Timing belt replacement

Whichever comes first: 105 months or 105,000 miles.

So it was due sometime in 2010. Get it scheduled.

rasterman said:

Whichever comes first: 105 months or 105,000 miles.

So it was due sometime in 2010. Get it scheduled.

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Ugh. What's a good price for this?

Fair spread... local indie places will usually be a bit cheaper than the dealer. It can be a DIY project, but I would list it as intermediate difficulty. Not awful, but not good for beginners.

I see $1100 thrown around a lot, and that isn't so different from what I paid even though I have a different model and had some other work done on the same ticket.

You can cheap out and skip the idlers, tensioner, waterpump etc but I generally advise against that. At a dead minimum an experienced mechanic needs to inspect the existing ones to determine how shot the bearings & tensioner seal are. Doubts about the mechanic's experience are eliminated by just installing new parts & moving on

The price you would be charged depends on how much you replace in addition to the timing belt. Most on this board think that you should replace all the following: belt, idlers, tensioner, water pump, thermostat, and crank and cam seals. This is an interference engine, and you don't want any of these parts to fail over the next 105kmiles.

If you do it yourself, and buy most of the parts OEM equivalent on ebay, about $300. Dealer cost, well, I would hate to guess.

I've done it twice and was shocked at how easy it was the first time. Not an advanced job by any means. Once you pull the radiator (which only takes about 10 minutes) there is plenty of room to work in there. Buy a repair book, take your time, don't loose parts. Just make sure the timing marks are lined up before you pull the old belt and install is easy. Took me about 3 hours first time. Could probably do it again in less than 2.

Dealer cost was about 500 for everything. kinda spendy but didn't want to risk aftermarket parts and didn't have time to wait for shipping.

Best price I found to have it done was 1200.

Have ALL parts replaced while its torn apart... Its more money of course................but a lot cheaper in the long run. I had a 2000 OB and had ALL parts replaced. it was about $ 2000.00 that included the dreaded Head Gaskets though

Thanks for all the replies. I don't think my wife would let me take on this project. Haha. Fortunately my dealer was willing to do it for less than $900.

I think mine (granted, it's an 06, but it's nearly the same) was about $700-800, and that was for TB, WP, and tensioners. I'll second the idea of replacing EVERYTHING while you're in there. It's cheaper to replace that than to replace busted valves.

SubaruMN said:

Ugh. What's a good price for this?

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Let me give you an ideal what a fair shop would charge:

I just had an 02 Impreza with a 2.5 SOHC in the shop. For just shy of $1200: T-Belt Kit, seals, thermostat, rear wheel cylinders, NGK IX plugs (#6), valve cover seals, brake system flush and filled it with coolant. Used Subaru parts for the seals and t-stat, Gates for the kit. The price included parts and labor.

cardoc said:

Let me give you an ideal what a fair shop would charge:

I just had an 02 Impreza with a 2.5 SOHC in the shop. For just shy of $1200: T-Belt Kit, seals, thermostat, rear wheel cylinders, NGK IX plugs (#6), valve cover seals, brake system flush and filled it with coolant. Used Subaru parts for the seals and t-stat, Gates for the kit. The price included parts and labor.

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Wow that's a really good price.

So unfortunately they got everything taken apart and the head gasket is leaking coolant. So I have to get that fixed too. Probably going to be around $1900 parts and labor.

How common is this at 90,000 miles? It's been well taken care of.

If you don't have any records of the transmission fluid or front & rear differential fluids being changed, now would be the time to do those as well.

SubaruMN said:

Wow that's a really good price.

So unfortunately they got everything taken apart and the head gasket is leaking coolant. So I have to get that fixed too. Probably going to be around $1900 parts and labor.

How common is this at 90,000 miles? It's been well taken care of.

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Too common. Sometimes Subaru of America will split the cost with you- Subaru's undeclared warranty program. Undeclared so nobody can hold them to it. I don't know the terms, but maybe write or call them and see what you get.

Performance Suby said:

If you don't have any records of the transmission fluid or front & rear differential fluids being changed, now would be the time to do those as well.

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Fortunately I have changed the ATF within the last year. I switched it out to Mobil 1 and also changed the filter. I have not done the front and rear differential. How hard are these?

SubaruMN said:

Fortunately I have changed the ATF within the last year. I switched it out to Mobil 1 and also changed the filter. I have not done the front and rear differential. How hard are these?

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Not very, though you need weirder tools. Long skinny funnel for the front, and some oddball sockets for the drain plugs. Torx T70 I think?

Make sure you can get the rear fill plug out before you drain the oil. The filler plugs like to seize themselves in. Not impossible. It's lame when you're stuck with an empty diff and can't put new oil in.