biggman100

I have searched all over to figure this out, with no luck. I put a 1998 2.2 into a 1996 legacy. The 96 has the charcoal canister under the hood, the 98 doesnt, so, to try and simplify things, i swapped the vacuum lines, vacuum solenoids, and wiring harness to the 98 2.2, and then, ran into an issue where the coil connectors are different, so, what i am trying to find out is what wires from the 2.2 connector do i connect to the 2.5 connector, so that i can connect the coil. The 2.2 connector is a gray 3 wire plug, with the wires being #1 Blue, #2 red, and #3 Yellow, and the 2.5 3 wire plug the wires are #1 blue, #2 Yellow, and #3 Red, so, what i am trying to figure out is, do i connect the wires by color, or by number position. The only thing i am sure of is that the center wire is supposed to be the 12V power wire on both connectors. I took the wire positions from this PDF: http://jdmfsm.info/Auto/Japan/Subaru/--Articles--/--Endwrench--/Files/IgnitionCoil_Mar08.pdf. Any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated.

An update on this. I didn't do anything with the lifters, at least not yet, since it has been in the 50's and 60's here. and not once in the last 3 days has it acted up, until today, and it only happened later in the day, after it started raining out, so this issue seems to be related to ignition components and moisture, so my next step is to replace the plug wires, and if that doesn't solve it, i am going to replace the coil with an MSD street coil. I use them on the street drag and ice racing cars, and in 10 years, have never had one act up, even in snow, ice, and freezing temps.

look around in other areas than yours. i once drove from southeast pa to elmira ny. I am always doing this, except in reverse. I buy cars in the Williamsport/Harrisburg, Philly, Pittsburgh, and mainly from central to the southwestern PA areas, and live in the Elmira area. I would never buy a car in Elmira/Corning, unless it was looked over at least twice by shops, lot of crooks around here.

The car is a 1997, that used to have a 2.5 in it, but now has the 2.2 from a 1996. I have done many of these swaps, and anytime it is a knock sensor issue, it shows a code for a knock sensor, as well as for a misfire. As for a compression test, the car is now sitting due to a completely destroyed transmission, so i am just going to replace the lifters while its apart in a couple weeks.

I dont seem to hear any kind of spark knock, the car just starts to vibrate under any load once the CEL starts flashing, and then once the CEL becomes constant, the shaking goes away. To be honest, it could be oil related, since im not always diligent about maintenance, coupled with the fact the car i got the engine from, i bought from someone who almost never did any kind of repairs, as evidenced by the multitude of oil leaks i had to fix before i put it in the other car. As for engine flush, im leary of doing that, since it was proven that engine flush was directly responsible for blowing up two engines, one of mine, one of a friends.

I can say, after trying this, as well as a couple other electronic swaps, mostly stereo stuff, that it will work, if you want to change the entire HVAC wiring, the controls on the heater box and blend doors, as well as all the associated parts that go along with it. To me, it isnt worth the effort and headaches.

The 1996 i swapped the engine from, and the 1997 it is in now, both had the same style hood, and the hood on the 96 had some very bad rust holes around the edges, which is why i didnt rule that out as a possibility. The 97 doesnt have any rust, anywhere, but that doesnt mean that the seal or whatever it is around the hood scoop isnt bad, or one of the hood seals isnt, even though they look good. Every time it happens, the CEL only shows the P0302 code, and never any others (in fact, in almost 12 months of driving it, that is the only code that has ever shown up, which is why it stumped the dealer). It isnt directly related to cold and humidity, as it will also do it at times, although not nearly as frequent, in the summer, but in the summer only seems to do it if i step on it a bit hard from a stop, or, if it is under load going up a steep (ish) incline, which i forgot to mention.

I routinely keep cars, at least, the ones we dont wreck racing them, until 400K or more, and have found that the 2.2, at least up until 98, will last that long. We even have an 04 Impreza sport (with a SOHC 2.5 though) that has became her daily driver, and with how much she drives (as well as how she drives, since she thinks regular driving should be a qualifier for a rallye race lol), already has 300K on it, and the only things i have done are TPS (which is how i got the car, because the TPS was shot, and was somehow showing all kinds of transmission codes), Starter, due to the PO putting the wrong one in, and then the normal wear and tear stuff. 20 years ago, i was living in the midwest, when a guy gave me my first subaru, because my Mazda caught on fire, and after my experiences with just that car, i have pretty much owned nothing but Subaru since then. If you are mechanically inclined, you can try and find a car the way i do, thereby potentially saving a ton. I buy cars that need work, thereby getting them at a much lower price, some examples being, a 1997 Outback with a 2.5, that had blown the cam gears and timing belt, 2 years ago, and after replacing the cam gears and belt, has lasted my mom more than 2 years, and i only paid $500 for that one, or, my work car, which is a 97 Outback i bought and swapped a 2.2 in, and even with transmission issues, i have driven over 10,000 miles in just the last year, that i snagged for $400. My wifes 04 Impreza i paid $1400, put $300 in it, and insurance says is still worth around $5,000. One thing i do tell people, is that, even if the car has higher miles, dont overlook it, as long as you can at least get some kind of idea of the work that has been done by the PO, if they are honest. I have bought cars for $600 that have lasted as long as my wifes 94 rallye car, even with the way she drives, which is a whole post by itself. Granted, buying them that way can also be a crap shoot, and maybe im just lucky, but except for 2 cars i can think of, have never really had a bad used Subaru buying experience, even with the really cheap cars, but i also buy them knowing ahead of time that they will need work. Moral of all this, i have never even considered buying a new Subaru, because of my experiences with the older cars, and how well they seem to hold up, even in the snow and salt covered roads of upstate N.Y., where i live now. For clarification though, i was born in the southwest, and have lived everywhere from the southwest, to the northwest (Seattle), to the northeast and everywhere in between, and still have friends and family in many places out west, such as Reno, Boulder, seattle, and even Alaska, and i never fly anywhere, i always drive, and have driven my cars from upstate N.Y. all the way to Juneau Alaska, going different ways, including through the rockies.

