1. How long would it take a trained mechanic to change my timing belt and water pump not taking into account the workload he has? An estimate would be fine. 2. Do I really need a new water pump? I have heard that Subaru water pumps usually last quite a long time and do not need to be changed if they are still good when you do timing belt. 3. Can I put my car in valet mode for the time they have it, or will they need it to have the full RPM range? I am very un-trusting of shops that I do not know, and since I live in lower Alabama now, I do not have any relationship with any shop. Thanks for the help.
1. 30~45 minutes w/out interruptions or holdups. 2. Up to you. I've seen some be defective in as little as 10k miles, some have gone past 500k. 3. I wouldnt trust anyone, set rev limit to 2k and MPH limit to 10. <---had done a WRX timing belt job in 20 minutes start to finish....AND when vehicle was at the body shop for repairs valet'd car to 2k/10mph.
took kingwrex that long to do mine...granted i already had my radiator out and all of the timing belt covers off. It would take me 20 minutes to get those off, normally. if i were doing it myself, it would take me a couple hours. Aligning the timing belt isn't that hard...it's getting to the point where you can put the belt on. and valet mode is fine, there's no need to drive the car when doing a timing belt. water pump should be fine, too.
Got another question for you guys: What absolutely has to be replaced while its getting a new timing belt? I am reading about things such as idlers, and the tensioner but am unsure if they will need replacing. Right now, I am just looking at doing timing and drive belts, and if things such as water pump don't look good then those will be replaced too. I don't really want to have a whole lot done because everything is running fine and I am worried that messing with some of it will cause new problems... Any advice?
Replace the pulleys, cam gears, idler gears, timing belt, tensioner, shortblock, heads, timing covers, and all bolts.
lawl btw, visually inspecting your water pump will do nothing...it looks like part of the block. If you've never taken one out, you'd probably pass right over it. From the outside, you will have no indication of whether or not it's going to fail, unless the pulley or something is loose
I lost a water pump on my svx and it wasn't a big deal since it is non-interfernce. The water pump stopped spinning so the timing belt melted and broke. Do that on a wrx or sti and you will need heads and a block.
OK. Thats what I'll tell the tech to do. Thanks Cool! So heres what I am really going to ask to be inspected/replaced: Timing belt, water pump, tensioner. What else is necessary while he's in there?
Those are the basics. However if he inspects the water pump you may as well replace it as you are breaking the seal on it. Water pumps and oil pumps on the WRX rarely fail but hey anything can happen. My new motor has all new everything.....
I am probably just going to keep my water pump. No need for inspection for the seal's sake. Don't we all wish we could have our motors rebuilt 3 times in a year like you...:coolugh: