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Not another "Help my EJ22T swap won't start" thread!


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But it is. Unfortunately. I'm sorry to ask but there is no one else in this world who has tried hard enough to get this to work.  Unfortunately there is no spark.

 

So here's the project. It's a EJ22T from a 93 Legacy (Auto) going into my 86 Brat (Manual) with a dual range 5 speed transmission from a 85 GL. I did not see this engine run as it was pulled out from a wrecking yard. Compression is solid. Only 165'000 km on the engine and it looks like it was dealership maintained.

 

Everything is hooked up "properly" as so I've been told by what I would call "Subaru gurus". These are guys who have done numerous engine swaps before. Everyone has been amazingly enthusiastic, supportive and generous with this project as I could have imagined. It is all very much appreciated.

 

However we can't figure out why shes not sparking.

 

There is power to the coil. Coil has been checked of ohms and swapped out with three backups, they are all good. Plugs have been checked for ohms, they're good. Cam and Crank sensors have been checked for ohms, they are good and swapped again with checked and good sensors. Five grounds in the engine are good. ECU has been swapped three times and they are all good. It is grounded. Fuel pumps hard, fast and fresh.

 

I'v had to replace a few connections due to old/dried out cracked wires but everything looks and tests good now!

 

We're out of ideas now which is why I ask the godly experts of this board.

 

Any thoughts or ideas are very much appreciated.

 

Here are a couple galleries of the swap so far!

 

 

http://imgur.com/a/EjDxS

 

http://imgur.com/a/N6NzX

Edited by ragingbull
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90% of the time, or more, "no spark" with an engine swap actually means no engine management functionality at all.

 

 

Is your fuel pump being activated by the ECU as it should (prime when the key is first turned on, and on while cranking)? If so, have you tested to see if the ECU is triggering the injectors (with noid lights)?

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Amen also make sure when you turn the ignition on its wired properly so it can send the signal to the ecu to actually fire everything. If you have a bad Cam or crank sensor it could cause the ecu to not know when to send power the coils. 

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Based on what you've checked and swapped out, it sounds like you have a wiring issue. Yes, you tested with a meter. That means squat. Read on... lol The ECU is not seeing the crank or cam signal, or the coil pack is not getting the fire signal. You need to LOAD test your power and ground circuits at the ECU connector. Grab a good bulb and socket combo from the wrecking yard. An 1157, 3057 or 3157 (dual filament, turn/tail bulb). Twist the positive wires together so there are two connections (one positive & one negative) off of the socket. With the ECU connector unplugged, connect one wire from the bulb socket to each ground circuit on the connector one at a time and the other socket wire to B+. The bulb should light brightly. If not, you've got a problem. Do the same for the IGN+ and B+ circuits at the connector, this time connecting the other socket wire to ground. If they test ok, then you need to test the cam, crank and coil circuits. Unplug the sensor and coil connectors and the ECU connector. Supply B+ to each sensor/coil connector terminal one at a time. Connect the light bulb socket to the corresponding ECU connector terminal and the other end to ground and see if it lights. If it doesn't, you've got a problem. This is usually where someone says, "I tested it with a multi meter and it was fine!" Great! Wonderful! It has low resistance which really means nothing. It means you have a connection, it doesn't mean you can carry a load. Say you have 20 single strands inside your piece of 18 gauge wire. All but one of them break inside the insulation so you can't see it. Yes, it DOES happen. Check it with a meter and it will show that the circuit is good. Load test it and it will fail because that single strand can't carry the required load that the combined strands do. The same thing can happen with a bad crimp on a terminal. If/when you find the bad circuit, string a new one and test it again. Use ONLY heat shrink butt connectors to connect wires and make sure you heat and seal them. NEVER use generic/open butt connectors on vehicle control wiring. They allow water/moisture to get in which corrodes the wire and connection creating high resistance and ultimately failure. Best repair is solder and heat shrink tube, but that's not an option for everyone.

 

One last thing. Not sure about Subaru, but some systems require the neutral switch be grounded during starting or you get no spark/fuel and most won't even crank over.

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Amazing suggestions, thank you! Fuel pump is primed and turning on when the key is first turned. I haven't checked with noid lights but I will try. Cam and Crank sensors have been checked for ohms and they're good. I will start testing for load as instructed! Great answers, thanks guys.

 

I pulled my knock sensor out to check for ohms and im getting infinite resistance. Seems like it's broken so I borrowed two other knock sensors that are used but deemed that they were working before. I tested those as well for ohms and they are also infinite. I don't think they can all be broken? Im testing them by placing a lead on the end connection and the other lead on the metal part of the knock sensor. Is this right? I read there should be about 300 ohms resistance?

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I don't know where you read 300 ohms on a knock sensor, They should read as an open. There is a small piezo crystal inside the sensor that is 'tuned' to pick up detonation. When detonation occurs, the crystal produces an electric signal that the ECU reads. Based on the amplitude of the signal, the ECU calculates how much spark advance to remove to stop the detonation. A bad knock sensor will not stop a vehicle from running.

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Ok so I checked over the connectors at the ecu. I'm getting lots of power to most of them but not all of them. Specifically not the f47.9 and .10. The cylinder ignition.

 

I'm not sure why the ecu is not telling the cylinders to ignite.

 

I noticed the fuel pump relay wire at ecu is not connected. I do have power to the pump and it pumps hard. So I plugged the fuel pump relay wire to my brats fuel pump relay, yellow wire, tach signal. Still no dice. Tried plugging it to a straight solid power and nothing either..

 

Any thoughts?

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So you load tested all the power/ground circuits to the ECU as well as the cam/crank sensor and coil pack circuits as I instructed? They were all ok? If the coil isn't firing, I'll bet money your injectors aren't firing either. Still points to a wiring problem of some sort given you've swapped all the components you have.

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I checked over the connectors at the ecu. I'm getting lots of power to most of them but not all of them. Specifically not the f47.9 and .10. The cylinder ignition.

 

There are lots if connectors that don't get power in the on position.

 

Any idea where the diode and fuel pump relay wires connect to?

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I checked over the connectors at the ecu. I'm getting lots of power to most of them but not all of them. Specifically not the f47.9 and .10. The cylinder ignition.

 

There are lots if connectors that don't get power in the on position.

 

Any idea where the diode and fuel pump relay wires connect to?

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Someone here is confused, and I'm not sure which one of us it is. lol Did you test ONLY the circuits I referred to exactly the way I said to, or did you just start checking ECU terminals to see if they light up? My schematics are buried with my EJ harness, so giving me circuit numbers does no good. Circuit names would work though.

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