H6 belt tensioner rattling

[Russ59]

Hi Guys,

I just had the 112,500 kms major service completed on my 2005 Outback H6. The mechanic also changed out the power steering fluid and removed and cleaned and the reservoir as he said it was filthy dirty. After this was done I had the dreaded PS whine from air in the system which was rectified by doing the "O" ring replacement. I have also replaced both bearings in the idler and tensioner pulleys as well. Rattling / knocking sound had just become quite noticeable when I arrived home the other day, I thought it was the bearing in the PS pump but my mechanic had a look at it today, pulled out the tensioner and cleaned and sprayed grease in it which has unfortunately only made it even noisie Subaru part price is $235, I have come across several on eBay in the U.S.A. and they are half the price (one is GATES brand which says it's OEM) listing says suits all H6 models from 2001 - 2009 ?? Just wondering if anyone else has purchased one from the U.S. and if so are they the same part ?? http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Belt-Tension ... 2a37b8efd1

Thanks in advance for any replies

[Daytona]

I haven't purchased from the US, so can't really comment on that.

But, funnily enough I've just ordered the tensioner, pulley and belt from Japan (plus 3 oil filters) for my 07 Legacy H6 (I'm in NZ).
Total price in Yen came to 30,075, in NZD: $331.99 (inc shipping).

For the tensioner alone, you can get that for approx $117 AUD (exc shipping).
That's actual Subaru parts.

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to do this, but I went through AVO JDM (http://www.avojdm.com) just go to the contact page and email them.
Subaru parts are not listed on their website, but they do get them.

Guy I talk to is Derek.

They're the cheapest I've found - I had to get some OCV's from them a couple months back and got all four of them shipped to NZ, including customs and shipping for about $500NZD. One of those solenoids will cost about $450 in NZ (that's from a Subaru dealer here).

I've gotten:
- Subaru double DIN replacement
- OCV's (pretty sure that's the name, changes depending on what you're reading)
- Drive belt parts
- Oil filters

That's who I go to for Subaru parts anyways, they're great to deal with, I basically research everything I can and then go to them with part numbers. In this case the part number might be 23769AA003 - that's for an 07 mind you.

Looking at:
http://parts.subaru.com/p/Subaru_2005_O ... AA003.html

Looks like the part number is the same.

I think it's 01 through 09 H6 of the 3.0 variant (as I think the EZ36 just replaced the 3 litre).

Anywho - hope that helps - it's not as cheap as the one in the US, but it's definitely a Subaru part.
Totally not meaning to advertise and apart from getting stuff from them, there's no relation!

[Russ59]

Thanks very much for the reply and info, I'll email them and find out Shouldn't be any real issue with the present tensioner for now at least but I have just compared it with my sons H6 Liberty with the engine running and his tensioner has very little movement in it whereas mine shakes quite a bit so it must have a fair bit of wear Roughly the same kms too !!

Cheers

[3rspecb]

If you have the Subaru part no, try partsouq.com. I got a genuine Tensioner Assembly from there (around $60 usd) and quick delivery too.

[Russ59]

Thanks will try and get the part number and do some research

[Daytona]

No worries!