Hi all,
Today I replaced the timing belt, pulleys, tensioner, thermostat and water pump on my 05 Outback 2.5 with 100K.
Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has posted any timing belt info. The instructions and photos throughout this site ALL came in handy and made the task manageable.
One thing I learned the hard way...while fitting the new belt I moved the driver's side camshaft pulley a bit too far, then valve spring pressure moved it much further. While moving, I grabbed it and tried to rotate it back by hand. Dumb! I didn't see the sharp edges on the entire front side of both camshaft pulleys and ended up cutting two fingers. (A band-aide wrapped in duct tape and back to work) After that, a wrench was used to wiggle the camshafts while fitting the belt. It looks like a burr from casting/machining.
Also, it was tough to fit the belt around all the pieces. So I installed the geared idler pulley second to last by rolling it along the belt into place. Last idler pulley to install was the #1 idler pulley (located between right camshaft and geared idler pulley) and I pushing up the belt from under the car while moving the pulley into place. My Haynes book labeled that as #1.
Hope this saves someone some skin.