subienu Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 I had a few subarus back in the mid- 80's & I recently acquired an Outback which had leaky head gaskets that I repaired. I loved my 88 GL & this Outback is truly a fun car. I have the opportunity to acquire a very clean 2002 Forester with a bad engine & auto trans. The story on the car was it only had second gear & the owner drove it over 200 miles & interstate speeds. I did start it and at the least it took some bearings out & likely piston issues, too. I also have the chance to purchase a '99 forester that doesn't have one straight body panel, including the roof but runs/drives very well. It is also a 4 cyl./auto car and visibly looking at the 2 engines, they appear very similar. My question is, would the '99 drive train swap in to the 2002? If necessary, or if it would help, I can get the serial numbers from the cars & post it in a day or 2. Thank you very much for any assistance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellow65 Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 to give you the kind of simple but not very informative answer. yes. subarus have an unbelievable swappabily, more then any other maker i have ever played with. but only a couple things come to mind with your swapping ideas. one the teeth on the cam and/or crank sprockets (the part that is read by the sensor) somewhere in the years got changed. like more teeth or less teeth can't remember how. and not 100% sure if the newer trans computer would run the old one. i dont mess with autos so i can't tell you. but as for will it swap, yes, yes it will. everything will bolt up just fine. and not to sure how to help you with the trans question. there are many people more into autos that will probably be able to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Yep, you got lucky - they're both SOHC EJ25's PHase II's and swap like a gem. Legacy's got the other DOHC EJ25 in 99 which wouldn't work, but being a forester you're golden. You won't have the "tooth" problem he mentioned with cam/crank stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellow65 Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Yep, you got lucky - they're both SOHC EJ25's PHase II's and swap like a gem. Legacy's got the other DOHC EJ25 in 99 which wouldn't work, but being a forester you're golden. You won't have the "tooth" problem he mentioned with cam/crank stuff. the tooth thing was on later phase 2 ej25s. like when i swapped one into my 90 legacy the motor was from a 99 forester and the teeth were the same. but from my reading later year phase 2 ej25s had different teeth. so all you would have to do is swap the gears. but in his case, he would have everything that he needed. so worst case scenario he would have to pull the gears off the dead motor and put them on the new one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 so worst case scenario he would have to pull the gears off the dead motor and put them on the new one.EJ22 - Ej25 Phase II swaps need the gears swapped. You sure EJ25 - EJ25 does as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subienu Posted November 29, 2009 Author Share Posted November 29, 2009 Thank you all for the quick responses. So, it sounds like the trans/engine mounts are the same. Would the final gear ratio from the '99 transaxle be the same as the '02? Should I retain the throttle body that is on the 2002 & bolt it to the 99's intake? Are all the other sensors/harnesses the same? If the tooth counts on the cam gears are different between the 2 engines should I swap the crankshaft's cog pulley also? Lastly, I did buy a Haynes manual for my outback, is this approx. the same engine? Sorry for so many questions but I haven't worked on a whole lot of FWD/AWD vehicles & so far, only one Subaru! Thank you again for all of your help. It sounds like this swap may work out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellow65 Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 EJ22 - Ej25 Phase II swaps need the gears swapped. You sure EJ25 - EJ25 does as well? well if i had to do nothing to a 99 phase 2 ej25 to put it in a 90 legacy, it would make me think that those were still the same. (not the gear, but the tooth count and placement) and i have heard that in later yeared ej25s they changed the teeth. so really it just comes down having the matching gear to the ecu so all is happy in the world of timing and what not. but like i said, he has everything he should need already. yes the mounts are all the same. everything will bolt in no problem. if it was me, things i would reuse from your old motor, the whole intake cam and crank sensors (should be the same, but not 100% sure) knock sensor (should be the same, but not 100% sure) oil pressure sensor (should be the same, but not 100% sure) water temp sensor (should be the same, but not 100% sure) cam and crank gears, if they were different. all the front accessory brackets and really that's about. ej motors tare down to not much really quickly. a large amount of the BS is all attached to the intake. but yes all in all the 2 motors are the exact same. there might have been some slight changes through the years, like the cam gears, but they swap freely between them both so it's not an issue what so ever. you will like the world of subarus once you get to know them. my old impreza is a combo of parts from 7 different cars. spanning from late 80s to 2004. subaru i think went with the idea, if it's not broke why fix it. and that makes it so easy to do fun stuff with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Phase II EJ25 in a 1990? it's a SOHC EJ25? i don't think the wiring plugs are the same - you can't interchange Phase I and II EJ25's? I'm confused. I mean, I can see how it could be done, but not "drop in" with no extra work at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellow65 Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 (edited) Phase II EJ25 in a 1990? it's a SOHC EJ25? i don't think the wiring plugs are the same - you can't interchange Phase I and II EJ25's? I'm confused. I mean, I can see how it could be done, but not "drop in" with no extra work at all. read and enjoy, pretty damn simple and way fun in an old legacy. http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=83839 Edited November 30, 2009 by mellow65 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 right on, i knew all of that, i've done EJ engine and trans swaps before too - i was confused by this comment: well if i had to do nothing to a 99 phase 2 ej25 to put it in a 90 legacy, it would make me think that those were still the same. by "do nothing" you meant just to the cam gears. gotcha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellow65 Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 right on, i knew all of that, i've done EJ engine and trans swaps before too - i was confused by this comment: by "do nothing" you meant just to the cam gears. gotcha. oh yeah totally that's what i meant. doh, sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subienu Posted December 1, 2009 Author Share Posted December 1, 2009 Wow, doesn't sound too bad at all. I do have a sensor question though, Since I will change the engine sensors to remain with the new motor, should I, or is there, a transmission sensor that I should retain also to be compatible with the '02's computer? Thanks, again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 nope, nothing transmission to worry about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now