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Old 02-26-2009, 03:49 PM   #1
Doncolberto530
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Question 1995 Impreza L with blown motor

Hey everyone first off I am a total Subaru Virgin before buying this car yesterday. I found an Automatic 1995 Impreza L AWD 2.2 Four Door in good shape minus a blown engine for $300. I also found someone selling a 2.2 engine with a manual tranny for $300... Now, I have reviewed many posts on here and have seen lots of stuff on conversion technical issues and things of that nature. I DID use the search feature but am still wondering if I should just throw another 2.2 in there and maybe do an auto to Manual conversion or if I should just hold out and get a 2.5 engine or something larger. My intent here is to built something that I can use as a daily driver but still has enough HP to make me grin like an idiot from time to time. Finances naturally are a factor here so if I can throw the 2.2 in there for $300 and then do mods here and there for a reasonable price then I will do that. Then again if I can find something more powerful for not much more than I am going to go that route. Like I said I am totally new at this and am having a couple mechanically inclined friends help me. Any help would be most useful. No eye rolling for you pros out there...
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Old 02-26-2009, 05:56 PM   #2
parkes
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The 2.2l is bullet proof and has enough power to get you to 180, but it isnt going to make your jaw drop, I beleive the phase 1 has 137hp and the phase 2 has 140 give or take.

The 2.5l has a little bit more power but both phases are prone to blown headgaskets but more the ej25d.

I would say if you just want a little power and a reliable dd just swap the 2.2l in there and call it a day, however it would be a pain in the arse to do the tranny swap because you need numerous parts.

Unless you are feeling up to it....
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Old 02-26-2009, 10:35 PM   #3
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Just scored a 2.2L engine for $200. Now I need to go back to the search feature and figure out how to eek some more hp out of this thing... For the moment I am leaving it Auto unless some awesome deal presents itself.
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Old 02-27-2009, 12:10 AM   #4
parkes
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Unless your willing to dump gobbs of money into it your not going to make any more power maybe just free a few ponies by straight piping the exhaust etc. Thats pretty much max for a N/a stock car....
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Old 02-27-2009, 12:29 AM   #5
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So you would recommend straight piping the exhaust first and foremost... Any little tweaks with the engine? CAI or something? After the exhaust realizing that I can't get a ton of HP out of it would you maybe recommend playing with the suspension to give it a more lively feel?
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Old 02-27-2009, 01:07 AM   #6
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I have read that you can use cams out of a 1.8 too get a little more hp I plan on doing this when I swap out my 1.8 for a 2.2, and imo doing some suspension mods to get the car to handle well will give you alot more fun for your dollar than any hp will.
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Old 02-27-2009, 01:12 AM   #7
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I will have to look that up and see what my options are there. I am still really tempted to tackle the auto to manual project. I just know that cars with low hp are a ton more fun to drive with a stick. I guess if I can find a donor car locally to snag the needed parts from it could be worth it. Decisions...Decisions...
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Old 02-27-2009, 01:47 AM   #8
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I'm also doing a auto to manual swap and I'm sort of doing it the hard way finding the parts piece by piece instead of just getting a donor car, but it hasn't been too bad I just went to the local pick and pull to get some of the random odds and ends and found the rest of the stuff in the classifieds here and on ebay the last thing I need is a clutch kit and flywheel it should really be worth it I hate the stupid auto.
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Old 02-27-2009, 09:08 AM   #9
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It's a 95, pick up a V2 JDM WRX motor and swap it. Both motors are OBDI so getting through emissions shouldn't be a huge issue.

Z
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Old 02-27-2009, 12:14 PM   #10
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Finding one of those engines for a decent price is pretty hard isn't it? I mean I just got a 2.2 for $200 so.... If I could find something with more horsepower and that is an easy drop in then I would to go that route but those suckers are expensive.
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Old 02-27-2009, 02:07 PM   #11
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There is nothing that is a straight swap(plug and play) for your car .
The sooner you get this through your head the easier.

I once was a mega NOOb myself. Just start out with the small things and just get the car driving.
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Old 02-27-2009, 02:11 PM   #12
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Yeah I get that there is no such thing as a straight swap. Then again replacing an engine with another one of the same is as close as it gets. Then again I have been wrong before...
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Old 02-27-2009, 06:12 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by parkes View Post
There is nothing that is a straight swap(plug and play) for your car .
The sooner you get this through your head the easier.

