themoneypit Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 ok, so im leaning towards getting a JDM EJ25 for my 97 OBW. i see one on ebay, and the only noticeable difference i see is the ignition coil is on the back of the intake, mine is on top center. will this motor be a direct fit for my outback? heres a link to the auction http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390123428290 or what modifications would i have to do to make it work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 (edited) coil placement doesn't mean anything. you're using your intake and coil, ignore the JDM intake stuffs. i would ask them minor questions like this, they're the ones you're paying and getting the product from. they sell this stuff all the time. you want to pay top dollar for original head gaskets? these were failing under warranty when they were new, mileage gains you nothing. at 10+ years old I'd plan on replacing the timing belt stuff. Edited November 28, 2009 by grossgary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themoneypit Posted November 28, 2009 Author Share Posted November 28, 2009 well from what i see gary, seems most of these HGs go bad around 115+k miles, but im sure theres exceptions. i would plan on putting new t-belts and seals on the front, but otherwise dropping it in and running it. then if/when the HGs go on the JDM motor, ill worry about that then. but i dont have any idea just how bad, or how many times my motor was "cooked" before i got it. id hate to do the whole HG job to have it start knocking in a few months. i would love to find a low mileage 2.2 for it, but theyre tough to find..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torxxx Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 (edited) make sure you pull the oil pan off too and clean the pickup screen off. Also replace the timing belt and check all pulleys and tensioner. And my rule with JDM engines is just use the long block. Take off intake, alternator, power steering pump, ac pump. while you have it out, put new exhaust studs in (use red locktite.) Wouldnt hurt to slap new plugs and valve cover gaskets on it too while its out since the EJ25D is a sl0t to change the plugs and vc gaskets in the car. wow a 30 day warranty.... a bit sad. foreign engines in Lynwood has a year warranty but they are a bit more spendy. Ohter than that it is a EJ25D, it will bolt up to your outback. Make sure you use the engine mounts off your old engine. JDM engines tend to have different style mounts than North American Cars If you have any other questions about these engines shoot me a pm, I've become very very familiar with these over the last few years.. done over 500 and counting Edited November 28, 2009 by torxxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themoneypit Posted November 28, 2009 Author Share Posted November 28, 2009 make sure you pull the oil pan off too and clean the pickup screen off. Also replace the timing belt and check all pulleys and tensioner. And my rule with JDM engines is just use the long block. Take off intake, alternator, power steering pump, ac pump. while you have it out, put new exhaust studs in (use red locktite.) Wouldnt hurt to slap new plugs and valve cover gaskets on it too while its out since the EJ25D is a sl0t to change the plugs and vc gaskets in the car. wow a 30 day warranty.... a bit sad. foreign engines in Lynwood has a year warranty but they are a bit more spendy. Ohter than that it is a EJ25D, it will bolt up to your outback. Make sure you use the engine mounts off your old engine. JDM engines tend to have different style mounts than North American Cars If you have any other questions about these engines shoot me a pm, I've become very very familiar with these over the last few years.. done over 500 and counting i was planning on doing the plugs, wires, and valve cover gaskets too.. why should i use all my intake and stuff thou? my car has 133k on it, these motors have way less miles. wouldnt it be better to just install the complete motor? anyways my real question was, with this complete motor, even thou the coil isnt in the same place, if i left it as a whole, would the plugs for the main harness be the same?? im not looking to make a huge project out of it, would like to just slap a t-belt on it, and a tune up, and drop it in the car. OR should i try and find the exact match motor with a coil on top of the intake? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 the coil placement has nothing to do with anything, i'm not sure why you keep obsessing about the coil? you're going to be removing the entire engine harness anyway and using yours. JDM's are not "drop in" from that perspective. the plugs/wiring are completely different (at least the ones i've seen). you use all your goodies and gadgets and just the JDM long block. real simple, remove intake, install yours, end of story. coil pack is gone, you're using your coil pack. 115k, not sure where that number came from but it's not realistic. they blow at completely random mileages, it's not a wear item, it's a defect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtdash Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 I don't see an EGR on that JDM either, if yours has one. I'd also be wary of future parts replacement on that JDM intake manifold...if you have to replace the IAC, TB, etc, and they're different, getting parts and trouble-shooting will be harder, IMHO. FWIW, I've had/bought 3 EJ25D w/bad HG: 62K, 125K, and 135K. Td Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themoneypit Posted November 28, 2009 Author Share Posted November 28, 2009 the coil placement has nothing to do with anything, i'm not sure why you keep obsessing about the coil? you're going to be removing the entire engine harness anyway and using yours. JDM's are not "drop in" from that perspective. the plugs/wiring are completely different (at least the ones i've seen). you use all your goodies and