EA82 to EJ22 Swap issues and fixes so far...

[Scooner]

So this was my first swap and it was all made possible by Numbchux awesome write up and i figure since he was kind enough to share how he did everything i would return the favor and post every single issue i have had so far so that the next guy can avoid them!

 

1st: Be EXTRA careful when removing the harness! Without any prints or diagrams of any kind i just started chopping and cutting not knowing any better, unfortunately i cut the cam sensor wires too short to the yellow plug that connects to the ECU, in turn causing me to become "creative" and try and make it work. It didn't. Today i went to a pull and save and cut all brand new plugs out of a car and re-soldered my wires. Worked awesome!

 

2nd: DO NOT wire straight to the sensors on the motor! I thought i'd be real cool and just run my wires straight to the sensors. Yeah it works but it i would have just left it all alone and used the wire harness plugs for the motor it not only would have way less issues of tracing but it would have looked better too! Basically would have just been a plug and play system.

 

3rd: Don't assume that the problem is super complex...it's usually something very simple like a ground not hooked up.

 

4th: If this motor ran before and you've done nothing to it, then unless the timing belt broke there is no way the timing will be off. It took me a couple of hours of wasted time to figure this out by pulling all of the timing belt covers off and lining up the marks with the #1 piston at TDC.

 

5th: If you can use steel as an adapter plate between the tranny and the engine go for it, or better yet BUY an adapter plate from one of the guys on here. I bought a 17"X17"X1/2" solid plate of 60/40 aluminum alloy from ALRECO (the aluminum recycling company at 104th Ave and Brighton Rd in Thornton, CO 303-287-7210) for $62.50 because it was a remnant, i then came home and spent an entire saturday cutting, grinding, drilling and shaping this glorious plate. It was a LONG process but the end result was really nice.

 

6th: For gods sake don't use one of those wussy dremels that grandmas use to carve eggshells with...it won't work. I snapped 2 $10 carbide bits trying to make the wholes wider in my flywheel. Finally i got the compressor going with a set of badass cornwell bits from my brother and an air tool. I used the EJ flywheel as my pattern and it was perfect. I also used this to widen my motor mount holes as well.

 

7th: Alot of guys have been using an EA radiator for this swap and when i took mine out i seen that it was leaking a bit so i looked for another one and ended up using the rad out of the legacy! I drilled holes in that front piece of metal that runs between the fenders and bent it up to hold the rad, hooked up my hoses just like it was stock. Then mounted my 12" electric fan in the front of it. Works great.

 

8th: In my backyard i have a 87' GL-10 wagon as a parts car so i was lucky to get the fuel pump off of it because my car was originally the carbed EA. Seems to be working perfectly, but does put out some excessive pressure but it's not a big deal because it just gets returned to the fuel tank at a faster rate.

 

9th: There is a yellow wire on the side of the ignition coil and that is the tachometer input, this is where you are going to hook up the engine tach input from the EJ ecu on to and it will tell your stock tach what to read. Very cool.

 

10th: The bypass air control valve...oh what a damn adventure this was. So i put my new yellow plugs on that i got at the pull and save and fired the car up. It ran awesome! ...at 3500 RPM!!! What?! So i turned it off and opened a beer. Then my mechanic brother showed up to grab some paint and said he wanted to take a look, so i fired it up and same thing. All he said was gimme a pair of pliers and he pinched the air tube going to the BACV, booyah the car dropped to 800 to 1000 rpm just like it was sittin in the other car. He said i think these two wires are backwards. We reversed the OPEN and CLOSE wires and it runs perfect. Then he says "why didn't you ask for my help before?" So i just said thanks but you're 2 months late. haha I know there has got to be more and like i said i just want my info to be on here for the next poor guy wanting to romp on his new EJ and bangin his head into a wall. Sorry if it's too long, thanks for your help gloyale, shawnW, and Numbchux!

[rxleone]

Glad to hear that you got your swap all sorted. These are some really handy tips, and I'll keep this thread in mind if I ever get around to my EJ22 swap.