EJ25 swap into a 94 Impreza

[83Rabbit]

Im trying to decide what clutch to use, the one in the 2.5 or the one on my L..... I have no idea how new either is and I guess Ill just pull them off and pick the better of the 2 to use. Im not trying to spend alot on this swap. So a new clutch before it goes in is kinda outta the question.

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[83Rabbit]

The accessory belt is brand new on my old motor, I can use that belt on the 2.5 since the 2.5 is missing it right?

[supermoose]

screw the emanage. bleh, i had bad experiances on mine.....

hope its better for you. perhaps emanage ultimate?

[subbyspeed]

i just put my old 01 ej251 in my 95L about a month and a half ago. Runs great. Couple quick things to help you on your way..

1. I used the RS intake manifold. You can combine both coolant temp sensors on the 1.8 into 1 convient plug off of the RS harness to make the 1.8 harness plug right up.

2. Use the 1.8 throttle body. Make your own throttle body gasket using a sheet of gasket material, and trace out the 2.5 throttle body gasket, but leave out the large port towards the top.. You DO NOT need that.

3. As for the coil, you can get custom plug wires made, as stated earlier, but i opted to just wire it up to utilize the RS coil.. In my opinion, it was easy, and obviously cheaper.

4. At least for the 01 ej251, the crank timing gear IS the 6 tooth (which you need) for a manual trans engine. I've read other places that say the auto is the one with the 6 tooth, i haven't checked an auto one, because they are few and far between, but if it came from a manual tranny car, its a 6 tooth.

5. With the engine running on the 1.8 ecu, i haven't had any problems with detonation or pinging, and i've been using the finest quality 87 octane! woo! And i'm getting between 27-30 mpg, mostly city driving. Its an easy swap, and makes the car pretty quick. I was suprised.

oh yeah, i decided to reuse the ****ty clutch from the 1.8, to keep costs down at the time. It was in pretty rough shape, but whatever, it holds it well enough to flog some. Just can't really beat on it, it'll start slipping on me..

[EcksJay]

Also, you don't need to mess around with swapping power steering pumps. When you take out the 1.8, swap over the pump bracket. It will bolt right onto the 2.5, that way you won't have to mess with the steering lines. And then, you can take the 2.5 pump and lines, and sell them on E-bay.

[83Rabbit]

Originally Posted by subbyspeed

i just put my old 01 ej251 in my 95L about a month and a half ago. Runs great. Couple quick things to help you on your way..

1. I used the RS intake manifold. You can combine both coolant temp sensors on the 1.8 into 1 convient plug off of the RS harness to make the 1.8 harness plug right up.

can you elaborate a bit on this?

Secondly, can I use the 2.5 clutch thats on there now?

Thanks!

[subbyspeed]

The 1.8 engine has 2 coolant temp. sensors.. 1 is a 2 wire, the other is a single wire.

The RS uses 1 coolant temp sensor, which is a 3 wire sensor.

If you have the RS engine harness, which i would assume is still on the engine you got. De-pin that connector, and de-pin the 2 connectors on the 1.8 harness. Take the 2 wires from the 2 pin connector, and put them in the top 2 spots in the 3 pin connector.. Then put the remaining single pin from the other sensor into the bottom slot on the rs connector..

[EcksJay]

And, take LOTS of pictures and notes. Otherwise, you'll be standing there with a vacuum hose in your hand, wondering where the heck it plugs into...or a fuel line.
The wiring is very simple, since no 2 sensors are the same. However, when you disconnect the fuel injector plugs, make sure you label them, since it's pretty easy to get them crossed, especially after cutting and splicing the wires

<<<been there, done it too

[supermoose]

just use all EJ18 wiring and elec stuff and get spark plug wires made, or rig the wiring to run the ej25 ones.

man, a DOHC is so much easier to put in

[83Rabbit]

Will the MY99 Subframe drop right into my 94L?

The motor is still attatched and we were planning on just dropping the old motor/subframe and sliding it out then putting the new one in. Hows this sound? All one piece, easier than seperating them?

[supermoose]

yes. swap entire subframes is easy. r'r. drop from bottom is hte best

[83Rabbit]

Are theyre bushings that go into the subframe where it bolts to the frame horns or control arms?

It looks like there should be bushings there or that the subframe rests into bushings or something. Anyone got a diagram of a complete subframe so I can see if theres any bushings missing?

[kaisersouse]

Originally Posted by EcksJay

And, take LOTS of pictures and notes. Otherwise, you'll be standing there with a vacuum hose in your hand, wondering where the heck it plugs into...or a fuel line.
The wiring is very simple, since no 2 sensors are the same. However, when you disconnect the fuel injector plugs, make sure you label them, since it's pretty easy to get them crossed, especially after cutting and splicing the wires

<<<been there, done it too

Just wanted to say hi to a fellow mainer!! (whereabouts are you? I'm in the ellsworth area)

[EcksJay]

Hello! I'm in Lisbon until the end of October, and then me move into our new house in Lewiston.

When I did the swap, I didn't even bother with swapping out the subframe. I didn't see much point, since they are the same thing...It was a bit difficult, since I couldn't get the tranny off (seized on the 10mm pins in the engine). I ended up taking the entire thing out, and I barely had enough travel on my engine hoist.

