yet another 95 2.2 to 99 outback...

[lizardbrain]

Hi all,

 

I have a kinda rusty 95 legacy wagon with a 5 speed, and I have a chance to buy a 99 outback w 135,00 miles. The OB has a DOHC 2.5 with a hole in the crankcase, and also has a 5 speed. The OB also has a pretty recent clutch, and is pretty cheap.

 

I live in Mexico, so the smog stuff doesn't apply, and I'm not too worried about having the "always on" CEL. Also, there are not ANY choices here for other motors (you would not believe what junkyards here charge, and there are not any Subs in them anyway). What could be an issue is that the roads are terrible (we have many off road races that use the local roads), and I'm not sure that the starter will stay in with just one bolt. I've been working on cars and motorcycles for fun since 1973 or so, and even worked in a shop for a while in the eighties.

 

1. Except for the starter bolt hole possibly not being there, is there anything else to worry about in this transplant?

 

2. Does anyone have a good way to locate the hole for the starter bolt, or do I just guess? Or just use one and hope the washboard doesn't break it?

 

3. Does the OB clutch stuff work with 2.2? I'm OK with changing the flywheel if I have to, but if I don't have to, that would be even better.

 

Thanks for any help I can get.

 

Pat

[idosubaru]

if it's DOHC then this is an easy swap. the one starter bolt won't be a problem, it's not really a "structural" issue. but i think locating the second hole would be very simple if you wanted to go that route.

 

your 95 should be a dual port and bolt right up to the 99 exhaust. but in the odd event that you have a late model or something that somehow got a single port exhaust Ej22, don't sweat it - just swap the exhaust header too - very simple, that's a direct swap as well.

 

i've seen a number of engines not have the charcoal canister lines, don't worry about those either. just install the EJ22 as is, no matter if it does or does not have the charcoal canister lines, it'll work fine either way with no issues.

 

the last swap i did was an automatic so i'm not recalling the clutch stuff. someone here will know.

 

a 1995 ECU will not work in the 1999 vehicle. but there's a chance that if you got a 1996 ECU from a manual EJ22 without EGR that it would get rid of your EGR check engine code. although, like me, you don't care!!!

[lizardbrain]

if it's DOHC then this is an easy swap.

 

Thanks for taking the time to respond. It looks pretty straight forward, it even looks like all of the accessory drive stuff on the OB can be used (rust on the 2.2 parts). And just to be sure I'm hearing right, I should be able to just use the 2.5 wiring harness and ECU?

 

Thanks again

 

Pat

[idosubaru]

yes, don't touch the body wiring harness or ECU. drop the entire EJ22 in as a lump, the 1995 EJ22 will plug right into the vehicle harness. and yes you'll want to bolt the EJ25 accessories to the Ej22 block anyway.

[lizardbrain]

Thanks again, grossgary. I'll be finding out about the clutch slave cylinder today. I'll post anything interesting that I find. My forgetter must be working, as I'm actually looking forward to getting started on this...

 

Pat

[lizardbrain]

Well, I've finally got the 2.2 in the 99 OBW, and it was really easy. A few thing I found:

 

The power steering hoses are a bit different, the 99 OBW lines are positioned 2 or 3 inches more towards the right of the car than the 95 hoses (bigger heads on the 2.5.) Everything fits, but the mounting tabs on the hoses don't meet the mounting points on the 2.2. Using the hoses from the 95 would be a good choice, and changing them with the engine out of both cars would be pretty easy (but I didn't.)

 

The lower starter bolt hole in the 95 bell housing is threaded for a stud, and the 99 OBW bell housing is not threaded, as it goes to a hole in the engine (for a engine/trans mounting bolt.) I used a 1/2 inch tap (what I had, not what I wanted) to tap the bell housing, and drilled out the lower hole on the starter to take a 1/2 x 1 bolt. Works fine. I considered welding a nice metric stud on the end of piece of 1/2 bolt, but I'm lazy. A metric helicoil would probably work even better.

 

The 99 OBW exhaust fits perfectly, as does the radiator, fans, and all of the cooling system hoses.

 

I used the 99 OBW crank pulley, as the one from the 95 had a bunch of rust inside, and one from the 99 looked new. They are different looking pulleys, but the diameter, sheeve spacing and bolt hole depth are the same.

 

I ordered an oil pan from a junk yard for the 2.2 (old one was really rusty,) and it looked just like the oil pan from the 2.5 out of the OBW. It was indeed a different shape than the pan from the 2.2, but bolted up perfectly, and the return and dip stick tubes matched just fine, and and it looks like it may have a touch more capacity.

 

I also used the oil seperator from the 2.5, as the 2.2 had a plastic one which was leaking.

 

Thanks for a great board, and I've got to go watch the race going by a block from my house.

 

Pat

[idosubaru]

cool, glad it worked out for you.