EJ20T Impreza WRX swap into a Subaru XT Turbo

[telek]

Update: Apologies, it's an EJ20T. Been up too long.

 

I'm sure I've seen it mentioned before, but I wanted to verify:

Assuming he hasn't sold it yet a buddy of mine has an '04 WRX that he got smashed up. Engine was running after the accident, no drivetrain damage, etc. However the chassis is shot. Found a nice XT for 1200 I might scrounge up the cash to throw it into.

 

I wanted to find out, given the complete drivetrain, control arms, crossmembers, etc, how much of it will bolt right on, how much needs fabrication, etc. The biggest question I suppose is how much money would I need to allocate for custom fabricated parts or can I make do with everything there, like on the Late Model Impreza -> Early Model Impreza/SVX drivetrain swaps.

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

- Telek

[suberdave]

first off if you get the stuff, its not all that hard. for the bolt up. if you get an engine crossmember from a trubo XT or a turbo GL and put that in, the engine will bolt right up to the crossmember. then you will need a bit of fab on the trans crossmember. unless you can find a crossmember from an XT6 than that will bolt right up also. the rear diff from a 04 WRX is a R160 diff just like the XT, so there is no problem there. as far as axels you will need to use 25 spline Turbo XT/GL axels up front and the rears may have to be a hybread.

 

so now thats done... easy right...

 

now comes the wiring. it will not be easy to hook up an OBDII ECU into a non-OBDII car. due to many sensors your XT will not have. that will set the CEL on and may put the ECU into limphome mode.

 

best choice would be a standalone. this way you will not have to use any of those sensors you dont have...

 

Good Luck

 

-=Suberdave=-

www.suberdave.com

[Numbchux]

best choice would be a standalone. this way you will not have to use any of those sensors you dont have...

 

I agree 100%

 

 

I've spent the last month or so doing the wiring for an '05 WRX swap into a '96 impreza LX. it's going to be a hell of a swap. BUT, because it was into another impreza, the entire dash can be swapped over. if this was not the case, this would have been 400x harder. seperating the engine control stuff from the rest of the harness would be an enormous project! because the ECU is still mounted in the same place as other OBD II cars (passenger footwell). but because of the turbo location, none of the wiring can go through the firewall right there, so it all has to meander around into the fenders and then to the engine.

 

and the biggest problem we're encountering. the fuel pump. the WRX uses a fuel pump controller, and a number of other sensors on the fuel tank to control how much voltage the fuel pump gets. so it doesn't have to be on 100% all the time. it works in the impreza, because there are places to mount the required sensors and the WRX fuel pump, but the same is very much not true in the XT.

 

 

 

like suberdave said. mechanically speaking, it's not that hard of a swap. but the wiring will be very complicated. once it's done, it would be an extremely sweet car. but you'd have a much easier time if you got an older JDM EJ20G. things are a bit simpler, and the power gains are comparable.

[WJM]

With Ecuflash you can reflash the stock WRX ecu and rid it of the CELs that truly do not relate to engine control/performance...like some of the fuel sensors, evap, fuel pump controller...etc.

 

If needed you can alter some of the other tables to basically ignore a non-present sensor thats not critical...but make sure to triple check that its still running safe with a wideband installed and a dataloger (enginuity logger is nice).

[idosubaru]

if you transplant the entire wiring harness i'm not sure why this would be such a big deal on the wiring end. swap the entire engine, transmission, wiring harness and computer and call it a day. i would not go with stand alone myself. the XT will run without the dash even installed, now i don't recommed that, but i'm just saying that the dash isn't necessary and i'm sure you can figure out how to get the RPM's, speedo and temp gauge to work as needed.

[WJM]

its not that hard if you have two complete cars and wiring diagrams.

[Numbchux]

if you transplant the entire wiring harness i'm not sure why this would be such a big deal on the wiring end. swap the entire engine, transmission, wiring harness and computer and call it a day. i would not go with stand alone myself. the XT will run without the dash even installed, now i don't recommed that, but i'm just saying that the dash isn't necessary and i'm sure you can figure out how to get the RPM's, speedo and temp gauge to work as needed.

 

sounds easy, but even making it run without a dash would be a large project.

[kingbobdole]

BAH! My Rx with the OBDII stock computered EJ25 SHOC is running just fine. It throws about 9 codes... fuel temp, fuel pump, evap pressure, purge control... on and on... I just don't worry about it... and check the codes every so often to make sure that there arn't any more:grin:

 

If you decide not to do it, cut me in I have an XT-6 that needs a motor:dead:

[s'ko]

I am sure it will run. But run right.

 

You are located on California land of super strict smog.

 

If you do the swap I would look into the ECU reflash. In order to get it to pass smog you will need to CEL off and all of the smog stuff present.

 

I was able to get my OBDI EJ18 BRAT certified.

 

It's doable, but there is a bit of work.

 

send me a PM if you have questions.

 

BW