Cambelt change...
 

Can you tell by looking at it whether it needs changing or not? Was getting my sti booked in at Subaru next week to have it changed but having looked at it today it looks pretty good... no frays, nice and clean... just wandering if there is anything I can do to check if it needs to be done?
The guy I got the car from said he was told it's been changed recently but has no paper work to prove it... the last time it was changed was 2008 according to the service book so I was gonna get it done for piece of mind. It's only done 10k miles since the last change but it's way over time frame wise as Subaru said it should be done every 5 years?

Thanks people 👍

If in doubt change it, £400 inc fitting for full kit, £4k for a new engine if it fails.

Is it worth skimping? My car done less than 10k miles on its last belt but I changed it on age. They do deteriorate over time.

Hard to tell by looking, obviously looking good is better than it looking tired, it's the tensioner I'd be worried about so better to change it and forget about it

When ever I've had mine changed the belt has never looked worn or in need of replacement. How it looks is not really relevant, it's all about age and mileage.

On the surface the belt can look okay but it may have degraded below the surface then all of a sudden the teeth strip. I have seen on a landrover a portion of the teeth stripped on the cambelt. There was nothing seized that could have caused the stripping.

Getting mine done in just over a week by Surrey Subaru Specialists, who quoted me about 480 including VAT for the cambelt and other drive belts that needed doing.

150£ for the full kit and an hour or two to fit,easy job to DIY :thumb:
Anyone who charges 400£+ is taking the pi55

£400 wow thats pricey, i bought a full kit and got it fitted for £300. Buy the kit yourself, most suppliers for garages charge £250 for the kit.

£400 is pricey but it's being done by a specialist which is for piece of mind, and it looks good on the history. They also said they won't give me a warranty if they are customer supplied parts.

What garages did you get it done by?

300£ is closer to the mark,400£ is piece of mind or taking the pi55!
If I can buy for 150£ and do it in 2hrs then a 'specialist' can do it in less time.
Fair doos pay the premium for the stamp in the book but don't have your pants pulled down.

I read that as £300 labour and about £150 for the kit, so about £450, or is the OP paying £400 plus vat just for labour?

Wow there's some serious mugging going off for a very simple job. Doesn't matter who does it or if it's stamped in the book as long as you keep receipts, any vat registered garage can stamp your book, should be looking at about 2hrs labour @ circa £50/70 per hour so if you're paying more than about the £150 mark you're being mugged.

There's a bit of a con that goes on around Subaru cambelt changes, mostly due to Classics having problems, newer versions are much more reliable due to having upgraded slightly different designs. ;)

Idlers and followers are inspection only @ 60k.
Water pumps on newages are way more reliable, different impeller and will see well over 100k.
Oil pumps too don't have the lose screw issues of the classics.

And the main point, Subaru's are NOT hard on cambelts like some other marques, hence they still look good when they are replaced, they're also pretty well protected from the elements by the cambelt cover.

Cambelts themselves have come a long way since the 70's and 80's (which is the era all this must change it comes from) as have oil and water pumps, bearings, 'O' rings etc much improved.

One last point is Cambelts don't come with a date stamp so any "NEW" cambelt could already be 10yrs old by now having sat on a shelf somewhere in a wharehouse, which is something no one can tell you has or hasn't happened.

Fair enough if you want to get mugged off for some mythical "peace of mind" but seriously if you pay more than £250/300 you're being mugged, BIG TIME.

P.S; Another little caviate, all the snapped/ frayed cambelts I've ever heard of on here have always been down to poor fitting.

Fill yer boots.

Wise words, you will kick yourself if it goes, its piece of mind as your driving and no worries about it failing. :thumb:

That isn't genuine parts though is it.

Kits from ASPerformance are the same as OEM tho.
https://www.scoobynet.com/trader-ann...tml?styleid=22

Rcm kit is about 150 if not less

but that isn't genuine is it.

I think it's something like 98% of cambelts are made in the same factory, dayco etc are oem quality, so paying for a particular name or one with a subaru stamp on it is pointless, also some of the more fancy ones (mentioning no names) are easily degraded by petrochemicals. ;)

Im not disputing any of that, some companies prefer to use genuine parts that will put the price up.

at the end of the day you make a choice and get the work done

Surrey Subaru Specialists also offer a warranty. Even if I am paying £150-200 more, in the grand scheme of things, I know it'll be done properly, it comes with a warranty and I will have a warranty to go back with if it goes wrong. Worth every penny to get it done properly and done right.

Oh, I forgot to mention that all of the drive belts are being done to, so that's extra labour and money for the parts. So I would say it's just right really.

Well it's extra for the belts..........

Looking at the prices people are changing the cambelt without changing the water Pump?

I've never not done both at the same time.

Mine was changed 32k miles ago due to an engine rebuild. Will I need to replace it again?

I always change both when the cambelt is due, not on a Subaru as I don't own one yet, but on my Escort Cosworth, Focus Rs, Golf GTI I did.

Reading this thread seems that people don't. Apologies if I have the wrong end of the stick here.

I've heard of water pumps bearings seizing but after 80k miles, I wouldn't bother doing it earlier.

[QUOTE=SubieJack;11910769]Surrey Subaru Specialists also offer a warranty. Even if I am paying £150-200 more, in the grand scheme of things, I know it'll be done properly, it comes with a warranty and I will have a warranty to go back with if it goes wrong. Worth every penny to get it done properly and done right.

All well saying you have a warranty but say if the new belt broke (yes highly unlikely) I can't see anyone agreeing to replace/rebuild an engine when only the belt is covered?

[QUOTE=Jonny Park;11910824]I believe they would be held responsible if the cambelt tore apart fudging the engine up.

No garage can tell you that there is no warranty if you supply your own parts, they are responsible for all work they carry out regardless of parts used, do you seriously think that if they supply a cambelt and it snaps because of a manufacturing fault they're going to fix your engine for free. :lol1:

Wait don't think too hard, I'll save you the trouble, NO they're not and rightly so, neither is any other garage on the planet, they will all point you in the direction of the manufacturer, who wouldn't???

Again it's all part of this MYTHICAL "PEACE OF MIND" if anything by replacing perfectly good working parts you are in fact rolling the dice as to whether or not you'll be on the receiving end of good parts and service. ;)

But hey people it's your money, your car and your choice, so not my problem.:thumb:

Maybe on older classics with the different impeller but you won't hear of it on a newage.

All this is basically a good money spinner for garages, plain and simple, if folks are happy to splash their cash on unnecessary parts then more power to them, who am I to get in the way of their "peace of mind" :cuckoo: :lol1:

Personally anytime I let a spanner monkey near any of my vehicles I cr@p myself for about a month afterwards waiting for something to go wrong.