el_freddo

From my hazy understanding the Subarus have their alternator (battery) light wired in to the positive side of the instrument cluster. I believe the alternator wire for the light is negative when the alternator isn’t spinning. Once the alternator is spinning and putting out positive voltage both sides of the alternator light are positive and thus the light goes out. That’s what I believe happens but I could be wrong. Someone explained it to me years ago… Cheers Bennie

I used an EJ22 gen1/2 solid flywheel in my sister’s Gen3 EJ251 without issues. The issue with the dual mass flywheel was that it made that little squeaking noise at idle, it didn’t sound right. From memory the second hand flywheel at the pick a part year was about $50. Winning. Cheers Bennie

Neat looking Leone. Careful with that plan, it can get out of hand quickly (in a good way)!! Cheers Bennie

And a screw driver to steal it too… I’d say his daughter wants a better riding/handling car with more comforts than any 80’s based EA powered Subaru could offer! I doubt she will get much more involved mechanically than paying a mechanic or buying parts for her dad to maintain the vehicle. Get that forester issue sorted Steptoe and enjoy it for what it is Cheers Bennie

I’ll vouch for the Gen 3 2000 RX Liberty/Legacy. Once the HGs were swapped for the turbo MLS units it’s been running sweet. We’ve replaced the Manual box for a second hand unit as a bearing seemed to be giving out. It’s currently done in the vicinity of 480,000km. Body is solid. The RX model comes with climate control, side skirts, spats, alloy rims (best upgrade for better looks/performance). It gets 8.6L/100km regularly, best ever was 8.2L/100km. Pulls like a freight train with the NA EJ251. I love this drivetrain. Easy enough for the DIYer to work on in my book, but just complicated enough that the efi does good stuff in the performance and economy department Add some UELs and a better rear muffler and they sound awesome too! Ours was rolled on its side. Apart from some new pinstripes, a couple of dints and a smashed side mirror, it still ran fine once back on all four and topped up with engine oil. Go for one with a good service history that also checks out after a test drive and check over, you can’t go wrong in MHO. Cheers Bennie

Smooth cam covers with the spark plug holes in the cam covers right? If so, they’re your gaskets. If the cam covers are ribbed, you’ve got a phase 1 engine and need those ones same as our EJ22 units. Cheers Bennie

The wiring going down to the headlights will be the thermo fan switch trigger when the AC is on. Just disconnect the two plugs, remove the AC wiring and reconnect the two plugs left in the main loom, they’ll clip together. The brake master cylinder wiring should stay with the main loom. That’s your low brake fluid warning light. That bank of relays will be all AC related - one for AC clutch, one for the second thermo fan no doubt, and if it references the headlights it’ll be to only run one thermo fan (designed to assume you’re driving at night when it’s generally cooler and also to conserve power usage on a small alternator), the third possibly to power the whole system. That canister on the end is for the idle up diaphragm located beside the carby. I’m 99% sure that info is correct. Cheers Bennie

It seems that most of what you’ve shown above is the AC system. It will be separate to the main wiring looms and should be easy to remove. The brown fuse box near the battery needs to be kept. There’s really not any wiring that needs to be removed for an EJ conversion, you should be able to easy convert back to EA81 after having an EJ in there. All you really need for the EJ conversion is: - permanent power (wire in the back up power to this too) - ignition power - start reference (tap into starter circuit) - oil pressure light/gauge wire (use EA wiring to the sensor) - engine temp gauge wire (use EA wiring again, EJ sender will change the behaviour of the EA gauge, this is well documented) - alternator wiring upgraded for EJ output and the plug wiring sorted to work with the EJ alternator. An ignition wire might need to be added to excite the coils to effectively turn the alternator on (stops the battery from draining out when not using the car) - tape up (isolate) and tuck the EA coil wiring away, or roll up and tape to the main loom if it can’t be tucked away From memory this is what’s needed to integrate the EJ loom into the EA loom to make it all work. It’s a good idea to put a fuse between each wire between the looms. That said I’ve never had one blow, but it’s safer to have one there than not to. Cheers Bennie

Dunno if it’s the same as a an ‘02 GT foz loom that I cut down, I’m yet to test the immobiliser gear in that mix but I have all the bits I need intact for it to work. While I was doing that work I drew out the immobiliser wiring pin out on one document. This has since proven to be correct across a number of Subaru model years with slight variants in their wire colours. I can email you this document if you wanted to check it out. Cheers Bennie

Just did a parts number check. EJ202 is 14035AA383 EJ251 is 14035AA382 - with the *383 listed as a substitute (which you always need to check it’s legit) You can plug these part number into partsouq to view the pricing and the pic of the item. Postage usually starts at $US17. Item size and weight will see this increase - but even with this I’ve found them to be far cheaper than anything locally in Oz. It’ll be a sad day if this avenue ever gets shut down or subjected to import taxes etc. Cheers Bennie

Phase 2 right? The EJ251 gaskets will work no worries. Plug your VIN into partsouq to grab the part number you’re chasing, then do a search elsewhere using that number if you’re not happy with their prices and postage. Cheers Bennie

The gear lever arrangement needs to sit up a lot higher, just saying in case you haven’t realised already. Just out of shot at the top of the pic is usually a single stud that’s unused. This is where you’d make a plate to mount to this stud and the two studs on the bottom of the gear lever as seen in the pic. The L series used a bracket that had a rubber bush built into it to reduce drivetrain noise transfer to the body too This is one conversion I’ve not done yet but believe it to be a very worthwhile swap. You’ll lose the Massey Ferguson highway tractor vibe and feel like you’re actually driving a modernised vehicle. Cheers Bennie

I believe they don’t. Different hole size to snug them into the gearbox mount from what I recall. Easy to work it out if you have the two available to play with. Cheers Bennie