I once was a mega NOOb myself. Just start out with the small things and just get the car driving.
from everything i have read going from a 1.8 to a 2.2 is basically plug and play no need for a new ecu or any of that.
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Old 02-27-2009, 06:19 PM   #14
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I'm going from a non working 2.2 to an operable 2.2... Does it get any more plug and play than that? Don't get me wrong guys I appreciate all the help and the input and I am going to look into a lot of the stuff suggested. (i.e. straight exhaust,1.8 cams etc.) I just got the engine today and am going to start going over it and making sure everything is kosher. Anything to look out for? (Me bowing in homage again to the masters)
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Old 02-27-2009, 07:27 PM   #15
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Your automatic 95 will have an EGR valve. The manual engine probably won't. You being in CA, with different emissions, maybe it will. This will be a problem if it doesn't, you'll have a check engine light with an EGR code unless you can get the correct manual ECU.
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Old 02-27-2009, 07:46 PM   #16
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So the auto transmission will possibly require an EGR valve? Assuming it does how hard is that to put in? or is it easier to just get the ECU for the manual engine and put that in there? Guidance please...
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Old 02-28-2009, 06:53 PM   #17
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Egr is on the engine...

Exhaust gas recirculation.

Installing your own egr valve is just silly, most people delete the egr's however it would be very hard to install one yourself
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Old 02-28-2009, 08:53 PM   #18
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If you need to pass emissions with this car, you'll need the valve if it originally had one while using an auto trans. When you say daily driver, I'm guessing passing inspection would be necessary. If you are putting the manual trans in and the engine doesn't have an egr, you would use the manual trans ECU. You'd probably want to get the manual trans underhood sticker in that case if passing CA emissions is something you care about.
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Old 02-28-2009, 10:28 PM   #19
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Now searching google to figure out what the EGR is and where it is located on the off chance I already have one on there since it is a California car and engine... So assuming it doesn't have an EGR on the Manual Engine and I want to use the Auto tranny then I would just need the ECU from a manual correct?
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Old 02-28-2009, 10:48 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Doncolberto530 View Post
Now searching google to figure out what the EGR is and where it is located on the off chance I already have one on there since it is a California car and engine... So assuming it doesn't have an EGR on the Manual Engine and I want to use the Auto tranny then I would just need the ECU from a manual correct?
No, you'd need to add the EGR if your manual engine does not have it and you use the auto trans. It's been discussed that it may be possible to re-pin the ECU harness and ground one wire to run a manual engine in an automatic car and fool the ECU, but nobody that I know of has sucessfully done it.
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Old 02-28-2009, 11:00 PM   #21
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Is adding an EGR to the engine a bolt on job or does it require more? So add EGR and then get manual ECU correct? Sorry, just making sure I understand.
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Old 03-01-2009, 10:40 AM   #22
parkes
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I have never done it before, but it would defianly not be a bolt on job.
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Old 03-01-2009, 03:59 PM   #23
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Wouldn't a California Manual Engine Require an EGR the same as an auto?
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Old 03-10-2009, 01:47 AM   #24
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On my EJ25 the EGR is part of the intake manifold. There's a pipe that runs from the EGR valve down to a port on the back of the driver side head. I would think it would be pretty easy to see if it's there or not on the engine in the car and the spare engine you bought.



All the stuff on the left of the picture is the EGR system - the valve itself, which is vacuum operated, the brown vacuum solenoid on the bottom of the intake with the vacuum lines attached to it, and the black plastic thingy on top of the manifold.

Here's the back of my driver side EJ25 DOHC head:


The open port on the lower right is the EGR port.

Check what your two engines have and let us know what you've got. I'm not sure how the EJ22's EGR is set up, but I'd willing to bet it's damn similar.

Pat Olsen
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Old 04-15-2009, 11:15 PM   #25
Doncolberto530
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The 97 engine I got does have an EGR and I decided to stick with that engine for the build just to get it on the road (whether dirt or paved...) and am playing around with options to try to eek some hp out of it. Maybe some DOHC heads or something. Oh yeah, and I am keeping an eye out for a good deal on a tranny/accessories for my swap.
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