Interesting Timing belt find...

[NuclearBacon]

So i'm going to be putting a new timing belt on tomorrow, and when i called my local dealer looking for a 13028-AA102, he told me that (here in california) subaru had an issue with that "shorter life belt" and had to make a "california specific" timing belt with part number 13028-AA150. He says its the same price but evidently its a longer life belt.

i dunno... thought it might interest some folks outside of cali....

He told me he doesnt even stock the 13028-AA102, only the other...

i picked it up yesterday...and yup... looks like a timing belt! i see no difference....

just FYi

[kamr0n]

i wonder if people in other states know about this...

[greg donovan]

as far as my mechanic friend at the subaru dealership knows the belts are the same. only the rating is different. just like subarus in europe have a higher tow capacity rating than the US subarus.

[Matt Monson]

While the belts aren't technically exactly the same there is no difference to their lifespan. California required a different service interval rating on the belts but the materials, strength and durability of the belts is identical.

The thing that is changed is they actually move the timing mark for the crank every so slightly. This timed the CA engines marginally differently for emissions reasons. This is also part of the difference with the CA ECU. Not only does it run slightly different maps, but it's designed to read that slightly moved crank timing mark.

But as your local tech suggested, it's nothing to lose sleep over. The AA150 belt can be used on a CA in place of the AA102 belt with no ill effects. In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if at some point Subaru slyly superceded the AA102 part number to AA150 without saying anything to anybody about it. It would just automatically refer you to the other belt when you type in the old part number, kind of like thy have with the crank and many other items from the first gen. Leggies.