@idosubaru- the EJs have their VSS on the gearbox from the Gen2s IIRC. So depending on the models you tested in a run without the instrument cluster, they may have been fine. The XT6 ECU is probably too dumb to do much about not having a VSS to reference… @SaltyMikethe brumby only came with that cluster you found online. Our units were never factory delivered with the longer cluster and dashboard, they came in the coupes (I’d love one of these but hen’s teeth now), some sedans and the touring wagons which went to the digital dash at some point. Afaik none of our MY/EA81 clusters came with a built in VSS like the MPFI L series vehicles did. Cheers Bennie

The EJ251 is an awesome engine to run once you’ve swapped the HGs to the MLS type. The statement about needing HGs more often is bogus unless you keep reinstalling the factory part number referenced by the VIN. Using this part will just keep the same issues reoccurring. If your foz has the security system with the transponder component in the key you’ll have to find out if the ECU, transponder chip and security module need to be swapped as a group. Swapping the ECU could cause the engine not to start due to the security system. The EJ22s are available in Oz up to the last Gen2 Liberty model in ‘98/99. From there our Gen3 models came out with the EJ201 (from memory) and EJ251. Have you double checked the cam belt timing “to be sure to be sure”? Any vacuum leaks, cracked nipples on old van solenoids? Fuel tank purge solenoid working? I’m not sure where it’s located on your model Foz, on the earlier EJs they’re under the intake manifold on the RHS. Cheers Bennie

Not interchangeable from what I’ve seen with the two clusters a part at different times. The VSS just refines the running of the EJ and reduces fuel use I believe. It will run without it and I doubt it would throw a code either. Cheers Bennie

A fella over here out west uses a GPS unit for the VSS. I don’t know what’s involved but it’s worked well for the many conversions he’s done. You could run a magnet and pick up setup on the tailshaft or one of the drive shafts. The EJ doesn’t care too much about how fast it’s spinning from what I understand (unless it has a speed cut), it mainly needs to see if it’s stationary, accelerating, cruising or decelerating to operate the engine properly. The only reason they say you need the GL dash that’s longer than the DL one is because (from my understanding) over I the US you guys got a VSS built into the speedo - I thought it was all EA81 speedos but it seems it might only be the GLs. The other way to go is to use the factory EJ VSS and use the EJ instrument cluster in place of the DL cluster. It fits quite well, you should find some pics online of this conversion easily I’d say. Biggest problem is wiring it in if you’ve already cut the loom down. Cheers Bennie

Looks great @gfdan ! Cheers Bennie

@Link0demons- I like that suggestion about the cam timing being out. I heard of another situation like this but on an EJ22 from memory. Weird behaviour - full throttle it was fine, idle was poor/low, everything in between with load was jolty. The issue was the crank had skipped several teeth from alignment with the cam belts which were synchronised with each other. It’ll be worth the effort of removing the timing belt covers to check the alignment - and an easy fix if it’s out. It’s a cheap fix too if this is the issue. Typically it won’t show up as an engine code either, but may trigger other ones. Cheers Bennie

New plug, boot, coil pack etc is worth a shot I’d say. What’s there to lose? If it doesn’t work it sounds like it’s time for a new head minimum, worst case is a replacement engine. It’s up the the owner - how much stuffing around vs how much coil they’re willing to mess around with to fix what’s potentially a simple issue. Cheers Bennie

To fully drain and swap the auto fluid there’s a trick that requires two people - disconnect the fluid in to cooler hose and face this at a bucket. Get another piece of hose on the rad to the vege oil/laundry detergent (I’ll refer to it as vege oil from here on). Have a mate start the engine and let the auto pump out all the auto fluid and hopefully suck up the vege oil. Once you see the auto fluid change to the vege oil colour get old mate to shut off the engine. Alternatively, do this as a two step part - drain fluid first, once it reduces flow shut the engine off. Drain pan, fill with vege oil, start engine and allow auto to suck vege oil with the other end of the hose still in the collection bucket. Once vege oil is present at the out pipe for the bucket shut the engine off. Vege oil in the engine, I doubt it would last long but there’s always one way to find out!! Water in the brake system should work fine for what you want to do - this is something we considered out bush when a rear slave cylinder gave out on one of the vehicles we were with out in remote Western Oz. We ended up clamping a flexible hose for the remainder of the trip home…. After all this work they still might not accept the vehicle with the fluids because they’ll still make a mess when the vehicle is crushed/munched. It’ll be a more environmentally friendly mess but it’ll still be one they won’t want to deal with… Cheers Bennie

What model Subaru are we talking? I don’t know how much that imperial liquid quantity is in metric terms, but it’s normal for some oil to come out when you remove a cam cover. Having the vehicle situated with the cam cover facing up an incline will help reduce this oil loss. Cheers Bennie

Looks like a similar setup as the VT commodores use, most likely common across many GM models since then. To remove this I use a silicone gun nozzle cut down to fit the fuel line size, with a slit cut down one side to get it on the fuel line and up into that joint to release it. That is one very clean top of the fuel pump! Cheers Bennie

Looks awesome, great craftsmanship there! Are those front control arms reinforced stock units or completely custom built from scratch? They look impressive! Cheers Bennie

I agree with that. The Subaru in-tank fuel pumps don’t just die - they will underperform causing issues before they outright die, they usually get swapped out before they completely die. I had one completely stop working on my RS turbo - but I believe this was from sitting around with rubbish fuel in it. That didn’t bother me as I was only moving it off a trailer, not 100s of kms from home. It’ll be ingesting to see what the fuel pressure gauge says once you get it installed. I didn’t know there were units available that has the gauge remote mounted from the sensor! I’ve only ever seen the ones that are plumbed inline and viewed from where it’s fitted. Cheers Bennie