Topic: ej18 to ej22/ej25 swap

[ralllyx39]

hi all i just have purchased a 94 wagonL, ive always wanted a subaru and finally finally i found one, its an AWD with a ej18 in it, and from what i was reading i am able to swap a 98 ej25 twin cam motor with my stock ECU and Wiring harness, i also thought about swapping an ej22 from a legacy motor, whichever one will be easiest, im not to worried about power just a little bit more than stock is what i would need.

so my real question is is this all true? ive done engine swaps on other makes before where i reuse the normal ecu and intake manifold and the car has run fine but im just lookin for someoen here that has done it and can offer any major road blocks in swapping either an ej22 or ej25.
thanks

[marc l]

i thought about the twin cam in my 97L, so i pulled both wiring diagrams and they matched up almost perfectly! almost! i think there was 1 sensor you needed to add. the thing with the 94 is the obd1. it might be tougher to do a twin cam swap, but the sohc could work. i dont know how much difference you would feel from the 1.8 to the 2.2 though.. hmm

[Tik-Tok]

I just swapped in a JDM EJ25D into my '98 Impreza OBS (was a 2.2L), it works quite well. A few things I had to do...

-Used the harness from my EJ22, but there was a couple of plugs I will had to take off the EJ22 engine and put on the EJ25D. Including adding some length to the wires going to the IAC, as it's on the opposite side of the engine from the 2.2, as well as the coil pack, as it's on the side, not the center.

- Blocked all vacuum lines not needed for my car

- Took the two electrically operated vacuum valves from the EGR system off the EJ22, and hooked them up (electrically, not to any actual vacuum lines) to the new engine. This stopped two of the check engine lights from coming on for the EGR system, since the JDM ej25d doesn't have EGR. Alternatively, I've read you can ground out a pin on the ECU, to trick it into thinking there isn't supposed to be an EGR system. I still get P0400 EGR code once in awhile though, because the engine isn't seeing the rpm increase it's supposed to (when the EGR is supposed to be actuated)

- Exhaust needed to be modified, on my EJ22, the single ports came down, and back to the Y pipe, on the JDM ej25d, they go forward to the Y, then up and around the side. To do this, I just cut the heads off both systems, and got the new 2 port heads put on the old exhaust pipes.

- Flex plate is bigger on the 2.5, swapped the 2.2 one over. (auto transmission)

- Had to swap the A/C brakets and P/S pump brackets, to the 2.5. (I kept the A/c and P/S on the car, with hoses attached, and they wouldn't fit on the new engine with the new brackets)


Other than that, it was a straight swap. No ECU change, and just those few things I mentioned on the wiring harness, works good, hopefully lasts long! Been driving it for a month now with no issues (other than the p0400 egr engine code, which comes on about once a week)

[ralllyx39]

see that doesnt sound to bad at all, hopefully something like this applys for the ej18 to ej22 swap, id be more than happy with 140 hp, i jus twnana make sure if i do it im not wasting my time with wiring issues etc etc.

[rs_two_five]

if you want to swap a EJ25 into your car, don't get a DOHC 97-98 phase 1 motor, get the SOHC 99-01 EJ25 phase 2 motor.  The SOHC motors don't pop headgaskets like its going outta style.  Subaru redesigned the block/head internally to make the blocks less prone to HG failures.  I know with my 98 RS, in one year I had 2 HG failures (but I did almost have 40K that year, auto-xing/rally-xing/TSD'ing and spirited driving everywhere).  Either that, or just go for the 91-94 EJ22T and do a mild turbo swap (TD04) with a intercooler install (06-07 WRX TMIC) and have fun.

[AgentJ]

Bump from the very very dead, yes I know.

I have a 97 brighton with an ej18. What is the closest to PnP swap to do? Preferably a 2.5, but even a 2.2 is an improvement.

[RedBimmer93]

Bump from the very very dead, yes I know.

I have a 97 brighton with an ej18. What is the closest to PnP swap to do? Preferably a 2.5, but even a 2.2 is an improvement.

Sorry for an even later reply lol.

My 94 impreza wagon was originally a 1.8l and was swapped for the 2.2l. I don't know the specifics of the swap, but I know it entailed reusing a lot of the old parts from the 1.8l, including the intake manifold, starter, alternator, etc... apparently this is a pretty foolproof swap. The ej22 is great because it provides a nice little boost in power over the 1.8l, but this motor has no head gasket curse that the ej25 is very prone to, and the motor will easily outlive the shell of the car

I'd ask snackers for any specific questions regarding this

[Cbxj]

We swapped a DOHC 2.5 (99 vintage) into daughter 1's 97 OBS.
Love the extra power compared to the 2.2, and the swap was super easy, and even kept the 2.2 ECU. .. however what everybody said above is true, we had to do the head gaskets after a while..
 the stock HG's lasted +- 200,000 kms, We've done a few DOHC HG's now and it seems once they are done with the new gaskets, they don't need to be done again.. (fingers crossed).

[seat safety switch]

Yeah, while any Phase 1 (DOHC) EJ25D is out of the car I would replace with MLS turbo gaskets (11044AA610). The dealership will not give you the right part.

See also: the head gasket thread.