[greenfield_subaru]

I've just picked up a 99 OBW with a blown motor - there's even a nice section of the block missing so I can check the oil level without pulling the dipstick

Question is - it has an EJ25 motor in it - can I put an EJ22 motor in, and if so from what years/models? I've got the shop to do the work in, and have found a few junk cars with running EJ22 motors from 93 and 95, just want to make sure before I pick up a junk car that the motor will work in my 99 OBW. I'm not terribly concerned about high performance - just driving. Read some of the threads on here, something about an EGR comes up in motor swap threads - don't know what that's in reference to.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[lockmedic]

Yours should have EGR. Get a 2.2 with EGR and the matching Y pipe and you're generally in business.

If you're pulling it from the car yourself I've found that if you swap the ECU with the engine it usually negates the need to make sure it has EGR. My experience is limited to swapping a 97 Impreza motor into a 98 Outback, however. Both were 5 speeds. Impreza did not have EGR, all I did was drop it in and plug it up. No intake swapping or nuthin'.

Pre-96 would be considered preferable as they're still non-interference motors, so no bent valves if you break a timing belt down the road.

 

[Kii]

Any general opinions on how well the EJ22's do in place of the EJ25's.. I new to Subbies, but excited with my new project car

 

[idosubaru]

***the comment about the EGR and swapping the ECU above may not be the case normally. many folks have wished that were true or tried that and failed. i'm actually astonished it worked one time, never heard of that before. but when reset - the EGR code doesn't come on right away, it can take time - so if you didn't put a lot of miles on it, then that might be why...or maybe sometimes it works...?

they do fine. a little less power but it's not like the Ej25...or NA subaru's are speed demons anyway. if it's a daily driver you won't care.

things like living in the mountains, towing, hauling heavy loads, will be more noticeable.

less noticeable behind a 5 speed than an auto.

 

[lockmedic]

I can't see how it would be an issue. The ECU stays with the engine it's always run with. There may be a few unused wires in the harness between the engine and ECU but as they're dead on both ends it's not like the ECU can generate a DTC for something it or the engine never had.

YMMV.

 

[idosubaru]

cool - i'd like to hear a case where this work, so far it's never worked for anyone else that i know of.

what year/model Subaru?
what year, type EJ22 did you install (long block and intake manifold)?
what ECU did you install?

I can't see how it would be an issue. The ECU stays with the engine it's always run with. There may be a few unused wires in the harness between the engine and ECU but as they're dead on both ends it's not like the ECU can generate a DTC for something it or the engine never had.

YMMV.

i hear you, i'd like to figure this out... and that's what i would thought before i ever tried it. i swapped ECU's and that made no difference - still have check engine light. so i cut the EGR related wires to the EGR to be sure...still check engine light.

i'm lucky and live in a state where the check engine light doesn't matter for anything so i can ignore it.
mine is an automatic 1996 EGR equipped EJ25 vehicle with 1997 non-EGR engine and a non-EGR ECU.

it may work some times, but i haven't seen it yet and i'm not sure why or what may differ...auto/manual...different years...what exactly the ECU is or isn't looking for...maybe the auto trans is somehow integrated..i have no idea.

i'm not even sure the ECU's are different. there's usually an identifier pin sort of like between auto and manual ECU's.

yours is the first claim of it "working" that i've ever seen and EJ22 swaps are a dime a dozen, done all the time for many many years now. i've heard of others that have swapped ECU's and it didn't work as well. just a word of caution - but until there's more info i wouldn't consider your experience universal...though i sure wish it was!

how many miles did you personally drive the vehicle you did this too?

 

[canubaru]

the potential problem with swapping the ecu is the wiring harness in the car, imho.

i put a 95 auto w/egr into a 98 auto obw. when i tried to start it up the ecu was bad, it was causing an injector to fire constantly. so i swapped in a 96 auto/ egr/ ecu i had sitting around. the engine ran fine but it threw codes for ''traction control'' which neither car had and some evap purge issue. once i replaced the ecu with the correct one both troubles went away. the wires in the car did not match the pins in the ECU for those 2 items. they must have moved the pins in 98 or the wires. at least that is my theory. any other ideas as to the cause?

(i also tried my 97 GT auto ecu and it was the same, no improvement.)

 

[lockmedic]

That's bizzare, but from what I've seen someone at Subaru Wire Harness engineering must be yelling "THIS IS SPARTA!" to any retorts that "it's madness"

Specifically the successful swap I did was a 1998 Outback MT limited. Used a 2.2 from a 97 Impreza MT, complete with Y pipe and I think even the AC compressor bolted up to the Outback lines. I drove the car for about 1,000 miles, then sold it to a woman in KY who does check in from time to time. Last word I got was after she'd had it for a couple of months, no report of any CEL.

Only odd thing was the Impreza was CA emissions, no EGR tho. It did call for a different timing belt with a 105k mile interval. The 98 Outback it went into was federal emissions with EGR.

Sucks if the CA emissions is the golden ticket as they're aren't many of those around.

Given that the difference between a MTand AT ECU is a single pin being shorted to ground it would not surprise me to learn the EGR system is wired in a similar fashion. Needs more study.

 

[canubaru]

it has an EJ25 motor in it - can I put an EJ22 motor in, and if so from what years/models? I've got the shop to do the work in, and have found a few junk cars with running EJ22 motors from 93 and 95,

the 93 will not have EGR so it is not the engine you want.

the 95, if it is an auto trans, will, should, have EGR but you will have to check to be sure. and if it is from a legacy is will be OBD2 and is the preferred engine for this swap. (if from an impreza it may be odb1 and you MIGHT need a legacy intake. the ej25 intake will not swap onto the ej22. i do not know if the harness will.)

the 95 ej22 has dual port heads so exhaust y-pipe in the 99 obw is a match.
use the flex plate off of the ej25 if it is an auto trans car. the ej22 flex plate is smaller.
and if you have the ej22 car to pull parts from, use the power steering lines that match the ej22 engine. you do not need them, the ej25 PS lines will work just fine, but the support brackets will not match up to the ej22 head. to repeat, you do not NEED to swap the lines but if you have them go ahead and use them. the car / engine will look ''factory''.