DOHCEJ22E Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Hello everyone, my name is Ken & I am an owner of a 1998 Subaru Legacy GT Limited with a recently installed & perfectly running DOHC EJ22E. I've had a lot of people tell me in the past that putting DOHC heads on a 22E would not work out well and/or would be too weak to be of any good use. I'm going to challenge some of those words right now by with this thread. I had created a DOHC EJ222 once before this thread but that car was sold long ago. I guess my hybrid can be called the "EJ22D"! Hahaha! I'll get to the point now. Late last year, my 25D crapped out on me on my way to an internship & Rod #3 punched a hole through the block. Not wanting to risk this happening again, I sought out a 22E block, having had 2 EJ22s before this one, so I know personally how tough they can be. I found one & began my hybrid build. I'm going to tell you right now that this engine is a little strong than a regular 22E in the midrange RPMs but most of the low-end TQ the SOHC 22E has is lost in this build. However, fuel efficiency is good with this engine & it pulls very decently for what it is on the highway (I outran a SOHC 2.2L Impreza on a long & empty straight road). Now onto the build... (My pics may be a bit crude as I had to dismantle the engine completely before I can remove it from the engine bay.) This is my second time making one of these & so far, it turned out good. I still have yet to start it due to waiting on tomorrow for my paycheck, then I'll be able to buy the fluids needed to start it up. For now, I'm gonna' feed your eyes with some pictures. (People, whenever you work on engines, keep your bolts/nuts/screws together in bags (label the bags) so that they don't get lost & keep in mind that it is imperative that they go back EXACTLY WHERE THEY CAME FROM.) When I first got it, it looked like this... After a few minutes of examining it closely, I began to take it apart. This engine was said to be a 1995. This pic confirms it. After more time, I removed the intake & all of the smaller things bolted or screwed to the engine & began to remove the cylinder heads. (Follow the service manual removal procedures for the intake & cylinder heads.) These must be the old style head gaskets... I like the way that my new ones look a lot better plus they had a solid plate of steel in the middle of each gasket so I KNOW these will not be leaking. For those of you wondering if the 22E/25D intakes can be swapped, no, they cannot. They have completely different bolt patterns. If you use the 25D heads, you must use the 25D intake & wiring harness. (25D bolt pattern below). The older style & newer style timing belt tensioners & their back plates are completely different. If you use the new style, you must use the plate that it bolts into. (Replace the tensioner if it is used). There were changes to the EJ22E during it's run from the cylinder heads to the piston crowns. The top is the 1995 piston crown & the bottom is the 1998 piston crown. I believe that it doesn't hurt to have an 11mm oil pump for this kind of frankenstein since it will be run hard a few times once I break it in. Btw, the crank gear slides right out with no difficulty. If you do experience a little resistance, it's most likely corrosion & you'll have to put some penetration oil on it. Be patient if you have to do that. Btw, 22E & 25D crank & cam sensors are the same. On our autos, there are 4 12mm bolts holding the flexplate on the torque converter. DO NOT REMOVE THE TORQUE CONVERTER. Turn the crank to access the 4 bolts & remove them (turn them counter clockwise). Btw, DO NOT FORGET to replace the seals when you have everything apart. This goes for the rear main seal & resealing the oil separator behind the flywheel/flexplate. If you have an older EJ, it most likely has the plastic cover. Replace it with the upgraded metal cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOHCEJ22E Posted August 28, 2012 Author Share Posted August 28, 2012 I have an intake manifold spacer on my frankenstein. To install one in general, you have to cut the EGR valve pipe behind the left head & extend it a little more than the length of the spacer. This next pic is a demonstration of how 22E MLS gaskets look on the 25D heads. As you can see, the chamber is completely enclosed in the bore of the gasket. If you put together a DOHC EJ22E, assemble it as you would a 25D & use the 25D head bolts (22E bolts are too long), oil dipstick (25D dipstick has a higher mounting point), & black coolant pipe (22E pipe will NOT fit around the left DOHC head.) Follow the factory service manual for the 25D to reassemble everything & make sure bolts & screws go back in their exact same spot. The end result will look just like a 25D. If there are any questions, I'll answer them to the best I can. Btw, the final compression ratio I calculated with this particular engine was 8.8:1, which should be somewhat decent until I add a turbocharging kit. To anyone wondering if our pistons come up over the deck, yes, they do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOHCEJ22E Posted August 28, 2012 Author Share Posted August 28, 2012 Low end TQ is better on a SOHC 22E but a DOHC 22E has more power in the midrange rpms. The DOHC heads move a lot more air & you can feel that as you pass 3K rpm. I added phenolic intake spacers to help a little more with the intake but those heads have a lot of room for improvement. I'm pretty sure that if the intake manifold & intake side of the heads were ground away & port matched to match the intake manifold gasket, there will definitely be a small power gain. As for the "personality" of this engine, the DOHC heads take the power & TQ of the EJ22E & push it up higher in the RPM range. You lose power & TQ from the 25D block but you gain it in that same midrange area where the SOHC 22E is lacking. The 97-98 22Es & the phase 2 222 have even better N/A power (the latter of which i used for my first DOHC EJ22 experiment.) I do it because 1; 25D blocks suck (usually due to having been overheated from head gasket leaking, which shortens the life of the internal bearings dramatically), 2; They're a lot more expensive than a 22E will ever be, & 3; finding a GOOD one that hasn't overheatead is hard as opposed to the 22E, which there are still more of & has been proven to be a workhorse. However, I will not completely bash the 25D though because if you can find one that hasn't overheated constantly in some way, you will have an engine equal in reliability to an EJ22. As for the transmission, it shifts just about flawlessly, even after having not been used for almost a whole year. The 4.44 FGR really helps for this engine on the hilly streets of Rockville & w/acceleration. Now onto the final compression ratio, which is mostly determined by the thickness of the head gasket & head CCs. The 97-99 DOHC heads have 46 CCs & have a "clover" design like what's on the 205 heads, which I personally think is best for this kind of hybrid. As you can tell from my picture, when I overlap the gasket on the head, there are no sealing issues. The chamber is completely enclosed in the bore of the gasket. 1996 EJ25D Hydraulic Heads (pair) - Ultimate Subaru Message Board <- This here shows that the 25D heads of 1996 are cut to match the bore of the 99.5mm block, which means that they cannot be used on any 2.2L EJ (22E/T/2) but there are Japanese versions of these heads that can be used as they are for the 2.0. However, if you used the 96 heads on the 97-99 25D blocks, compression ratio should be reduced & would make for a turbo friendly block (depending on the thickness of MLS head gaskets used). Likewise, using 97-99 heads on a 96 block should raise the compressio ratio (again, depending on head gasket thickness). <- The DOHC EJ22E running as smooth as can be. No head gasket leaks. No popped rods. Nothing. Just excellent heads on an excellent block. Subaru should have made these things from the factory back in those days (w/turbo of course!) Completely unrelated note: I have gotten this insane urge to grind away my intake ports on the heads & intake manifold to match the gasket exactly. Knowing how much material can be shaved away is starting to dig a hole in my brain... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOHCEJ22E Posted August 28, 2012 Author Share Posted August 28, 2012 Low end TQ is better on a SOHC 22E but a DOHC 22E has more power in the midrange rpms. The DOHC heads move a lot more air & you can feel that as you pass 3K rpm. I added phenolic intake spacers to help a little more with the intake but those heads have a lot of room for improvement. I'm pretty sure that if the intake manifold & intake side of the heads were ground away & port matched to match the intake manifold gasket, there will definitely be a small power gain. As for the "personality" of this engine, the DOHC heads take the power & TQ of the EJ22E & push it up higher in the RPM range. You lose power & TQ from the 25D block but you gain it in that same midrange area where the SOHC 22E is lacking. The 97-98 22Es & the phase 2 222 have even better N/A power (the latter of which i used for my first DOHC EJ22 experiment.) I do it because 1; 25D blocks suck (usually due to having been overheated from head gasket leaking, which shortens the life of the internal bearings dramatically), 2; They're a lot more expensive than a 22E will ever be, & 3; finding a GOOD one that hasn't overheatead is hard as opposed to the 22E, which there are still more of & has been proven to be a workhorse. As for the transmission, it shifts just about flawlessly, even after having not been used for almost a whole year. The 4.44 FGR really helps for this engine on the hilly streets of Rockville & w/acceleration. Now onto the final compression ratio, which is mostly determined by the thickness of the head gasket & head CCs. The 97-99 DOHC heads have 46 CCs & have a "clover" design like what's on the 205 heads, which I personally think is best for this kind of hybrid. As you can tell from my picture, when I overlap the gasket on the head, there are no sealing issues. The chamber is completely enclosed in the bore of the gasket. 