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Timing belt replacement, should I do the water pump too?

TwoFortyJeff asks:

I'm at 100K so it's about time for the timing belt and all the assorted idlers/tensioners. Should I do the water pump while I am in there? I'd like to drive the car another 100K or more. Is this worthwhile preventive maintenance or should I plan on the pump lasting a long long time? What about the t-stat?

I just changed the coolant so that doesn't necessarily need to get done right away unless I do the water pump.

canubaru responds:

yes the water pump and ALL the idler pulleys and tensioner.

kzr750r1 agrees:

+1 +2 +3

AWDFTW advises:

ALL tensioners and pulleys. Crank and cam seals. Reseal oil pump. Replace WP. The Subaru one is actually well built. It'll make 100k easy...200k not so much. Replace tstat (Subaru part ONLY). Also a good time to check and see if the valve cover gaskets are leaking (oil on plugs or wires). I have my valves checked/adjusted when my VCG were replaced at the TB job.

Saint J VT shares:

Yes, I wish I would have belonged to this site about a year ago when I had my timing belt replaced. I did tell my mechanic to replace anything else in there, including the water pump, that may need replacing in the foreseeable future. They certainly did not replace all the things mentioned thus far in this thread, including not replacing the valve cover gaskets, seals, rubbers, etc, which have been leaking nearly since day one.

I have a new Fel-Pro valve cover gasket, rubber rings and gasketed rings for the ten bolts that I will do one of these days before winter when my body is up to it. I can at least do one side at a time, the easiest side first. I would like to check the valve clearances at the same time while the covers are off.

Timberwolf99 suggests:

Check cam and front engine seals condition and replace if necessary

tdelker asks:

Replacing cam seals would seem to me to make this a much harder job. You can't use the vice grips to hold timing on the passenger side. Is there an alternate suggestion to keep this, or some info on how to regain the timing?

subiesailor says:

Here is the skinny on the water pump replacement.

#1 The water pumps don't fail very often very rare case to see any fail at 100K or even 200K.

If your the original owner and the coolant has been kept clean and properly maintained - then I would say NO - save some money and leave the pump as is. If you have a turbo yes I would replace it not because the pump might fail but the pulley and or bearings might be a tad tired after 100K of turbo abuse.

If your not the original owner have no idea what sort of coolant history the car has - or otherwise - yes probably a good idea to replace the water pump.

ASturSubaru01 asks:

Sorry to interject here - I just bought an '08 2.5i Ltd (nonturbo) - I'm wondering what you consider to be "clean and properly maintained" coolant? Are there any specific tips/recommended intervals/winterizations, etc.?

This is my first Subaru and I want to treat it well. If the cooling system needs some extra TLC I want to give it that.

OUTBAMF asks:

This is all good stuff to know...on the performance side is there any notable advantage to getting a lighter set of all the pulleys(Other than the main?) Is there such a thing made? I was looking into the Gates kit I have found it for $120 ish plus shipping. Is this a good deal?

Timberwolf99 clarifies:

That's why I said check and replace if necessary, excessive oil on a timing belt can soften the rubber and cause it to break prematurely.

radio head shares experience:

My brother and I recently did the timing belt, idlers, tensioner, water pump and thermostat (with associated gaskets for t'stat and pump) on his 02 Forester (I know, it's not an Outback...)

Once having everything apart, we noticed the following:

-- at 120k miles or so, the bearings in all the idlers and tensioner were shot. all sorts of noises were coming from them when spun by hand. they also had a lot of play in them.

-- the water pump gasket was essentially disintegrated and the water pump bolts were all loose...I removed them all by hand. water pump bearing made a lot of noise and had a lot of play in it as well.

-- car was purchased used at around 90k miles (by my brother) and had an unknown history. once we drained and refilled the coolant, we realized that the car was missing about a half a gallon of coolant (we removed 1 gallon and filled back up total with 1.5 gallons.) I have no idea how the car never overheated, but I largely attribute this to luck. upper radiator hose was bone dry and a bit rotten, so we replaced it.

My advice is largely anecdotal, but I would definitely replace all those bits while you're in there. Timing belt, idlers, tensioner, water pump, thermostat, all that good stuff. This was our first time ever doing this and it took us about 6 hours total, including coolant refill & burp (and a quick trip to the local auto parts place for a radiator hose.)