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Alternator/Power Steering belt And Air Conditioning Belt Replacement


Gambit
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  • Ratchet Set
  • 10mm socket
  • 12mm socket
  • 12mm deep socket (optional)
  • Short extension

 

Remove the Air Intake

1

Remove the two 10mm bolts

Grasp the intake; pull it away from the fender coupling; remove

subaru-imprezza-remove-air-intake-tube_n

Remove the belt cover

2

Remove the 10mm bolt on the left and the 10mm nut on the far right.

Once these are removed, slip off the cover from the stud on the right side, then pull the cover up to free the alignment pin from the grommet underneath the cover.

subaru-imprezza-remove-plastic-belt-cove
3

Here I've removed the belt cover and placed it upside down to illustrate the bolt, nut, and alignment pin arrangements

subaru-imprezza-remove-plastic-belt-cove

Removing the alternator / power steering belt

4

The alternator belt is the outer belt and must be removed first. Belt tension is maintained by three bolts.

Begin by loosening (do not remove) the 12mm alternator swivel bolt

subaru-imprezza-alternator-belt-tension-
5

Next loosen (do not remove) the 12mm lock-down bolt.

Finally loosen the 12mm belt tension bolt. As you do so, you'll notice the belt now getting looser - keep going until you can work the belt off the alternator pulley and remove.

subaru-imprezza-belt-tension-bolt-adjust
6

This image illustrates the bolt travel needed to remove the alternator belt

subaru-imprezza-remove-alternator-belt-t

Remove the A/C Belt

7

Once the alternator belt has been removed, we can now remove the A/C belt. Begin by loosening (do not remove) the 12mm idler wheel tension lock-down bolt, labeled on the lower right side of this image.

subaru-imprezza-remove-air-conditioning-
8

Then loosen the 12mm belt tension adjustment bolt until the belt can be removed from the A/C pulley.

subaru-imprezza-ac-belt-tensioner-remova

Install the new belts

9

Install the new belts and adjust the bolts in reverse order. The image illustrates the part numbers I used from O'Reilly's Auto - your part numbers may differ.

Tighten the tension adjustment bolts until there's only about 1/4" play at the center span of each belt with moderate finger tension. Once you're satisfied with the belt tension, tighten each of the lock-down bolts (a bit of caution here - excessive belt tension may wear pulley bearings prematurely - observe the 1/4" of center span play guide).

Before re-installing the belt and air intake covers, start the car and look for any issues with the new belts (keeping fingers well away from the new belts). Turn on your A/C to test that belt. If no squeaking or excessive belt play is observed then shut off the motor and re-install the belt and air intake covers.

Look around the engine compartment for any remaining tools, drop the hood and enjoy the ride.

 
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  • 4 months later...

Cheers Gambit

Just picked up my first (normally aspirated,I know I'm not quite there yet) Subaru 2.0 R Sport. My mate who sold it said it had a bit of a squeal on start up and notchy power steering until the engine warmed up he had it serviced before sale and the garage said all the belts were tight. I came on the forum looking for info on power steering belt and found your article. Clearly the mechanic must have been metric and did not know what a 1/4 inch of slack looks like! So, armed with my 10 and 12 mm sockets, I loosen two bolts, tweak the tensioner, tighten it all up and hey presto, no squeal. Happy that its not too tight to wear the pulley out, so one happy bunny. Thanks for the article.

Cheers

George

 

 

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