The Subaru Forester is a type of vehicle called an SUV, which is designed for both city driving and off-road conditions. The 2012 model is known for being reliable and having a lot of space inside.
The timing belt is a rubber belt that helps keep the engine parts moving in sync. If it breaks, it can cause serious damage to the engine, so it's important to replace it when needed.
Dual overhead cam means the engine has two parts that control the opening and closing of the valves. This helps the engine run better and use fuel more efficiently.
Single overhead cam means the engine has one part that controls the valves. It's simpler than dual overhead cam but might not work as well for performance.
The crankshaft pulley is a part of the engine that helps turn belts to power other parts of the car, like the battery charger and the cooling system. It's important for the engine to work properly.
Variable valve timing is a system that changes when the engine's valves open and close. This helps the engine run better and use fuel more efficiently.
An oil seal leak is when oil leaks out of your engine because the seals that are supposed to keep it in place are damaged. This can cause problems if not fixed.
An interference engine is one where if the timing belt breaks, it can cause the parts inside the engine to hit each other and break. This is worse than just the engine stopping.
The drive train is the part of a car that helps it move by transferring power from the engine to the wheels. When someone says it's 'bulletproof', they mean it's very strong and unlikely to break.
Wheel bearings are parts that help the wheels turn easily. They can wear out after a lot of driving, which is normal and means they might need to be changed.
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Hi, it's Mark.
I'm here with Bernie Pollock, Pollock Automotive in Vancouver's best auto service experience.
We're talking cars.
How are you doing, Bernie?
Doing very well.
So today's guest is at 2012 Subaru Forester.
What was the story behind this automobile?
So the client brought this vehicle to us.
New client is driven from Ontario to Vancouver to spend some time here.
And wanted to make sure the vehicle was in decent shape, wanted to once over on it.
And he also requested the timing belt to be replaced because it was due by mileage.
And just want to make sure the car was good enough to drive around and then head back
to Ontario a few months down the road.
So what was the diagnosis process?
We did a comprehensive inspection on the vehicle.
So a full vehicle lookover.
We found some issues, some of which we addressed, some which were left on the list of to-dos.
But the timing belt was an important job for him.
So we did a timing belt.
So we want to show you what a proper, complete timing belt job on a Subaru 2.5 liter dual
overhead cam engines.
This is a turbo model.
And the timing belts stopped being used on Subaru's around the 2010, 2011 model years
on the 2.5 liter single overhead cams.
But the duals, they continued on for quite a long time afterwards.
And overhead is a misnomer because Subaru is a horizontal used engine.
Yeah, yeah, it's not really overhead.
It's over side.
We'll stick with the terms.
All right, here's our vehicle.
Beautiful Subaru.
Unfortunately, one of the issues we did find is there was a lot of rust under the vehicle
because they use a lot of road salt back east.
And you can even see it on the wheels of the car.
There's rust that you would never see on a car around Vancouver.
And these are all the parts.
So it's not just the belt.
It looks like it's not just the belt.
Yeah, there's a number of parts that are replaced.
So I'll go over it.
So that big black thing that's weaving through the photo.
That is the timing belt.
It's very long in this engine because, of course, it's horizontally opposed.
And it's got four camshafts to go around.
So it's pretty long as far as timing belts go.
There are some pulleys above the timing belt.
Those are all replaced.
And when we spun the pulleys on the car, they were all very noisy.
So all warm.
How long they would last?
Who knows when you change the belt, you change it all because the belt
lasts cars now 13 years old, maybe 14 years old.
You don't want to be back in there doing, oh, let's change a pulley later.
You do it all complete.
The other big silvery item on the right, that's the water pump.
And very important on this engine to use a good quality water pump.
This is an Asin pump.
It's not Subaru, but it's exactly same as OEM.
And very important.
We've had cars where this engine will overheat.
Maybe use a cheap, low grade water pump.
Very important.
Down below that, below the timing belt is the hydraulic tensioner unit.
This keeps the timing belt tight.
It also has a pulley on it.
So that's a critical item to the left.
There's water pump gasket, a couple of gaskets related to the water pump.
And then those little brown rings are seals, oil seals for the cams,
two for the camshaft intake cam, two for the exhaust cams and one
for the front crankshaft seal.
Again, important to change.
None of them were leaking while we did the timing belt, but will they leak
in the next 12 years?
If the car lasts that long, and it might, yes, they will.
And then you have to take everything apart.
So best to do it all complete.
It is a big bill, but when it's done, it lasts.
So here's what it looks like in the vehicle.
Yeah, that's a view looking down.
That's the old timing belt installed.
There's a, you can see a bolt sticking out in the middle.
That's the crankshaft pulley right there, which basically drives the belt
and the whole mechanism.
And you can see some of those pulleys that we looked at.
If you look carefully at the picture.
What do we have here?
Yeah, so we actually found a problem, as I mentioned, the pulleys,
which you can see to the left of that arrow and below there's several pulleys.
Yeah, you got the one, two, there's one on the right, two that has teeth on it.
Yeah, that one there.
And then you actually, you're pointing to the water pump on the far right.
So you're seeing a lot of the mechanism.