gadgets and just the JDM long block. real simple, remove intake, install yours, end of story. coil pack is gone, you're using your coil pack. 115k, not sure where that number came from but it's not realistic. they blow at completely random mileages, it's not a wear item, it's a defect. oh ok, i assumed they were a plug and play ej25. then ill just keep my eyes out for a good 2.2, or us 2.5 then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torxxx Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 the JDM will most likely not have a EGR pipe and yours will. So you will have to take out the second plug down on the drivers side head. Even though the JDM comes with an intake, they are not plug and play. You have to retain your intake/wiring etc for the engine to be proper. JDM wiring is different, they use different parts for some stuff because they are the non-detuned version of the cars we get. So a lot of times to detune them they will put a cheaper "non" performance part on the engine like a TPS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 I would not choose a JDM engine, but sounds like you're up for it, so you can use that motor rather easily and I think it's a fine fit really. (well, might want to check on that EGR issue, I didn't look for that). These motors rarely have intake manifold associated issues. Personally I would actually RATHER use your intake manifold than one that's been sitting for who knows how long and Japan miles are all city miles and unknown mileage at that. Most folks with 200k and 300k aren't having any issues with intake manifold stuff, very rare, so I wouldn't rule it out because of that if you're cool with that motor. Good luck beast! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blacky Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 I'm about to do a JDM swap into one of my '97s as well. The Japanese owner of the local JDM importer says to swap intake stuff, do the timing belt , water pump etc. Also replace the spark plugs while they're easy to reach. The JDM engine does not have an EGR system. He mentioned drilling and tapping a hole for it. I'll probably get him to do the swap because he gave me a price of $300.00 to install it if it's one of his engines. This should also help with any warranty issues should they occur. P.S. The engine he has has the coil on top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torxxx Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 why do you sound so afraid to change the intake? you can change it in about a minute and 30 seconds with the engine out of the car..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themoneypit Posted December 1, 2009 Author Share Posted December 1, 2009 why do you sound so afraid to change the intake? you can change it in about a minute and 30 seconds with the engine out of the car..... im not afraid of changing the intake. i was just hoping for a plug and play motor. but ive been running the car with bad headgaskets by using a stant lev-r-cap radiator cap, with the lever open, and its been running good so far with 2k miles on it this way. so im in no rush to get a motor, because im not changing this one until its complete toast, or i need to replace the clutch. problem is, ill be using my friends garage when i do swap the motor, so i want it to just be as easy a swap as possible, i dont want to run into the unknown/overlooked problems. so a JDM is out of the question at this point. im not drilling and tapping EGR holes..... ultimately id love to find a nice low mileage 95 2.2l auto to plug right in.... but those sure seem few and far between..... id settle for a 96-98 thou too and change the exhaust manifold, thats not a big deal, but most i see have close to or over 200k on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torxxx Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 not all 2.2's from 96-98 are the different exhaust (single port) its more stuck to the 96's. I've seen the Gen 2 EJ22 with dual port exhaust in 97's and 98's. That would be the engine to go for. No head gasket issues, no pain in the rump roast valve's to spend 8 hours shimming and spinning the engine over and over and over trying to set them. The only real problem with those 2.2L is non adjustable valves and I can;t remember what year those came on. I think the phase 2 were all non-adjustable. I know Gen 1 EJ22's usually came with adjustable rockers. Any way you go, good luck and stay away from EJ25D. Best one to use is EJ22E or get fancy and use a EJ251 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 compared to pulling the engine, swapping an intake manifold or exhaust manifold is like brushing your teeth, so i wouldn't really pay any attention to that. avoiding a 96 just because of the ypipe completely baffles me, it's good that you're a bit more open than that. someone is going to swap a motor and be worried about two more bolts and an extra gasket? that sounds more like a comedy sketch than anything else. the 95-96's are nice because of the non-interference factor and the timing belt kits (via Ebay) are only $80 for all new pulleys an tbelt verses the later ones which are the new style tensioner and $200. also the older style tensioners are more reliable than the new style 97ish+. personally i'd get a 95 or 96 with y pipe (folks on here have those) or a 97/98 if it's cheap. i've never seen a dual port exhaust 97/98 EJ22, might be a regional thing from what he's seen but all of them that i've seen, and owned, and others have mentioned are usually single ports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaru360 Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 The engine in the Ebay link is an oddball. I'd pass on it. It's got a turbo exhaust manifold and hydraulic lifter 96 and older heads on it. And that odd intake manifold. I'm not sure exactly what it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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