1996 EJ25D Hydraulic Heads (pair) - Ultimate Subaru Message Board <- This here shows that the 25D heads of 1996 are cut to match the bore of the 99.5mm block, which means that they cannot be used on any 2.2L EJ (22E/T/2) but there are Japanese versions of these heads that can be used as they are for the 2.0. However, if you used the 96 heads on the 97-99 25D blocks, compression ratio should be reduced & would make for a turbo friendly block (depending on the thickness of MLS head gaskets used). Likewise, using 97-99 heads on a 96 block should raise the compression ratio (again, depending on head gasket thickness). <- The DOHC EJ22E running as smooth as can be. No head gasket leaks. No popped rods. Nothing. Just excellent heads on an excellent block. Subaru should have made these things from the factory back in those days (w/turbo of course!) Completely unrelated note: I have gotten this insane urge to grind away my intake ports on the heads & intake manifold to match the gasket exactly. Knowing how much material can be shaved away is starting to dig a hole in my brain... Log: (8-17-12) I drove 54 miles today & plugged my scanner up to the OBDII port to have it consistently record 30.5mpg highway & 24-26mpg in mixed street driving. The car is definitely a little lazy below 2500-3000rpms but nothing that really bothers me. I took it through the winding roads in Willington & went a little hard on it. After I install the "Sport" mode, the transmission will take better advantage of the engine's TQ. This engine has a totally different & very enjoyable personality when you keep it above 3Krpms & toss it around a bit. The power is there & its always available, never dropping as long as my foot is in command. The only things the kept me from really putting it to work are the tires (they feel like mush) & my worn struts/shocks (coilovers sound great about now). I've noticed that the oil is very clean when I pulled the dipstick, which means that the blue Subie filter is doing its job well. I was always told that the blue filters were no good & always stuck with Mobil 1 but the blue filters are even better than that, I think. I'll be sticking with it from now on. I really want to see the true potential of this particular engine & though decent it may be, I will be saving up for turbo money. Night: The 22E running as smooth as can be. I am actually eager to make another one of these engines now that I know they're actually pretty easy to build. My next GT (wagon) will have one for sure since they make excellent cruisers. For my future Outback or SUS, I want to do a 22E head swap (w/port work) on a 251/253 block. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95legwagon Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 dude....awesome. im from west hartford and i grew up in manchester.... in fact i work in east windsor @ south windsor auto parts! nice to see another person from ct here. nice build and i love the look of your car i have a 95 legacy wagon in which i am going to turbo at some point.... i have 2 turbos sitting around waiting to be rebuilt lol we have subaru parts at my job so in case your looking for something let me know Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOHCEJ22E Posted August 28, 2012 Author Share Posted August 28, 2012 Current mods are: Grimmspeed Phenolic Intake Manifold Spacer. Aftermarket eBay UEL headers. Custom welded midpipe. 2.5 to 3 inch WRX catback (connected to stock cats by custom midpipe). Tomei Timing Belt Guide. There will definitely be more coming! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOHCEJ22E Posted August 28, 2012 Author Share Posted August 28, 2012 dude....awesome. im from west hartford and i grew up in manchester.... in fact i work in east windsor @ south windsor auto parts! nice to see another person from ct here. nice build and i love the look of your car i have a 95 legacy wagon in which i am going to turbo at some point.... i have 2 turbos sitting around waiting to be rebuilt lol we have subaru parts at my job so in case your looking for something let me know Thanks! Yeah, about 2 months ago, I was searching for a 22E but I had to drive all the way out to Colchester for my short block. If I had known about you, I'd have gone to South Windsor & picked one up there! It's good that I know about you now though because I will be coming to you for parts. I'm up in Rockville, which is only like 10-15 mins away! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bratman18 Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 Nice work! Just out of curiosity, why didn't you just drop the entire 2.2 into the car? It would have bolted and plugged right in and run without issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOHCEJ22E Posted August 30, 2012 Author Share Posted August 30, 2012 Nice work! Just out of curiosity, why didn't you just drop the entire 2.2 into the car? It would have bolted and plugged right in and run without issues. The 22E long block I got from the bone yard came off a MT Legacy & did not have the EGR valve needed. On top of that, it was some weird ultra high emission engine from california & it had one extra plug that didn't go into anywhere on the car harness, but the other 3 plugs matched up just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95legwagon Posted August 31, 2012 Share Posted August 31, 2012 Thanks! Yeah, about 2 months ago, I was searching for a 22E but I had to drive all the way out to Colchester for my short block. If I had known about you, I'd have gone to South Windsor & picked one up there! It's good that I know about you now though because I will be coming to you for parts. I'm up in Rockville, which is only like 10-15 mins away! lol yea we have a couple older soobs here like ours one came in a few months back with piston slap but the car was almost immaculate! also a 97 leg wagon gt a couple outbacks -late 90's a new ( 07 ) legacy theres even an old subaru rim sittin around somewhere..... maybe for a brat? yea you should stop by or you could go to http://www.southwindsorauto.com and search our inventory before you call or stop by..... youll see my legacy as soon as you pull in lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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