Hopefully this will help some of you.

My aircon system was making horrible noises, which I first thought were due to a perished drive belt, but one night when I was out the noises turned to 'dry metal on metal' and I had to hacksaw the belt off to stop it.

I discovered that the bearings had gone in the idler / tensioner pulley, and found this thread https://www.scoobynet.com/general-te...al-squeak.html by DJFish which got me on the right track for replacement.

This is a standard industrial bearing: outside diameter 40mm, inside diameter 17mm, width 12mm. Ref 6203.

I sourced new bearing from here for £4.56 incl VAT and P&P:- 62032RS Budget Rubber Sealed Deep Groove Ball Bearing 17x40x12mm Simply Bearings Ltd

I removed the pulley from the adjustment bracket, removed the circlip, and took the pulley and bearing to a local garage to get them to press out the old bearing and press in the new one (I tried driving it out myself but without any luck). Cost £5 in beer tokens.

I then had trouble sourcing a new drive belt to replace the previous belt which by then I had thrown away, as the one in the Halfords book was too short.

I tried ringing Hertitage Leicester, Subaru Dealers, and having given them the VIN number they told me a replacement would be £56!

However the belt had last been replaced in 2006 by Carstins (Subaru Dealer) at a cost of £14.50 + VAT. On enquiring of them I was told that this was not a Subaru part as the aircon was effectively a retro-fit by CoolAir (albeit it was done when the car was supplied new). They suggested I speak to CoolAir on 01522 682288.

CoolAir told me the belt was a standard part size 4PK913 (i.e. 4 ribs, 913mm long)

After some research I found that this is the same belt as fitted on Rover 800 aircon systems, and was able to source one from Halfords for £6.88 (Halfords product ref HB913E).

I have now fitted it and everything works, although the belt is a bit shorter than I would have expected and I have used up almost all the travel on the adjuster to get it to the right tension. The old belt appears to have been longer and the tensioner in the middle of its range.


Pete