2004 WRX - Shoopster's build (or rather, repair) thread by Shoopster

8 minute(s) of a 119 minute read

Radiator belts were in poor shape, little cracks all over the place

At first, Boyfriend-Mechanic (hereafter BF) tried to do the job without removing the radiator, because he's done it before. And, because every extra thing that needs to be disassembled comes with the extra risk of another thing breaking or being stuck or both. He's got this tool he fabricated too, looks like a long arm with two bolts soldered to the the end of it, and he usually uses this to do timing belt jobs without removing the rad. But the crank pulley was royally stuck, even with an extra pair of hands helping (not mine.). Finally it took a really small and really powerful impact to get it 

Here we see the Shoop's oil pressure switch, all blackened from a leak.

So, removing the rad. Two collars around the hoses at the bottom broke, PITA #1: extra half-hour.

PITA #2 one of bolts securing the radiator/chassis bracket also broke. He was able to remove the brackets and the radiator, and so but the a/c compressor stayed in place for the duration of the job. He was finally able to drill through and remove the stuck bolt at the end of the evening. Tack on another extra half-hour. Plus extra PITA factor for having to work in a tight space.

I cleaned the timing belt covers  this isn't my good side 

Here's the new oil pressure switch (before engine wash)

Ok this is where it gets interesting. The following are pix of the old timing belt and the pulleys and their markers.

Sorry if some of the pix are fuzzy, it was a tight fit.

Cr*p in the tensioner, and notice how the top of its pin has been worn down, it has a groove.

This is what the thing shouldn't look like.

Below, old/used vs. new. Notice how the blue one is all dirty, and the outside of it is marked and worn from the belt sliding over it, which its not supposed to do. In other words, the belt was turning and the pulley probably wasn't. Not properly anyway. 

old, old next to new, new

Thermostat housing

same piece, after a bit of grinding/polishing

Old water pump below. On its left (your left) is the thermostat, which we (he) forgot to order. Luckily it was in very good condition, and the timing-belt-kit we ordered came with the gasket for it. Following that, pix of the new water pump (before installing the thermostat piece).

For a hot minute, the cleanest part of my engine bay.

warshed

This is what BF uses for engine wash

New parts being installed

I washed the radiator fans too, with the same stuff

And here are some pix with the pulleys (and new belt) lining up properly. 

Mechanic's trade secret: plastic surfaces can be polished with parts lubricant. 

Shoopster's first engine wash (+busted bolt removed/replaced)

Started this job at 3pm, finished around 1am. 

During clean-up / smoke break, BF said to me, "You remember a point when I was really upset and swearing?"

Which of course begged the answer, "What? You? Nah."

He said, "I didn't want to tell you this earlier, because I didn't want you to worry. But for a minute there, I thought we were going to lose the Shoopster. I really thought you were going to need a new engine."

Ok, so the lessons here:

1. Don't just replace the timing belt. If you're going to go to the trouble of opening it up, replace everything involved.

2. Anti-seize on every bolt, every time.

In other happy news, the Shoopster made the 220,000km mark today (136k miles)  

Also, the needle on my boost gauge now passes the zero, went up to 10 this morning (this was at 140k/hr or 86mph).

The throttle lag on take-off is g-g-GONE!

And here's Mechanic Smurf.