1999 Subaru Forester - Tensioner Replacement Question

Mike in IA

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Mar 16, 2004, 11:25:59 AM3/16/04

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Hello all,

I have a 1999 Subaru Forester and it has been recommended by the
dealer that I have my timing belt replaced ($300). Now that I have it
at the dealer they are coming back to tell me that the tensioner also
needs to be replaced ($200+ additional).

Is it normal to have the tensioner need replacing at the 60,000 mile
point? When they initially sent me information on the items I needed
to have fixed/replaced they didn't mention the tensioner at all -- not
even as a possibility that it could need replaced.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Mike in IA

Edward Hayes

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Mar 16, 2004, 11:34:11 AM3/16/04

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200 dollars seems excessively high. I think the dealer may be stacking the
charges i.e. charge for timing belt and removal of stuff to get to the belt
and then charging to remove the same stuff to get to the tensioner. To
change the belt the stuff removed to get to the belt is the same stuff as
for the tensioner. Hopefully other on this site who have both done will
respond. Ed Hayes
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John Varela

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Mar 16, 2004, 2:52:49 PM3/16/04

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My thought is that the maintenance booklet for my wife's 1999 Forester says to
inspect the timing belt every 30,000 miles or 30 months and to replace it at
105,000 miles or 105 months. It sounds like it's not normal to replace the
belt at 60,000 miles, much less the tensioner, although things do happen.
Maybe the tensioner went bad and ruined the belt?

--
John Varela
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I apologize for munging the address but the spam is too much.

Edward Hayes

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Mar 16, 2004, 3:23:16 PM3/16/04

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Good point John: My Forester manual says replace timing belt at 105,000
miles. 60,000 mile interval to tooooo short for this engine unless another
problem connected with the belt is the issue. Ed Hayes
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L. Kreh

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Mar 17, 2004, 1:58:20 PM3/17/04

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FWIW, I have a '99 OBW with the 2.5L engine. The first timing belt
replacement should happen at 105,000 miles. Something is fishy with
your dealer's advice. Based on your post, your dealer recommended
belt replacement based at 60,000 miles, which is wrong, then found
that the belt tensioner also needed replacement. If the dealer had
first determined that the belt tensioner needed replacement, it would
make sense to replace the belt at the same time. However, the reverse
finding would make me really suspicious.

That said, if you do, in fact, need to replace these parts, the dealer
price is not out of line. The timing belt and belt tensioner were
replaced in my car about a year ago (at 105,000 miles) for $319 and
roughly $250, respectively.

Ken Parker

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Mar 19, 2004, 2:45:54 PM3/19/04

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The tensioner for 1999 Forester lists at $140.19. It has to be removed and
then re-installed in order to change the timing belt. There should be no
labor charge for this.
Ken

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