2013 Subaru Outback changing the timing chain
Asked by GuruW7TYT May 30, 2018 at 10:45 AM about the 2013 Subaru Outback 2.5i Premium
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
I have 157,000 miles on my Outback. Everything is working real well.
The timing chain does not have an obvious way to determine wear and whether or not I should change it.
When do the normally wear out or require changing?
2 Answers
Theoretically...it should last the life of the car...it's lubricated by the engine oil..so don't run low on oil and keep up with regular maintenance.... IF the chain gets noisy or starts rattling.. you might want to get it checked. Congratulations on 157,000 miles so far.... have you ever had any HEAD gaskets failure?
TheSubaruGuruBoston answered 5 years ago
The modern DOHC's timing chain will momentarily rattle on cold starts. There's no evidence of wear on heavily-used first year (2013) specimens. Note the misleading info above: one cannot inspect the chain without VERY expensive removal of the bonded front engine cover; secondly, the 2013+ DOHC does NOT have frail head gaskets. (Stick to your Prius aid, Mark!) SOA specs 0w20 oil in North America to prevent customers from complaining about timing chain rattle on cold winter starts, whereas the better 5w30 is used elsewhere in the world (inc MY garage and my hundreds of clients).