My 1999 Subaru Outback legacy
Asked by Jj May 07, 2016 at 11:48 AM about the 1999 Subaru Legacy Outback Wagon AWD
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
I was driving and my car shut off well I
went to start it again I heard some clicking
well I got it towed back and I looked at it
and found out that my timing belt gear
shattered...is there anyway I can fix it or
would I have to buy a new motor?
7 Answers
According to this website, your car has an interference engine, meaning, when the timing belt shattered, it allowed the valves to come in contact with the engine tolerances and likely bent and destroyed the valves in your engine... Sorry, this is catastrophic failure and at this point, you either need a new engine or new car.. It's a 1999, do you really want to spend the kind of money on a 16 or 17 years old vehicle, plus, how's the rest of the car??? Transmission, body, interior, etc... Don't know if you or the person before you maintained the car, but, the timing belt is a critical component and if it's not maintained well, these unexpected and show stopping events happen.... I suppose you could just get a replacement engine if you are lucky from a salvage yard, but, I would probably not do an engine rebuild on this old of a car.... If you get the replacement engine and drive it a few more years, you can sell it... Otherwise, if you don't fix it, YOU might as well have it towed to the junkyard now....or sell it for $500. Good luck with your decision... http://www.scoobyenthusiast.com/subaru-faq/which-subaru- engines-are-interference-what-subaru-engines-are-non-interference/
Yes Bob, that's exactly what I said above.. However, there is a difference here in that the failure of her timing belt is due to the poor maintenance of the car.... It's not the car's fault, it's always the owners fault...
walth- to quote a famous line, " in your heart, you know I'm right ".
TheSubaruGuruBoston answered 8 years ago
That's complete bull, Mark! Timing belt failure due to lack of maintenance is the LEAST of the Gen 1 2.5H DOHC motors' fragilities! Shame on you for putting this on the owner! The fracture of an undersized pulley that wasn't up to the speeds it's called upon for has NOTHING to do with timing belt maintenance, but simple lack of proper engineering on Subie's part, and NO proactive maintenance is/was possible as there is/was no subequent recall nor redesigned stronger part. PLEASE leave your web-sifted analyses to real mechanics with deep experience, ok? You're getting to be just too much, friend.... Oh...and Happy Mother's Day.
Jj, keep us posted with your plans and/or future questions here in this post, if you will.
