiencetherave.co...97_Legacy_FSM/ basically you want to replace anything that is leaking, which includes: cam seals - 4 ea. front crank seal - 1 ea. oil pump o-ring - 1 ea. (check / tighten the bolts on the backing plate on the back side of the pump.) -optional- valve cover gaskets - 2 ea. spark plugs - 4 ea. plug wires - 1 set (4 ea.) all timing components timing belt - 1 ea. idlers, smooth - 2 ea. idler, toothed - 1 ea. tensioner - 1 ea. (either just the idler assembly or the whole thing depending on whether yours is the old style, 2 piece, or the new style, one piece.) i would get the stuff in red from a SUBARU dealer online. i would get the timing belt kit from ''theimportexperts'' on ebay, search ''subaru timing kit''. you will also need RTV ultra gray or anaerobic sealant to reseal the oil pump coolant - 6.5 qts. ? i know all the seals for the ej22 cost less than $30 wholesale at the dealer, about 25% more for retail. so the seals for the ej25 will cost about another 15 - 20$ more ($8 per seal ??? whole sale). online parts: http://www.subarugenuineparts.com/catalogs.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfredbs Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 dude, go full synthetic oil..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightpath Posted July 18, 2011 Author Share Posted July 18, 2011 I debated full synthetic but I change oil on older vehicles sooner than usual the first few times then swap over. Need to save cash ATM to make sure I get necessary fixes done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Donated broknindarkagain Posted July 18, 2011 I Donated Share Posted July 18, 2011 No need to go through that trouble. Just start putting synthetic in it and you will be fine -broknindarkagain My Current Project - Click Here COME AND TAKE IT "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightpath Posted July 18, 2011 Author Share Posted July 18, 2011 Any special tools required? Also, when I remove the plastic cover and the cam sprocket, when I take the seals off to replace them will oil gush out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnegg Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 no oil will gush out. but you will have to do a full timing belt removal. all covers, the crank pulley and the belt. to re assemble you will have to compress the belt tensioner without damaging it. i suggest you get a manual, haynes will do . trying to do this job without a manual and reading up on it is asking for trouble. you are better off just driving the car as is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightpath Posted July 18, 2011 Author Share Posted July 18, 2011 Picking up the manual today, going to do the full fluids change then when I get a few more bucks change out the seals. I wont be driving it alot anyways Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnegg Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 http://www.main.experiencetherave.com/subaru_manual_scans/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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