el_freddo

Geez mate fair shake of the sauce bottle pointing the bone at the EJ being the issue. It’s simple - don’t do your maintenance, don’t get a good ride! At that age/number of kms the fuel pump probably needs to be replaced too - I’d be doing it as preventative maintenance. The EJ engines are good engines - they crap all over the EA82 by a long shot and some of them do well in the longevity department to be up there with the EA81 - with more power and good economy to boot. They’re not rocket science and before you go there they don’t scan your brain and report back to the government Stick with the proven formula - NKG spark plugs and leads, leave the gaps unless you’re running on LPG. I bet your fuel RON increase will have little to do with it. As for pinging, the older your engine is the more likely it is to ping from ring wear and increased oil consumption as a result. I’m sure you know about this already. Sorry, crap day while feeling like crap, not meaning to be an arsehole about it if it comes across that way. Bennie

It’s an interesting one to ponder - are you building something that historically had this block or are you looking for all out power that would need that extra cylinder bracing? And that’s the other thing - you can get newer blocks and add bracing to the cylinders to essentially make them a closed deck block. Look at what the fellas with the high horse power turbo engines are doing and take notes from them. Many say the closed deck block isn’t needed, I believe the EJ207 is only semi closed deck and that is a high revving engine and a strong unit to boot. It come down to that old adage - what’s it worth to you? You really need to look at what you’re going to build with it, do you need the closed deck block or is it a bit of wank factor/street cred? I can’t put a price on it. We didn’t get them over here in Oz but I know 20 years ago blokes were importing them from your neck of the woods for high HP builds as the engines typically used now were yet to be released or cost too much as a base to start with. Cheers Bennie

You won’t be able to solder on the tubes from the old heater core - they’re plastic! Both end tanks are plastic. You might be able to solder copper end tanks to the core that’s in there provided that’s not the bit that’s leaking. Bite the bullet, buy the new all copper core, fit it in and never look back! Pull it out before scrapping or selling the vehicle if need be!! Cheers Bennie

TGV - as @1 Lucky Texan said - Tumble generator valve. Its purpose is to better mix the air fuel mixture at idle and maybe low engine revs for better torque (maybe, I’m guessing on this one). If they’re not opening quick enough off the line you’ll have running issues. The reason I mention this is because you’ve got an EJ253 and from what I understand of the later EJ253s they got the TGV setup. Yours could be the market test bed engine to get some real world data before going to full production on all models - who knows. But I reckon it’s worth looking into. PM me your VIN and I’ll see what I can find in the parts diagrams for your engine and get back to you. Cheers Bennie

Any TGV setup on this early 253? It could be worth deleting these and see what happens. I mention this as a mate had his GT series 2 Foz do the same thing to the point sometimes it would almost die completely as you tried to cross an intersection. It turned out the TGV system was doing something stupid but not throwing a code. I believe he deleted the butterflies from the inlet manifold and left it as is. This resolved the issue and allowed him to tow his camper trailer around Oz without any further issues. Same thing with WOT - no issue, but partial throttle nothing but issues. Cheers Bennie

I believe @DaveT did this with the CTS for the SPFI system years ago. Maybe Dave can dig up his post on this info? Cheers Bennie

Are you needing to add coolant to the system at all? Grounds on the engine good and wiring to the sender unit not damaged? You could try wiggling it and watch what the temp gauge is doing, this will show up any wiring issues. Nothing near the sender unit that could ground it to give the false reading? Old mate that did the HGs - did they put the painted head bolts in the centre two holes? The other four are unpainted (on the head of the bolt) and these go in the outside headbolt holes. Asking as this always catches ppl out the first time they do a HG on these engines. Have you done an exhaust gas in coolant check just to be sure this isn’t the issue? Cheers Bennie

^ noice! What gear bag are you running with it? Best bit about the EJs is the parts availability and the extra performance over the (generally old clapped out) EA donk! Cheers Bennie

Hey Todd, this website could help with finding parts to the size you need. A mate got me on to it as we look for alternative parts on our MY Brumby/Brat utes… https://size.name/en That exhaust looks MINT! So shiny, but I bet not for long once offroad! Shame the three pipe done sit horizontally flat beside each other for maximum clearance. If you went that way it would probably be easier to fab up your own headers for that setup! Cheers Bennie

Over here in Oz if it didn’t come factory with that engine size, you generally need to have engineering approval for an engine capacity increase. The exact requirements for this differs from state to state, so it gets complicated. So to have the impreza only come out here in EJ20 as the largest engine size would require some authority to get involved if going down the legit swap route… The EJ251 is a great version of this engine size once it has the HGs replaced for the MLS units - and has the head bolts replaced in the correct location! Those painted head bolts always catch you out the first time you do a HG on one of these! I know I didn’t see them the first time… Cheers Bennie

