timing questions...needs to be set...

my uncle has a 90 model legacy ej22 and the water pump went out on it... well his brother ( my other uncle) put it on but now the car is waaayyy out of time and wont even start... i know you have to line the cams up with a mark on the motor and then the white line on the belt up with the crank or something? im sorta confused so if someone could talk me through how to set the timing i would appreciate it.....thanks.....

Yep, there are alignment marks on the 2 cams and the crank to be lined up. I think many of the belts out there are marked, too. All 3 of these marks are aligned 'up' and there is a notch on the engine or timing cover for all 3 to help aid in this.

Nick

Line up one side, put the belt on and then rotate the crank 180 degrees and then line up the other side and put that belt on. I did the same thing as you the first one of these I replaced. On a side note, I just got my 93 towed home with a blown timing belt. Looks like I'll be replacing another this weekend. :-(

My mistake. I was thinking of my old 87 that had a left and right timing belt. Like StNicholas said there are notch marks in the timing belt cover above each cam gear. Line those up and the crank. They should all be straight up at 1200. Then put the belt on. There might be marks on the belt. Line everything up and you should be good. The auto tensioner is a pain. I take mine out and compress it in a vise. Then slide a drill bit or small nail in the holes to keep it compressed until after I have the belt in. If you have an extra set of hands to help you out this is easier. When I tried it myself I kept having the belt jump a cog while trying to get the tensioner in. This may be what happened in your Uncle's car? When my Dad held the belt in place it was very easy. As for my timing belt it wasn't blown. The bolt on the auto tensioner sheared off. :-( Fortunately we were able to extract the broken piece, get a new bolt and replace everything. good luck and let us know how it goes.
ByronP

Here are some pics that another Subaru guru sent me, hope they help.

gl...

http://www.main.experiencetherave.com:8080/subaru/images/timingbelt/

http://www.main.experiencetherave.com:8080/subaru/images/timingbelt