Cambelt replacement

[Andy_Mac]

Started off thinking i had a faulty thermostat, and then thought hang on a sec, haven't seen markings indicating its had a cambelt done. So thats where i'm at now. Ripped one of the covers off tonight and having never seen a cambelt before i really couldn't tell if it was new or not. Didn't exactly look new but wouldn't know either way. Belts we use at work look worse than that after a few months so not quite sure

So anyone out there with experience wanna give their 2c on whether it should be replaced

Cheers

[czar loc]

What should be replaced is up to you but every cambelt I have changed I also replaced idlers, tensioner, water pump, themostat, cam seals, oil pump seal, and I think that covers most of it really

[Andy_Mac]

Yea if it gets done i'll do all those things. Just wanted to know if people thought it looked like a belt that was 20-30k old or 120-130k old

[hijacka]

Eww change it! It is old.

[Andy_Mac]

Yea thought so. Doesn't look too worn but with the colouration it looks pretty old.

Contemplating whether i do it all myself, will be a big learning curve but should save a truckload. Only thing i'm a bit worried about is the crank pulley. From what i've read so far thats where most people go wrong.

[Rosssub]

Probably more get stuck than go wrong. The crank pulley bolt can be super tight, then the pulley itself hard to get off.

[Andy_Mac]

Is getting it sll from subaru the best bet or worth trying to source it from somewhere else??

[Rosssub]

Yeah go genuine, or gates make a nice pretty blue racing belt kit if you want something special.

[Andy_Mac]

How much would you normally expect a kit to cost??

Just got a quote from subaru for:

Cambelt kit

Water pump kit with thermostat and all seals

Oil pump seals - is this really needed?

Cam seals - they said cam seals probably won't need doing so csn return these if not needed

They priced it at 740 + gst. 650 if i return cam seals

Is that the normal price for subaru stuff??

[Rosssub]

Jebus... When I priced OEM I must of already had a new water pump, The Gates racing Kit is looking pretty good now.

The oil seals are worth doing while it's all apart, would suck to have one start leaking in 65k.

[Andy_Mac]

What did they charge you??

Is there anyone in nz other than repco that does gates or are they the best bet?

[Marky]

Is this the car you just bought?

DIY'ing it might be a warranty issue (has to be done within the right intervals etc?), in your shoes I'd save the extra $300 or so and have a garage do it so you have some comeback. For generic subaru cambelts most places have a drive in - drive out cost to quote you

[Andy_Mac]

Yea the one i've just bought.

Good point marky. I'll look into what the warranty lets me do and decide from there. Shouldn't be too hard to do and since its a car i plan on keeping for a very long time having maintenance logs and stuff like that from mechancics doesn't really mean much for me. But if its something the warranty says has to be done through a mechanic then i guess i'll have to go that way

[Andy_Mac]

Well warranty/breakdown insurance thingy says all work has to be done by a mechanic so i guess i gotta start looking for somewhere to get it done

[killervq30de]

 Andy_Mac said:

Well warranty/breakdown insurance thingy says all work has to be done by a mechanic so i guess i gotta start looking for somewhere to get it done

Figure plucked from the air when I went asked at Winger was about $2000 for all parts and labour

[tebbyj]

A garage will most likely only do belt, water pump, tensioner and idlers if its a 100k change and there are no signs of leakage. I usually recommend doing seals at a 200k change just because you can imagine they would be worn by then. Saves some money but obviously is the risk you run of them leaking.

[Andy_Mac]

The price i got from pf automotive was 1200 for the lot including oil pump seals, don't think it was cam seals though. And subaru was 1200 aswell including oil pump seals and they said they could check cam seals and do them if needed for like another 90

[94 Leone]

420 + GST for a cambelt kit with idlers, tensioners etc. everything minus waterpump which is from a previous quote I have received once is about 100 dollars. this is OEM from subaru. Guy on the phone said cam seals are another 20 dollars each. but I didn't get them as mine are still fresh. easiest way to change it; is to take out your radiator fans; then you can do it in place just by removing accessory belts; it does make it a tad tricky to see if the bottom marks are lined up okay; but otherwise: not too tricky a job: as long as you have a big bar, and a 10mm allen key. and an easy way to line the crank up to TDC is to mark where the keyway is; and TDC is in line with the keyway, but the keyway is on the bottom.

ignore that; just read the stuff about warranty.

[killervq30de]

 Andy_Mac said:

The price i got from pf automotive was 1200 for the lot including oil pump seals, don't think it was cam seals though. And subaru was 1200 aswell including oil pump seals and they said they could check cam seals and do them if needed for like another 90

I recall what the $2000 was for it was the 100k service. it was the 1200$ like you say for the cambelt stuff and the other $800 was for fluid change diffs,gearbox,coolant,brake. I got quoted $800plus gst for 50k service for fluid change only from subtech so winger seem to have competitive pricing for a dealer

[Andy_Mac]

Yea i was about 5mims away from ordering a kit from subaru when i read markys comment and thought F better check with them and sure enough a no go.

This warranty thing is already starting to p**s me off but it's still good to know i'm covered for a car i don't really know yet.

[Marky]

It's kinda worth it if its a car you're keeping long term

Still a lot of things you can tinker with without voiding it (especially a subaru which has a lot of factory go fast bits - all the sti / genome etc bolt on stuff is a factory part... sort of... and *should* be fine if you do end up needing to claim)

If nothing else it puts you off no8-wiring anything hahaha

Something to be said for having a car you know you can fang all day and if it goes bang, you're covered - as opposed to making it a wee bit faster and knowing you're footing the bill if the wheels all fall off

[NomadGonad]

For comparison maybe try H&N Automotive for a quote to....generally a bit cheaper than others in TRG.

[Andy_Mac]

I'd use them with caution if i were you. Have heard about some pretty shoody work done through them.

[NomadGonad]

Hmmmm......no reputations from me....... I can speak personally of the disminishing workmanship I got from the other TRG Subaru specialist.