Doing some work on my car today and i decided to check my timing (car isnt running quite as it should).

The drivers side is all aligned correctly, but does the passenger side look right? It looks a tooth out to me? What do you think?

 

yeap tooth out!
seems to happen alot with scoobs my freinds ra was like that.

 

What did it drive like? My car idles fine, starts fine, just feels very flat on boost and not really much torque.

 

thats out because whoever changed the belt didnt clamp the pulleys when they let the tensioner go on the loose belt , the passenger side spins 1/2 a tooth when this happens as the passenger side is on the top of the cams in this position . will start and run fine but will not run right on boost , had this on mine and was done by a garage lol have done it myself eversince

 

Yes this happens alot, usually when fitting the belt you often find its its slap bang between two teeth, so you can't align the dots. If you don't take up enough slack from the driven (tight) side of the belt, you end up putting the last pulley one tooth behind.

This mis-alignment only becomes apparent after fitting the belt and test spinning the engine over on the starter and then re-checking the timing marks.

If the running problem occured straight after fitting a timing belt then its 100% certain this is the cause. However, if its just started running badly out the blue, it possibly a problem elsewhere. They rarely jump on the cam pulley; usually the crank jumps first (especially if the guide shroud is not adjusted properly).

IIRC if the exhaust is out a tooth it generally doesn't make too much difference to the way it runs, but if the inlet pulley is out a tooth or two then it can be very sluggish. This maybe the other way round - its been a while since I last messed with one.

 

Here you go Musso, saves a lot of typing for me. Basically i think as ALi is saying, your ok.

 

Well ive only had the car a few months and never been in another subaru before untill my friend took me out in his the other day.

Weve both got similer mods but his had so much more torue than mine, which is why i decided to have a look around the bay for problems.

Thats when i discovered the timing was out, which will explain why my car feels crap on boost.

So have i now got to totally remove the belt and refit, or can i just slacken the tensioner off and move the pulley to line it up?

 

If you dont know how old the belt is it might be an idea to put a new one on

 

Ive got a recipt for it fitted 3000 miles ago, ive only done about 1200 miles in it. So am i right in saying the timing is out and that it will need to be redone?

 

my friends never ever ran right , always way to lean so checked the timing and so it was out so it was corrected it and it still runs lean.

 

If it has only done those miles id just reset it it and jobs a good un

 

Musso, i've just been out and changed my coil pack, whilst i was there i took a pic of my marks. As you can see.

 

Thanks for that Steve. So yours is half a tooth out. Ill go and count mine now...

 

My inlet cam is definatly out by at least 1 and half teeth. This may explain the fuel smell i get from this side of the car, as i am 100% there are no leaks, but the passanger side has the occasional strong whiff of fuel.

 

Only one thing for it then Musso old bean.

It's not a big job, and from what i know of you, should be well with in your capabilities.

 

Thanks Steve
I was hoping it was ok, cambelts are my least favourite jobs to do.

Matt

 

Yup not too hard, just awkward keeping the belt on the RH cams without them springing round.

As soon as you remove the tensioner pulley allows some slack on the belt the right hand inlet and exhaust pulleys will spin round. Sadly Subaru never thought of equipping this car with locking holes on the pulleys/heads, which is nuts on a 4-cam engine

Bulldog clips are your friend. And half a tooth out like B13BATs is fine.

Also use a shaving mirror (or similar) to double check timin marks.

 

Thanks mate i will give this a go in the morning.

 

good find matt, lets hope it is this eh

 

I hope so buddy. Would explain the tapping ive got coming from the engine, its on the same side... I just hope it hasnt possibly damaged a valve. If your free tommorrow mate come over.

 

yeah will have to pop up, maybe you might be able to keep up or maybe not lol

 

Trust me mate, When i get the tax sorted well have to go for a blast!

 

Just out of interest Guy's what timing belts are you using here, because they certainly would have come from the factory misaligned like that not even half a tooth, I've seen some aftermarket belts cause issues like this before where they wont go bang on the marks, the genuine belt allways lines up right everytime.. seen some right horrid things from sunco and some other makes too that wernt right causing the engine to rock about on idle...

 

Im not sure what make the belt is. Im gunna try retiming it, but if that doesnt work i may get a genuine belt.

 

FYi: Gates is the factory branded belt. That's the only belt I'll ever use on a Subaru.

Gates = Genuine.

Of course you can pay extra for the exact same belt in a Subaru branded box.

 

Mine is a genuine item.

I take you mean 'wouldn't'.
This 'half a tooth' business. WTF is 'half a tooth'? That would mean the pulleys/belt would sit 'peak on peak' (not possible), not peak in trough as they do.

When i fitted the belt it was impossible to match all the marks spot on. IMO if the inlet is spot on 12 o'clock and the exhaust is spot on 3 o'clock, and the at least 1 of each of the double alignment marks line up then that is correct.

 

i pay a proper subaru mechanic to fit mine lol

 

I cant even get the nut off the crank pulley. I have broken my breaker bar trying lol!

 

That happens, you won't be the first LOL.

Two ways to undo it; use the starter motor trick (and a stronger breaker bar ) - wedge the breaker bar on the chassis leg by battery (wrapped in a rag to stop scratches/dents etc.) and click the starter motor for half a second. Usually works first try.

Or the more "correct" way is to take out the radiator and get an impact wrench on it.

Both methods to be done with caution (rounded bolt heads, knackered crank thread/woodruff, sheared bolt, another broken breaker bar etc.)

 

Hmm, the first way sounds good. Ill go to machine mart and get a new bar. Quick one for you... does the crank pulley have to be aligned to anything, or is it just the gear behind the pulley i need to worry about?

Reason i ask is my crank pulley does have a line marked on it...