So we did actually find a problem.
The front crankshaft seal was actually starting to slip out of its bore, its position.
That arrow points, you can see a silver edge to that seal.
And that is from the seal rubbing against the crankshaft pulley.
So the seal was slipping out.
The crankshaft pulley was actually holding it in place and wearing things out
as the engine was running.
So this would have failed pretty soon.
And when it failed, it would have created a very major oil leak
and probably start off slow, but get bad pretty fast.
So the good thing we did, the timing belt, when we did, because it was definitely due.
So there's a close up of that.
Yeah, there's a seal.
You can see the scraped edge.
That's this silvery part right all the way.
That is that silvery part there should not be like that.
It should be all brown and we can actually look at a seal that's good up close in a minute.
This is the other side.
This is the crankshaft.
Yeah, so this is the crankshaft pulley or sprocket and where the timing belt runs.
And that's sort of shiny material near the middle that goes around the circle.
That's from rubbing against the seal.
So no damage to that pulley.
This thing is a big, huge hunk of metal.
It could go forever scraping on that seal, but it's not supposed to do that.
Let's put it that way.
Metal on metal is probably not a really good idea.
Metal on metal is not a good idea.
It wasn't designed to be that way.
And then what do we have here?
So here we're looking at the left side with the camshaft pulleys removed.
And you can see the oil seals.
Those are the brown things there.
This crankshaft seal is supposed to be all brown like that.
It's a rubberized coating on the seal.
So you can see by that other picture was scraped away.
So those are the cam pulleys on one side.
Then we have the right bank and this has the seals removed.
And the last view I think we have here.
This is a view of the camshaft sprockets in place.
This is the same view as the last picture with the camshaft sprockets in place
in the old timing belt and the big silvery thing on top.
The sprocket is very large because that's variable valve timing on the intake side.
So it makes for a complicated mechanism.
You need special tools to remove all these pulleys.
They don't just blast off with an impact gun like you used to be able to do.
You have to have holders that hold the pulleys in place.
So probably not a good backyard job, especially tools required.
So once all the repairs are done, how's the vehicle running?
Perfect. Excellent.
In all fairness, it was running fine before.
And this is the thing with timing belts is they run fine until they break
or something goes wrong like an oil seal leak,
which would have been the thing that would happen first on this thing.
So the whole idea of the belt having a replacement time
is that the belt stretches. Is that what's going on?
No, they start to crack and the rubber gets fatigued.
It's amazing how good the quality of modern timing belts is.
This car is still 13 years old, modern like in the last 20, 25 years.
The quality is just amazing on timing belts compared to what it used to be.
And a few generations of Subaru ago, timing belts used to snap and break.
And fortunately, they were not interference engines.
So if they broke, your car just died and you had to have a towed,
which is not a good thing, but it didn't damage the engine.
But the material of the belt was a skinny belt.
The rubber wasn't very good quality.
And there were so many other cars like that, too.
In the last couple of decades, the quality of timing belts is just phenomenal.
But they don't last forever.
And this is still a non-interference engine?
I believe it's interference.
I can't say for sure on this one, but I know the single overhead cams
are definitely interference engines.
And after the belt breaks or gets out of time, it'll bend valves.
And that gets really expensive.
That gets really expensive.
And I say I don't sure on this engine, but you don't want to take a chance.
So 2012 Forester, how reliable are these vehicles?
Still a great car.
Yeah, it's a good car.
They say we work on a lot of Subaru's, they have some issues,
but you can almost put them all down in a little book and go,
these are the things you can expect to go wrong with the car.
And it's actually good buying used cars or owning a used car.
Your problems are predictable and they're not enormous.
Headgaskets have been an issue in a lot of these cars.
They're not such a big deal on these dual overhead cam engines.
They do go bad, but they're not as bad as the single overhead cams.
There's actually a more reliable engine.
But yeah, I think they're good cars.
There's a lot of things that never go wrong in Subaru's like transmissions
almost never have a problem.
Drive train is pretty near bulletproof.
Wheel bearings wear out.
We do a lot of those brakes wear out, but that's normal on cars.
So yeah, great car.
Highly recommend them.
So if you're looking for service for your Subaru in Vancouver, BC, Canada,
the people to see are at Pawlik Automotive.
You can book your appointment at their website, pawlikautomotive.com.
They'll contact you.
They'll get ready for your appointment.
Or you can book by calling them 604-327-7112.
But the whole thing is you got to book ahead.
They're always busy.
Pawlik Automotive in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Thanks so much for watching and listening.
Thank you, Bernie.
And thank you, Mark. And thank you for watching.
We always appreciate it.
You
About this episode
A 2012 Subaru Forester is put under the microscope as Bernie Pollock shares insights from a recent service. The owner, a new client from Ontario, requested a timing belt replacement and a thorough inspection. The discussion highlights the importance of a complete timing belt job, including replacing pulleys and seals to prevent future issues. Bernie also addresses common Subaru concerns, emphasizing the reliability of the dual overhead cam engines compared to their single overhead counterparts. Listeners will gain valuable maintenance tips and learn about potential rust issues from road salt exposure.