Things could certainly be getting some sort of power from the ignition switch being worn - but it shouldn’t cause smoke! Is everything in good working order forward of the high/low beam switch? And is the dial switch working properly? There are a few elements here that could be at fault/contributing to the larger issue. Always not fun! Cheers Bennie

I’d go with something less or not flammable such as WD40, but yes, with the engine running spray it around any joints in the manifold, injectors/carb, vacuum lines etc. Cheers Bennie

Talking to a mate over the weekend and he had an issue where it was the wheel nuts not clamping the wheel to the hub properly, effectively the weight of the vehicle was only on the hub centric ring thingy-bit. Weird hub setup with the studs as though. Anyway, it got me thinking, what stud pattern are you running as I remember some mention of redrilled hubs - is this correct? Is it possible these modified hubs are not done well and could be causing the vibration issue? Could be clutching at straws but thought I’d ask. Cheers Bennie

Check for vacuum leaks. Cheers Bennie

Sorry mate, I’m all out of ideas. When I did this I swapped the entire vehicle loom in the process as I wanted to run the MPFI setup in my DL - and that was before I learned about the EJ conversion! All the best with it. Cheers Bennie

How old is the fuel pump? And if replaced what quality is it? Cheers Bennie

Did you ever swap out that rear diff? I can’t remember if you ran without the diff fitted to see what happens… I’m keen to get to the bottom of this one with you! Tyre condition and pressures? Cheers Bennie

Sam try running the front half of the shaft only, drop the rear section. That’s one of the beauties of the L series two piece shaft. The only other things I can think of are: - broken/worn engine or gearbox mounts - modified gearbox mounts aren’t sitting true/have changed driveline angles - rear output shaft bearings are toast in the gearbox, but this is usually accompanied with a leaking rear output shaft seal too (been there done that) Other thoughts point towards a drive shaft issue, and it could be any of them! I know you’re down and out on this one, keep at it though, you’ll work it out. I doubt an EJ conversion will solve anything - but with that said, do you have all cylinders running at 100%? Theory on this: if the vibration happens in 4th but disappears by dropping to 3rd or it changes significantly, it could be an engine issue. 4th ratio is just over a 1:1 engine speed to tailshaft speed. If there’s something in the engine that’s not operating as it should it could be manifesting as this vibration. One of the reasons I say engine issue is because we had an old family bus Holden WB Statesman series II with the 308. One day towing it developed a MASSIVE vibration under load to the point it was almost undrivable - we limped it home. The issue turned out to be one fed spark plug and a failing spark lead. For a V8 that was substantial and surprising that it was just that simple. Does this vibration come on strong/quickly straight up when you start driving or does it work itself up to the vibration at set cruise speeds? Cheers Bennie

That billet knuckle!! It would be sick to make a billet EA swing arm with the EJ bearing setup to make rear disc swaps easier, then we could legally (in Oz) and easily upgrade the tyre size to the same as the forester without major complicated engineering testing we require over here. But that would be Uber expensive to make up, hence why it’s not done. Keep the good work coming! You have this going in no time! Cheers Bennie

I think the greys were found on the autos and the reds found on the manual engines - possibly only for the series 1 setup as the red to injectors are very common from my understanding. With the engine management on these vehicles I highly doubt they’re that highly calibrated/sensitive to an injector swap like this. Just do an ecu reset between the swap and let it relearn its settings before driving it. Or just get the red ones, you could have them cleaned and flow tested if you felt the need to on the old ones. Cheers Bennie

Rear discs swap over turbo L to non turbo L no worries. I’ve run mine swapped to the NA setup without adding anything to the brake line setup for many years and they work fine. The issue that comes into play is if you’re wanting to swap 4wd to 2wd or vice versa. The hub and backing plate bearing holes are specific to 2wd or 4wd, they don’t interchange (2wd backing plates can be enlarged to 4wd spec, but this is a one way ticket!). Cheers Bennie

Which your engine doesn’t have the IACV. Cheers Bennie

Other thought is whether you have the spark leads on the right spark plugs… Cheers Bennie

I’d be investigating those crank and cam angle sensor issues before pulling the engine out. It’s very rare that one or both sensor died - but if they were dropped it’s possible to damage them. Make sure they’re properly plugged in too, and that it’s the correct wire that’s plugged in - I recently read about an injector plug being connected to the crank or cam sensor (can’t remember which one). Also, ignore the arrow on the cam wheel as this is not used for timing. Use the little tab mark on the rim of the cam wheel. From memory the arrow should be pointing at the 1:30 mark. That arrow is there to indicate which cylinder is at top dead centre through the engine cycle. Cheers Bennie

G’day Hamm3y, Youre the first one I’ve heard of this happening to on an EA82 platform, I’ve heard of many on the EA81 platform. Causes? Probably a loose castleated nut or a shot cone washer. Someone might know. The fix is to replace that hub with another one. Cheers Bennie