hankosolder2

--- It is a bit of a mystery. There is no tapping for the EGR pipe in the left hand head. It seems improbable that someone would go to the effort to fake a JDM engine, swapping wiring harnesses, heads and intake manifold tappings around only to sell it for $500-$600. Regarding the long block - Every '95 US EJ22 I've ever seen has the VIN stamped on the block. This one is definitely blank and, no, it hasn't been filed off or ground down. I suppose it could also be imported from a RHD country other than Japan. The seller also offered normally aspirated EJ20 engines, which were never sold in the US, so I think they are genuinely importing engines. From where, I can't prove via first hand knowledge. I'm just reporting my observations to help people crack the JDM mystery. Nathan

Greetings, Well, I bought an engine from my local "engines from Japan" merchant for my Dad's '95 legacy. Various people have mooted the theory on this board that there's no such thing as a genuine JDM engine of >2 liters, because engines over 2 liters are punitively taxed in Japan. I was inclined to agree, but thought "eh, this is a good price on an engine, it's got a 3 mo warranty, the seller has a good rep and I don't really care if it's authentic JDM" made me go for it anyway. After inspecting it today, I think it's genuine JDM. First off, the tapping for the vacuum booster is on the wrong side of the manifold, so this is from an RHD car. It's got the three connectors on the right side of the engine, so it's got to be from a '95, two port heads, no EGR. The engine came with a flex plate on it, so it's from a 4EAT car, yet has no EGR like all '95 Automatic cars. The old oil filter which came on the engine has all Japanese kangi (sp?) characters and no English. The power steering pump has a wire going to it! (Pressure sensor?) Finally, the place on the side of the block where the VIN is stamped on a USDM engine is blank. That's my .02 ...we'll see if it's any good when I fire it up. BTW, has anyone tried to run one of these engines on a strict plug& play basis? The harness and injectors look almost exactly the same as USDM, but I'm a bit scared to just plug it in and risk toasting the ECM, ignitor, etc. Nathan

Just a hunch here, but I suspect that the GT's steering is _supposed _to be heavier... i.e. it has more "sporty" suspension tuning and people who like that generally prefer less steering boost. Rather than physically swapping rack & pump, why not do some part number research first? If both cars use the same p/n pump, then you know the difference has to be the rack. Good luck! Nathan

Sorry to hear about your bad experience with the ECU remanufacturers. Don't be too hard on yourself; hindsight is 20/20... I have one thought, and perhaps those more experienced with the failure modes of Subaru ignition systems can chime in... you had only one drive signal going to the ignitor module, right? Is it possible that a faulty cam sensor can cause this? I.e. the crank sensor tells the ECU the RPM of the engine and the cam sensor tells it which bank of plugs to fire? Easy enough to scope the sensor outputs & perhaps you don't need an ECU at all. I could be TOTALLY off base with this theory. It is just an uninformed thought, presented for what it is worth. Nathan

Hiya gang, I'm STILL on my quest for a replacement EJ22 for my Dad's '95 Legacy with rod knock. In order to broaden my options, I'm wondering if I can use an ej22 out of a '95 Impreza? I gather there might be some wiring differences or the intake might be different... anything else I'm overlooking? Secondly, what is the long term reliablilty of the EJ25 block + EJ22 heads Frankenmotors? I've got a EJ 25 block with bad HG and some piston slap...could perhaps just use that + the good heads off of the '95 EJ22 to lash something together. Mismatched coolant passages + a high compression ratio don't seem like the ticket to long term reliability...but I'm open to hearing what people's experiences have been. Nathan

* 2.5 (DOHC) & 2.2 exhaust manifolds appear to be different. How far back do I have to replace if I go 2.2? If you use a '95 2.2, that has a 2-port head which will bolt up fine to your 2.5 exhaust manifold. * 2.5 & 2.2, being different displacement, ought to have different fuel requirements. Must I swap out the wiring & brain from 2.5 to 2.2? No, you do not have to swap out the wiring and brain. Basically, remember that an engine takes 14.7 parts air to one part gasoline... a smaller displacement engine is the equivalent of a larger displacement engine at part throttle; it will draw less air in, but the MAF will tell the computer supply a porportionally smaller amount of gas. Also, the oxygen sensor monitors the fuel mixture when the car is running closed loop and will adjust the fuel maps as needed. * I'm not interested in go-fast engines. Slow and bulletproof is what I'm all about. Which 2.2 is the one to go for (assuming the weight of opinion here doesn't go to fixing the 2.5)? '95 and '96s are non interference, so that adds another layer of bulletproofness (is that a word.?) On the other hand, used '95 engines are getting kind of old. Good luck, Nathan

Thanks for the info! Nathan

Gary, Not to be jacking this thread (seems like the fellow already found his oil leak so hopefully it's cool) but do you happen to know if the flywheel cover is possible to replace without jacking up the engine? Stupid me- I was new to Subarus at the time and installed an ej22 into my wife's '98 Legacy Outback. I didn't realize that there was supposed to be a flyweel cover...because there was no cover on the old 2.5 when I pulled it. (Engine had previously been in & out elsewhere, so the previous mechanic must have lost it.) We've been running without a flywheel cover for a year with no apparent consequences, but I worry what a stategically thrown pebble might do the clutch or flywheel ring gear. Nathan

I was wondering if anyone has installed one of those JDM non turbo ej20 engines sold as a replacement for the EJ22? If so, was it an easy swap and how much slower was the car? I'm having a hard time finding a decent EJ22 for a '95 legacy with intermittent rod knock. Thanks in advance, Nahtan

