2000 Forester Timing belt change : Parts?

5

Asked by Jeremy May 07, 2011 at 10:38 AM about the 2000 Subaru Forester L

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I recently acquired a 2000 Forester with 140,000 miles.  There are no service records of a
timing belt change, and I have a very small oil leak that appears to be coming from the
timing belt area.  I am planning to attack the belt by myself, and I understand there are cam
seals that could be leaking.  Is this accurate?  My question is what parts are acceptable for
replacement?  Should I use subaru parts, or are there other quality parts available that are
sufficient?  Same question for valve cover gaskets just in case I mis identified where the oil
is coming from.  I haven't pulled the plugs to check that yet.  I have also read that I should
go ahead and change the water  pump while doing the timing belt.  Any thoughts on that?
Thanks

3 Answers

45

My 99 forester has done 300 000 km's. I have used non genuine parts for the timing belt, pulleys, seals and water pump. All replaced at 100 000 and 200 000 I have done all the work myself and have had no problems in this area at all. the oil leak will be from the cam seals, crank seal, rocker covers or oil pump(common on this model). Check what area the oil is coming from. The cam seals are on each side. If it is in the centre it is probably the crankshaft seal. It is fairly easy to replace all of these at the time of timing belt replacement. I always replace water pumps and tensioners when doing timing belts. It is better to be safe than sorry

look inside radiator overflow to see if sludge or when ruuning to see if there are bubbles coming up these early years also have a head gasket problem hard to diagnose but they have some kind of liquid that can fix as long as its a ( sohc )) engine not the newer ( dohc) engine ( single overhead cam ) (dual over head cam) just look up on computer subaru had a speacial program on this goodluck

825

If the oil is coming from the timing belt area it's a possibility that your oil pump is leaking or that your front crank seal is bad. As far as parts for Subaru I recommend using the dealership parts however OEM parts will work just fine too. The water pump should be replaced if you are going through all that. There are cam seals on the cams but more than likely the oil is going to be coming from the pump or the crank seal. I have built and rebuilt many ej25 engines. I know it from top to bottom in and out. I know I don't have a high reputation score on here but that's because I don't spend a lot of time on here. If you have any questions regarding your Subaru ej25 engine feel free to ask I promise I will not steer you wrong

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