The reason i am leaning towards just replacing it is due to the fact that since august of last year, i have put more than 4000 miles on it, and the transmission has developed some issues, such as slipping, hard shifts, weird downshifts at odd times, and, i actually had this same issue on a 1996, that i never bothered to fix, and just drove until one day it wouldnt move unless it was either put in first manually, or it would hit about 2000 RPM's from idle, and, after replacing the clutch pack and duty solenoid, draining and filling the fluid, that transmission blew up 3 weeks later. When i replaced the clutch pack and solenoid in that transmission, i dropped the pan, and it had a ton of clutch material in it, which i assume came from the clutch pack, because the clutch material was completely gone, and that that clutch material got inside the valve body, and no matter what i did, could not get completely out afterwards, and would cause all kinds of shifting issues.

Coil was replaced, twice, once with a known good used one, and then when the issue kept coming back, with a new one. The code that comes up is strictly for a #2 misfire (P0302). Spark plugs are NGK, wires are the same performance wires i use on all my cars, including my wifes rally car, injectors are new bosch, with no change. I myself am leaning towards ignition components, or, at the very least, water getting on the ignition components, due to how it goes away faster or slower depending on how damp and cold it is outside, so, im wondering if it isnt somehow leaking through the factory hood scoop, even though i never see water under the hood. I have been chasing this issue since July of 2015, when the engine was in the old car, with no luck.

Here is my 2 cents, for what its worth. I have had more than 20 Legacy wagons and sedans (yes, im a bit rough on cars), going all the way back to 1992, and, for the mountains out west, the best car i found was a 1994 5 speed, of which i had two, and still have one, although it is beyond showing its age. Maintenance on them is fairly inexpensive, as well as easy to do, and if you are like me, and tend to not follow maintenance charts, arent as problematic as other cars. By that, i mean, i went 9 months on a 1994 5 speed daily driver, that had an oil leak, and in that time, got 1, maybe 2 oil changes, went 6 years on the same antifreeze, until it blew a hose, and, as far as i can remember, only had the trans fluid replaced maybe 3 times total, and that car is now my wifes rally car, with 422,000 on it. The 95 and up 2.5 cars are more touchy, although not a bad as others about maintenance. A close second would be a 1995 or 1996 Outback, but only if it has had a 2.2 swap done. The reason i say that is due to engine issues with the 2.5, notably head gasket issues, but, the 95 and 96 cars, due to ECM programming, are better suited for the mountains, even with an automatic

I have a 1997 Legacy outback, Auto, 236K on it, with a 2.2 swap, with an odd issue. If the car sits overnight, especially if it is wet and damp out, which, being that i live in the northeast, is common, after i start it and drive it, as it starts to warm up, the engine will shake, the CEL will flash, and then, the only way to stop the shaking is pull the car over, and let it sit for 1 to 5 minutes, then, the shaking will go away, but the CEL stays on, until i have stopped and restarted it 3 times, and then start all over the next day. I have heard everything from an intake leak, which, if so, wouldnt that affect both cylinders 2 and 4?, to an EGR problem, to a coolant problem, to stuck injectors, plug wires, coil, and everything in between. I have already replaced the following, with known good working or new parts: coil, plugs, wires, injectors, timing components (this issue was there before and after the timing component replacement), ignitor, as well as all the gaskets and seals, with the exception of head and intake gaskets. The engine that is in it came out of my old 1996 legacy l, and had that issue sporadically before the swap, but, the last 3 months or so, seems to have gotten worse. It doesnt lose oil, so i doubt a valve seal or anything internal is causing it. Two local shops, as well as the local dealer, have said they have no idea of what the exact issue could be, which is why i came here. Any advice or help will be greatly appreciated.