> That flyback voltage is seen by the switching transistors in the igniter, and >they need to be rated to withstand it. Using diodes to suppress the kickback >defeats the design. Man, oh man, I was wrong about clamping diodes. I guess it's just force of habit-- driving an inductive load= need to clamp back EMF. Or not in this case. In a kettering ignition, the coil forms a resonant circuit with the condenser across the points, right? I always thought that the cap across the points was just to extend the life of the points, but it also really increases the voltage output by tuning the primary circuit to resonate. Food for thought. >True, in terms of the turns ratio. Of course, if there were >secondary-to-primary leakage, the voltage wouldn't be limited. The back EMF still a decent spike, as anyone who has manually opened the points of a kettering ignition with the engine off and key on can attest to! Nathan

Well, I think the best way to check the ECU signal will be to use that digital 'scope. I'm sure that if you see ANY pulsing on both the drive signals to the ignitor, the ECU is probably fine. What are the odds of it failing in a manner which would allow excessive duty cycle pulses? If you have a Fluke digital multimeter with the analog bargraph display on the bottom of the LCD, you may be able to see some "flickering" as the digital signals pulse at cranking speeds. At the least, you could compare both outputs from the ECU and the DC average should be close if the pulsewidth is similar. I looked at the schematic, and IF the depiction of the ignitor is accurate, there are PNP transistors in it, so yes, a logical low to the ignitor would turn the transistors on and send current to the primary of the coil, so yeah, an open or grounded drive signal could wreak all kinds of havoc. I'm a little suspicious that the internal ignitor schematic isn't accurate (for example, there's no way the drive transistors could withstand the back EMF from the coil pack without clamping diodes in either the coil pack or the ignitor.) So, it very well could use NPN transistors wired with the collectors going to the coil pack and work on logical highs... Chances are that the ECU power lead and the power source for the coil are the same circuit...so if the ECU lost power it wouldn't cook the ignitor. Here's a thought. Why not do something to limit the current going to the coil during testing to protect the ignitor? You could splice some low resistance power resistors in series with each leg of the primary circuit of the coil. (Kind of like "ballast" resistors in old points type ignition.) It would obviously reduce the spark output voltage, but you could try it temporarily during diagnosis and then once you proved that everything was working, wire the coil back in straight. Of course, if the secondary is arcing to the primary, those resistors aren't going to buy you much safety! Good luck, Nathan

Ah, another person with an electronics backround. Yes, the plugs paired on one bank of the coil get opposite polarity pulses. It's called a wasted spark system. It seems remotely possible that if you have a open in your ignition secondary circuit (most likely a plug wire) the high voltage could arc internally from the coil pack's secondary winding to the primary winding and fry the transistor in the ignitor. You could check the resistance of the plug wires. I would scrutinize the low voltage part of the circuit first though. Does the coil have equal resistance from the centertap on the primary to each primary leg? Another possiblity might be if the computer is holding one of the outputs to the ignitor constantly low or high...rather than pulsing. The ignitor is probably not designed to dump 100% duty cycle DC into the relatively low resistance of the coil pack. You could check for the proper drive signals going to the ignitor, check the wiring between the ignitor and the coil pack for shorts, check the plug wires for opens, replace the coil pack and ignitor simultaneously and you'll probably be in business. Let us know what you find! Nathan

Thanks for the info. Nathan

Hey Gang, I have a quick question...I have a '95 Legacy which seems to have rod knock. It's got the dual port heads and no EGR (it's a stick.) Assuming that I swap the '95 manifold, harness and ancilaries over, could I use a '94 or earlier engine in this car? They have the dual port heads and seem the same, and the lack of EGR ports on the early engines won't be a problem in this application.... Nathan

Yeah, I just ordered one of those "rear main seal retainers" and received what I needed- an oil separator plate. At the risk of sounding like a stand up comedian- "what's up with that?" I mean, it's NOT the real main seal retainer. BTW, I think the latest style sheet metal oil separator plate requires different screws. Others may have more info than I Nathan

It sounds like you're really considering several different angles. Have you tried holding the car in a different gear at 30 mph? If the pitch of the noise stays the same, it isn't the engine making the knocking! Good luck tracking it down. EDIT: "Pitch" isn't really the correct term... what I am trying to convey is "does the pace of the knock change with road speed or engine RPM?" Nathan

When I first saw this thread title- "What begins with "H" and we all dread?" I thought for SURE that it was going to be some sort of Honda joke. Alas... Sorry to hear about your head gaskets. Nathan

Well, if it's "normal," you should request to test drive another '07 Outback on the dealer's lot and see for yourself if it does the same thing. If it doesn't behave the same way, then it's on the dealer to diagnose and repair the problem! Nathan

Well, after driving through several start-get up to temp-cool down cycles, I would definitely check the coolant level in the overflow resevoir...if there was any trapped air in the system that works its way out after the initial fill, the coolant level can drop a fair bit. Top 'er up as needed. You don't want to be traveling at high speed with low coolant. I agree with the other poster; use the car as much as possible prior to the trip, preferably some high-speed highway driving. Good luck! Nathan

---- I think someone suggested this earlier in the thread, but you could tap into the return line from the fuel pressure regulator...it'll have lower pressure on it. You could then wire a switch to turn the fuel pump on when the car is not running to pump out as needed. Of course, if you want to keep it simple, they also make those accordian-pump-style syphoning hoses, so you no longer need to get a mouthful of unleaded when syphoning. I want a diesel or propane lawnmower to help get around this problem. And an assistant to help start it! (Not that diesel smells great when transporting it in the car, but it's much less explosive.) Nathan

Going on Safari? Nathan