Great DIY. A couple things, having followed it this weekend to do my first timing belt ever.
Use a silver marker to mark the timing belt on it's edge. The lines on the OEM belt don't translate to the marks on the gears as well as they do when you add a mark on the edge.
Use a small mirror to check if the lower marks are aligned correctly. From above, the angle really makes it hard to tell.
I ordered all of the idlers and the tensioner as well as the crank seal, the thermostat, the water pump and corresponding seals and gaskets. The only idler that showed any wear was the very small one near the top right. The idlers and the tensioner all looked new but I replaced them anyway. NOTE: One of the idlers has been superceeded (bottom left with red ring) to the exact same one that is above and to the right of it. So when you order all idlers, you'll get two of part 13073AA142. One looks identicle to the part it's replacing, the other doesn't. I didn't know this until I called the online dealer that sold me the parts and told him he'd made a mistake. He said the only mistake he'd made was forgetting to tell me about one part superceeding another.
I skipped replacing the crank seal. Mine looked perfect and I understand they're a real ***** to remove so I said F it.
I would start the DIY by jacking up the front of the car and putting it on jackstands. Then you'll want to remove the plastic undertray. This gives you access to the lower PS fan plug and drain ****. You can skip the drain**** and just pull the lower hose though. Otherwise it takes forever to drain and I understand that the drane ****s can leak or break easily. Plus they drain the coolant all over the subframe and you get coolant everywhere. In addition to a pan, have a large rag or ten standing by.
Um, what else? Oh, one of the large cogs didn't want to stay as the valve springs kept pushing it one way or the other and a ratchet can only be locked in one direction so we used the breaker bar on it which helped a lot.
Oh, the best way to remove the crank bolt is to have a friend put it in 5th gear (6th in an STi) and step on the brake while you use a breaker bar on it. Works great.
I also broke the plastic part of the AC belt tensioner because I neglected to loosen the bolt that goes through the wheel on the tensioner before trying to loosen the tension by spinning the long bolt that is the tensioner. Make sure you loosen the necesary bolts before adjusting both belt tensioners. It was only $6 at the local dealer though and fortunately it was in stock.
Oh, and we didn't remove any of the belt guides. It's not necessary since the belt just slides off the front of the idlers they're installed around.
Thanks again for a really good DIY. Seriously, the pictures and diagrams are really great. I tried to use the text only version I'd printed out and I ended up bringing the laptop out to the garage.
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