Anyway, some brief history of the car: Subject is a 5spd '93 Legacy AWD. I replaced the clutch/flywheel a little while ago, next up is the timing belt. This is my first subaru, so obviously I made a couple mistakes along the way; even so, it wasn't as bad as I thought it could be.
Generally, I like to take pics of each project in an attempt to spread my experiences to other readers. I do this because I learned essentially everything I know about cars from online forums. Started out learning how to do an oil change all the way to rebuilding engines and transmissions. I'm not saying I'm the best mechanic around, but I know what I'm doing for the most part.
Anyway, here it goes. After doing some minor research, I decided to order a full t-belt kit from rockauto.com, this one included the belt, idler pulleys, and a water pump. (I went with the Dayco brand).
The first thing I did was to make enough room for me to work on the front of the engine, thus I went about removing the radiator. Remove the splash guards, drain the fluid, remove upper and lower hoses, pull it out - it's a bit tight when you lift it, but just be gentle/patient and work it out.
The next thing I went with was to removing the A/C, P/S, and Alternator belts so I could access the crank pulley. The pics explain it all, first remove the upper belt covers, then loosen the tensioners, and finally pull out the belts along with the tensionoers themselves.
Now, the next thing is a LUXURY - all my years with working on Hondas the crank pulley bolt was always the biggest pain in the ass to remove. To break loose the bolt, you either had to have a SOLID 700lb-ft impact gun, or a chain wrench with a huge breaker bar (usually what I did). With a Subaru, things are completely different. Since the engine rotates clockwise (ie the CORRECT way) you can simply use the starter to break loose the crank pulley bolt. To do this, simply attach your breaker bar + socket to the pulley bolt, rest it on the frame, and crank the engine. NOW - obviously the engine can start which could result in bad news as the crank pulley could fly right off, or the breaker bar could get caught up in it and cause damage... To avoid this, simply unplug the fuel injectors before you attempt to crank the engine. See pictures...
(disconnecting fuel injectors, simply unplug the 2-p connector)
(breaker bar resting on frame, connected to crank pulley bolt, ready to crank the starter!)
(it's blurry, but you can see the crank pulley bolt came off with no fuss)
The next part is fairly straightforward, remove the crank pulley. The concept is simple, but it can be difficult pulling it off as it fits VERY snug onto the crank snout. Be patient, work it off, you may need to use some sort of pry bar with some gentle hammering (rubber mallet) to get it to begin to slide off. After this, simply remove the bolts securing the timing belt cover. Make sure you don't lose anything! Once it's off, this is what you're left with...
Now, horizontally opposed cylinders means that you have to have relatively long and complicated timing belt routing. That said, the manual gives you some good information to follow. Before removing any of the pulleys and/or belt, it's a good idea to mark the timing belt so you can verify if the cams and crank are all aligned properly. To do this, you turn the crank to TDC, and mark the TDC marks on the old belt. When you remove the belt, you can count the teeth between your marks, if it's good, then you're good to put in the new belt in the same position. Now, even though the concept is simple, I can't stress enough how important it is to TRIPLE check ALL of your work!
Let's take a look...
(shop manual explaining marks)
(to rotate the assembly to TDC, I chose to re-attach the crank pulley, and use a socket wrench to turn everything - make sure you turn it clockwise, the normal direction it runs in)
(here are all of your TDC marks, starting with the crank....)
(cam gears - notice that there is a notch in the black plastic, your gear mark should line up to that)
(now, when all TDC marks are visually aligned, go ahead and mark your belt on all TDC positions)
(now, before you remove the belt, you can break loose the cam pulleys - I just used my breaker bar and loosened them with a quick/strong counter clockwise pull on the bar)
(now you're ready to remove the belt, remove the hydraulic tensioner be removing the 2 mounting bolts. when that's out of the way, off comes the belt!)
(now that your belt is off, you can inspect it for wear. this one actually wasn't too bad. next, look at the manual again and count your teeth between each mark - this one was marked/timed perfectly)
Now, unfortunately, at this point my phone decided to stop saving the pictures I was snapping.
Anyway, the next thing I did was to remove the cam pulleys, along with the crankshaft gear. I did this so I could replace the seals... Here is a pic of the right cam oil seal after being removed.
In addition to replacing the cam and crank seals, I also replace the water pump. Removal is very simple, but the only way to remove it is if you also remove the right cam gear. Thus, loosen that pulley bolt before removing the t-belt so you can get to it easier. When installing your new WP, just clean off the mating surfaces, put on your RTV sealant, and torque down the bolts (not too tight!)
Installation of the cam and crank seals are a bit tedious. I ended up using a large socket attached to my breaker bar, held it vertically, then sort of leveraged it against the front frame while pushing the socket to press in the seal, and pulling the end of the bar to get a bit more leverage. I tried my best not to bend any sheetmetal - and guess what? It actually worked! Replaced all 3 oil seals.
The next part is very tricky, and I WISH my phone had saved all my pictures, as it is probably the most important part. First, I reinstalled the cam gears and crank gear, and installed my new pulleys - except for this one (see pic below)!!!
The timing belt WILL NOT get back on with that pulley in there. So remove it, then line up your marks, install the belt, and double and triple check all 3 marks. After you're positive that they're lined up, install the last idler pulley. Now, obviously before you can even get to that point you must reinstall the hydraulic tensioner. This tensioner must be compressed before you put it back in. You don't need a press like the manual says, instead you can use a simple bench vise. I didn't have a bench vise, so I used a large C-clamp instead. It was hard, but it's possible. Once compressed, put in your cotter pin, or in my case, I just used a small hex wrench. The manual states to keep the tensioner bolts loose, and slide it all the way to the right to get the least amount of tension possible when installing your new belt. Anyway, once you've got everything lined up, finally put in that last pulley pictured above...
Now, you still want to double check your timing marks. Although your new timing belt will have new bright timing marks, they won't be much help here: you want to rotate your crank clockwise several times to verify that your camshafts and crankshaft still line up at TDC. Rotate it several times, do your best to verify that all 3 TDC marks still line up with their respective marks on the block/back t-belt covers.
After you're 100% sure that the marks are correct and properly aligned, put everything back together - reverse of removal. Boom, done.
