legacycentral bbs

So I drove the SS about 3 hours from home and it took a dump on me.
I am at a buddy's place now.

I have none of my handy books or manuals of course.

basically I drove the car for 3 hours, got off the highway came to a stoplight, and it just died.
No funny noises or sputtering. just died. it'll turn over but no fire. just about exactly what my old dodge omni did to me when it lost a timing belt.

2 questions for now:

#1: Is there anything else I should check before tearing in to the timing covers to see if the belt is broken?
(I did check fuses... and that's about all)

#2: Is there a good online writeup on changing timing belts? I have yet to do such a thing, but I'm fairly sure I could pull it off if properly informed... I suppose I could go buy another Haynes manual since Mine is 3 hours away, but I'd rather not.

Thanks for listening...
-Bosco-

It sounds like there is a good chance that it's the timing belt. Do you have any CEL's? If you don't then I'd say it's a belt. It's also pretty easy to pull off one end of the cover and it'll be immediately evident if it's a belt.

As for the second question, do a good search here on the BBS in the Engine forum. There are several really good threads on it, they are probably even in the stickies. It's not a hard procedure.

Good luck.

Is it possible that its a coilpack or fuel pump? See if you are getting fuel and spark.

here is a good thread:
http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic. ... iming+belt

search for timing belt replacement and only have the search engine look in the engine forum and you will find more.

It takes literally 5 mins to check and see if your timing belt is broken.

Just take two of the bolts on one of the cam covers off (the driver's one is easier IMO), pull it back a bit, and take a peek.

Then you know for sure.

For a guide? I'd honestly just pick up a Haynes manual. It's pretty good and I can't find any truly bogus information in it. If not, just post up, one of us can help you.

Thanks very much for the help.

The belt was intact but it had 14 teeth ripped off right in a row. (the ones around the crank sprocket thingajig.)

The disturbing thing about that is that all the pulleys and gizmos in there seem to spin freely.

also, the tensioner seems to be frozen up or something... I can't seem to push the plunger part in for the life of me.
I even tried gently persuading it with a hammer.

Any ideas/comments?

I realize that replacing the water and oil pump and various seals would be a good idea, but I am far from home, far from all my tools, and have no experience doing any seal replacement.
I can stay here tonight, but by tomorrow afternoon, If I don't have it sorted out I'll be calling my buddy to come rescue me with his pickup and trailer.

The tensioner uses the engine oil pressure to apply force to the T-belt, with the engine off it may be all the way compressed, I dont remember if there is a spring to preload it or not.

Gary

The idle pulleys and such should spin free. The only thing that shouldn't is the cam sprockets and the crank sprocket.

The tensioner is a hydraulic deal. It doesn't use the engine oil though, it is it's own unit. In order to compress it you must put it in a vice and slowly, I mean slowly, real slowly, compress it down and then you'll see a hole on the piston line up with a hole on the casing. Insert something here to hold it compressed until you put it back on the motor and then pull the pin. It's tedious but neccesary to be slow and careful in this step.

Have you searched good?

Well, thanks for all the support.

It seems to be up and running now. I have to drive it 3 hours back home now...

Now I'm just praying it holds up and that the original failure was just because the belt was old and weak, and not from some type of random pulley siezure.

Thanks again.

if it is running well you should be fine.

WOO HOO!

Made it home and now I've got another notch of experience under the hood.

All_talk wrote:The tensioner uses the engine oil pressure to apply force to the T-belt, with the engine off it may be all the way compressed, I dont remember if there is a spring to preload it or not.

Gary

WTF... please don't post out of your ass, cause this one's full of shit the tentioner works nothing like that

Well, his name IS "All Talk"

It was easy to see that that was not how it worked when I had it in hand.

I didn't have a vice or a c-clamp handy so I just put it in there as best as I could and left the bolts slightly loose. Then I tapped a screwdriver in behind the tensioner adjuster to wedge it towards the tensioner pulley. When the bolt heads were aligned with the marks they had left on the adjuster I tightened them up.
It may not be the best method, but it worked.

that thing is a 2.2 only piece huh? Becuase the one on my 2.5 is totally different.

tzedek wrote:that thing is a 2.2 only piece huh? Becuase the one on my 2.5 is totally different.

yes, the 2.5 one is different, but it works exactly the same and it even interchangeable if you change the idler pully too.

sammydafish wrote:

All_talk wrote:The tensioner uses the engine oil pressure to apply force to the T-belt, with the engine off it may be all the way compressed, I dont remember if there is a spring to preload it or not.

Gary

WTF... please don't post out of your ass, cause this one's full of shit the tentioner works nothing like that

Wow harsh. I remember reading it was hydraulic and I guess I assumed it was activated by engine oil pressure (like many other cars), I was gonna check the FSM before I posted but didn't have a copy on this computer. So thanks for correcting me, I just hate misleading information on the internet.

And I may continue posting out of my ass, but its nice to know the shit patrol will be following me around catching my every nugget.

Formerly All_talk
(now just a little talk and mostly shit)

Hmmmm, I cant seem to let this one go just yet… petty of me I guess.

skid542 wrote: ...The tensioner is a hydraulic deal. It doesn't use the engine oil though, it is it's own unit...

See there, Lees statement was corrective and informative.

sammydafish wrote: WTF... please don't post out of your ass, cause this one's full of shit the tentioner works nothing like that

While Sammy’s comment is far lighter on useable content, its is chalked full of the “I know more about Subaru tension pulleys and that makes me a better person than you” attitude… and that’s just good fun.


Mostly_shit