I'm in the process of building a 2.33 and am at the stage of getting all the bits and pieces together.

The parts are starting to pile up but I'm now at the stage of looking for a timing belt. They seem to vary wildly in price from a £40 Dayco through to a £100 GReddy kevlar number.

It's not that I mind spending the extra for some piece of mind but would I just be throwing money away for the sake of it?

Anyone ever had one go on them? If so what make was it and what power were you running at the time?

 

hiya mate


dont be fooled in to thinkin cheap is good your car relys on that timing belt pay up for the best and peace of mind will follow i have seen at first hand the carnage which would follow a snapped belt and the money side is suicidel

 

running a Dayco belt on my car at the moment..

it has done 36k, will be coming off soon when engine gets pulled later this year.. possibly get to the 45k by then.. the quality of the belt looked good.. as best as I can check with my eyes. lol

Will probably use the same on the new engine.

Simon

 

YES
False Economy !!!

 

have you seen them snap then Dean?

 

giving advice with one post.....

 

I run dayco belt to fairly high boost LOL
no issues with fitment and so far its been mustard, doesnt sound at all "belty" when running.

£45 delivered well spent in my eyes

 

Agreed.. not heard of belts snapping on Scoob engines either.. tensioners failing, cam wheels breaking but no blets snapping..

if someone else has snapped a belt.. please post!

 

Personally I would only fit Sti parts, bit like the oil filters too.
It must be revs that kill a belt or tension changes.
Graham

 

I've fitted over 30 Dayco belts to Imprezas and Legacys, and not had a failiure yet. I recently replaced one that had done 75K and was still intact

 

Yes,
It did not snap fully, just kind off shredded one side, & got caught up in the Timing belt guides & then smashed through the timing belt cover

It was very lucky.
Im not saying only fit subaru ones, just a good quality make, Like the Gates brand Etc

Dean

 

ive had one snap on me!! the day i got the car.. worst bit was i was having the cam belt done that week! I think the one that was fitted on mine wasn't very good quality and the garage believed it was something to do with it being fitted wrong.. managed to snap an idler out at the same time.. some of us get all the luck!!

 

Dean,

What year?

What make of belt?

Was it running the same phase tensioner to cam covers?
I believe there is differences in the cam cover with regard to belt guides, ie. was it a phase 1 block with phase 2 heads for example.

Simon

 

sounds more like a fitment error rather than belt quality..?

 

Got my belt (dayco) £45 delivered....was gonna fit it myself but i think its beyond me, spoke to a guy i know...having it fitted saturday for £70...any problems and i have someone to go back to aswell.

Bob

 

I think it's highly unlikely a belt will ever just snap on a Subaru engine, because they are so long, and there's always some flex in it.

However, with up rated valve springs, I have seen standard belts "stretch" by quite a bit, enough to want to replace it.

On a standard engine, I'm sure any of the quality aftermarket belts will work ok, but I think I'd want to check it more often than every 40K miles.


Mark.

 

Hi Simon,
2001 car. The covers do vary like you say, Some with guides some without. But i have also seen a Mix match on alot of cars so im unsure which cam cover should be on which model / Year !!

Dean

 

good point Mark.. and oh bugger best not use a Dayco belt on my new engine then

lol

Simon

 

Thanks for the feedback guys, starting to feel better about the budget option.

Simon, would you care to elaborate on your comment. The 2.33 I'm build will be a phase 1/phase 2 hybrid i.e. ej22t with sti 5 heads. Will this cause me any issues?

 

I am unsure of any specifics but believe the tensioner and rear cam covers need to be matched.. so if you are using a phase 1 block I presume you are using a phase 1 tensioner (don't think but I could be wrong that a phase 2 tensioner will fit without modification to a phase 1 block) so you need to check the cover for guides etc.. I could be wrong but I am just aware that the tensioners and cam covers are different and change at the same time for a reason.

I have a set of phase 1 cam covers in the garage which are damaged but I can check them for guides etc..

Simon

 

the timing covers are specific to heads and water pump, not tensioner. You can swap tensioners but you need to use the specific mounting place to suit tensioner.

 

do you recall which phase covers have the guides on Paul?

Simon