[EcksJay]

As time goes by, I'm coming up with more hints and tips to pass on..
IIRC, the plug for the 2.5 alternator is different than the 1.8. The 1.8 alternator fits right in place. Also, it's okay to use the 2.5 clutch. It's actually better, since the 1.8 is most likely going to slip.
Also, I'm pretty sure the reason that I have to run 91 octane and need an E-Manage is because of the cams. They have a much longer lift and duration, and as you can see from the dyno sheet, it's done a pretty good job on my torque curve.

[83Rabbit]

Sats the big day!!!

Is there ANY specialty tools I will need to do this swap other than the basic hand/air tools sockets wrenches, etc?

[supermoose]

all hand tools will do you. you need a clutch alignment tool, thats about it for the weird tools.

[83Rabbit]

whats that? is that generic or scooby specialty? can I get around its usage? how much is it? where can I get it? blah blah blah lol thanks!

[83Rabbit]

Originally Posted by 83Rabbit

whats that? is that generic or scooby specialty? can I get around its usage? how much is it? where can I get it? blah blah blah lol thanks!

any word on this clutch alignment tool?

[EcksJay]

You really need it. It is "possible" to do without it, but it involves severa times assembling and disassembling the clutch. You're better off running down to a local Subaru dealer and trying to borrow one of their tools. Or, if you have a junk tranny sitting around, cut off the input spline. That works really well. Hope this helps! Keep us updated.

[83Rabbit]

the clutch is already installed and bolted to the new motor, do i still need the alignment tool if its complete and ready to slide into the input shaft?

[83Rabbit]

Day/Night 1:

I wanted to start the swap at 8 or 9 am yesterday but nothing ever goes as planned eh? The place I had set aside to do the work fell through and the car was dropped off at that place on friday night. The friend helping me who had the truck to get the motor couldnt do it until about 2pm. So I sucked it up and said to myself, better late than never.

After getting the motor, getting the impreza back to my house, and buying an SUV jack and jack stands and getting food it was 6:30pm lol. So we began the process. Heres what we did.

-unhooked everything from the top
-loosened the AC compressor and moved it to the side, even though he was pushing for a non/ac 2.5RS swap to save some weight. I figured, my AC works, lets keep it.
-unbolted the exhaust which broke every stud but one from the old motor, oh well Im not using that motor again. If you plan on re-using your old motor be VERY careful with these studs/nuts, its very easy to break them off.
-unbolted the exhaust hanger that bolts to what looks to be the back side of the tranny, its 2 12 or 14mm nuts.
-pulled the hangers for the exhaust and dropped the entire thing, slid it out from underneath the car. We decided to do this because it was going to be easier than trying to break the bonds on the bolts to separate the exhaust and risk stripping, breaking, or maiming the exhaust lol. It took about 10 min to drop laying on my back with the car on stands, not too bad.
-got every necessary motor mount bolt loose and started on the 4 between the engine/tranny.
-unbolted the radiator, drained antifreeze and removed it for more room.

This is the hard one, the drivers side engine/tranny bolt sits right infront of the axle with too little clearance to put a half inch drive in there we had to use a 3/8'' drive with fine teeth and access it from above, removing the starter and placing a steel pipe on the end of it. Even with the starter removed there wasnt much room to turn it, it was done click by click resetting the ratchet by hand every time. But after about 5 min we got it off. That was the only big snag.

After that it was about 845pm and we decided to clean up and call it a night. I drained the oil out of the old motor and have the car sitting ready to be finished up now as the motor is completely lose and ready to be dropped.


We found removing the sub frame with the motor didnt look as easy as everyone says. It didnt look like thered be enough clearance to clear the PS rack and that we'd have to drop it to pull the sub frame, also would have to drop the control arms too? We opted to keep the sub frame and just slide out the motor.


So, Im going to grab some breakfast and start on it again in about an hour. Hopefully within the first hour we'll have the old motor out and the new one sitting in ready to be hooked up.

[moss]

the PS steering rack I believe has to be removed. Also, the control arms need to be taken off the subframe too. Otherwise, like you said, you'll have to pull the motor up and out. I mean the subframes are idenitcal, just up to you which will be easier.

Let me know what happens with the motor.

Keith

[83Rabbit]

Update:

The 2.5 motor is sitting in the engine bay all bolted up. Here are some notes from the day.

-If you plan on running the 1.8 accessories, alt, ps, a/c. You need to swap over the 1.8 brackets too.
-my MY 00 motor had the 6 tooth crank sensor which apparently is what plugs directly into the 1.8 ECU
-you cannot remove the motor from the bottom without dropping the sub frame and/or removing the a/c condensor dryer. All we did for the hour we tried was succeeded in getting the studs on the motor stuck on the sub frame and bashing up my dryer. So I had to go out and shell out the 150 for an engine hoist. Once we hooked that up it came right out and the new one went right in.
- When installing the new motor not attatched to the sub frame it makes it easier to slide in if you use an SUV jack to jack up the tranny so the motor mount studs clear the sub frame and the angle created by them clearing is equal to the angle of the jacked up tranny.


other than those things, the motors bolted up, the PS is installed and yes the lines were a bit short, took a min to bend the one and a longer rubber hydrolic hose to fix the lower one. The AC and the brackets are bolted in, the alt is in, now everything just needs to be swapped, sensor-wise from the 1.8 into the 2.5 and its ready to go after we get some antifreeze, swap the TB, and change the oil, etc.

[moss]

And I don't know if this makes a difference, but remember its a MY99 engine, not a MY00.