The car is a 1997 Legacy outback, auto, with a 2.2 swap, with 236k on it now, that i bought in 02/2016, and have been driving since then, with a TB issue, due to not enough funds, as well as not driving it much. Fast forward to around 08/2016, when i started driving it more. The first issue i am having, is that since i know that it will be better to just replace the trans with a used one, since i highly doubt after driving it this much, that replacing the clutches and duty solenoid, and then several drain and refills of fluid, will help anything. All of the local yards say that ONLY the 1997 trans can be used, and only the Legacy outback trans. My research on here seems to say different, but i would like to confirm that for sure, as i have read that the 96 to 98 Outback 2.5, and 98 forester will work, as well as the 96 to 98 2.2, as long as i swap to a matching diff. Any thoughts and advice are greatly appreciated.

I have looked all over the site, and, i know it should be here somewhere, but, i cant seem to find any info at all on this, so, here goes. I know to swap a 2.2 into an 02 outback, you have to swap the intake, cam and crank gears, and cam and crank sensors to the 2.2, but, my question is, which 2.2's? Im looking to do the swap on an 02 outback 2.5 automatic, so, i know i need the egr engine, but, which years and cars will the 2.2 work from?

I am looking for a simple answer to a simple question. Can i use the throttle body from a 1996 2.5 on a 1997 2.2? Both are EGR, and both have the IAC on the side of the intake.

Next question, can i use the 2.5 throttle body on a 2.2 intake?

The 2.5 intake i have, has the canister connections for a front canister, its the 2.2 i put in it that has the rear canister connections.

One thing that really puzzles me though, there are no lines, other than the one going to the solenoid and map sensor on the strut tower, so, how does the solenoid under the intake connect directly to the rear canister, as the pic i posted seems to show?

97 is when the canister was moved to the rear. I have 2 96 cars, one sedan, one wagon, both 2.2, and the canister is under the hood.

The only solutions i can see, none seem feasible. Either take the intake off the 2.2 and retrofit the vacuum lines from the 2.5, but, the last time i tried that, on another legacy,the car would barely run, find an intake from a 95 or 96 2.2, with the canister connections, which will be too expensive, or, figure out how to connect the canister properly to the current intake, which, i have no clue how to do. This is the first time i have ever had this issue when swapping a 2.2 into a 95-99 legacy, and, i have done at least 40 of those swaps. The car is an auto trans, and, so was the car the engine was pulled from. According to the attached pic though, one side of the valve is supposed to go directly to the tank, so, could i just run that line to the canister under the hood?

This may have been asked/answered before, but, i couldnt find it anywhere on here. What are the major differences between a 1997 2.2 intake, and a 1996 2.5 intake? Can the 2.5 intake be used on the 2.2, or, arent they interchangeable? I put a 2.2 in a 1995 legacy sedan, and, it runs like crap, and shows a MAF (p0100), and evap (p0441) code. The reason i ask about swapping the 2.5 intake to the 2.2 is because, the car has the charcoal canister in front of the engine, behind the radiator, but, the new engine (2.2) doesnt have any way to connect to the canister, but, the old engine (2.5), does. The car wont maintain an idle, and constantly runs from around 550 to 2000 rpms, even after it is warm, so, im wondering if it is due to not having the canister connected, or, if the MAF alone would cause it.

I know about the 4 vs 8 bolt bell housing, because I do a lot of 2.2 swaps, I just have only ever done 2 Subaru transmission swaps, both automatic, on older legacy wagons. I just wasn't sure if there were any differences in the 99 and up 5 speeds, because the local yards all say 99 only for his forester. As for the wiring, I'll be pulling the transmission myself, so I won't have to worry about cut wires. Thank you for the info, it will be a huge help when I get ready to do this. One last question though, how do I know what ratio the front diff is, or are they all the same for the 99 to 02 forester?

OK, first, the car isn't mine, it belongs to a friend who lives about 5 hours away, so, I only have limited info on it. Here is what I do know. It is a 1999 forester with a 5 speed that is bad. What I am looking for is info on which transmissions will work as a replacement, since the local yards say 1998 and 1999 only, and, of course, they don't have any. What I would like to know is, can I use earlier or later 5 speeds, even if I have to change some of the external electronics? I will be going down to his place in about 2 weeks to do the swap, if I can find a transmission that will work. Thank you in advance for any advice.

Ok, i figured it out, as well as learned a very valuable lesson. Lesson 1, dont let anyone help who doesnt know cars. One of the main harness connectors wasnt all the way connected, and, he broke the cam sensor connector, so it wouldnt stay connected. The harness connector that wasnt all the way connected, is why the IAC was acting up. The other thing i learned, if you are swapping the 2.5 bottom end with a 2.2 bottom end in a 2000 to 2004, swap the cam and crank sensor, crank and drivers side cam pulleys, all from the 2.5, over to the 2.2, as well as the temp sensor, and complete intake, especially if the 2.2 bottom end that you get is used. It will save a lot of headaches in the long run, if you swap those parts ahead of time.

Ok, latest update. Cleaned the IAC, still wont start. Checked to make sure they were the only codes showing, cleared them, shut the key off, turned the key back on, and without even trying to start it, the codes came back.