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EJ22, EJ25 discussion. Thoughts?


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I've got a 95 impreza awd. It has the 2.2 EJ22 non interference engine. I've seen alot of threads on the EJ22 phase1/2 vs EJ25 DOHC and SOHC. Im curious which vehicles have which engines and which ones are good and arent good. I know the first generation of the EJ22 is the strongest one but i like the thought of the EJ25 with SOHC heads. Are these prone to head gasket issues? if not is it just the DOHC heads that cause problems or the block? or faulty dohc gaskets? Being this is my first subaru and this brand has always fascinated me i'd just like to learn a bit about the 90s engines.

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Well I'll throw the curveball and say that since you're probably liking the EJ25 for the extra ponies, that you can drop an EJ25 shortblock in under your stock EJ22 heads, and have even more power than a stock EJ25 puts out; without having to screw with wiring, ecus, etc. It's been my experience that if the headgaskets are done right on the 25 (after the OEM ones are replaced) that there should be pretty much 0 issue.

 

I'm about 3 hours away from stabbing my 25/22 hybrid in, and after buying the engines, heads, camshafts, and other goodies; I'm less than $1500 in. And that was way over budget because I opted to buy another set of heads so I could build the engine and have less than a day of downtime. I should see about 200hp at the crank, so an extra 65hp over the stock ej22, for $1500... well...:D

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EJ22 - excellent motor, pretty much will last as long as you care to maintain it if you don't run it hot or low on oil. excellent motors.

 

your 95 is particularly awesome in that if the timing belt breaks there's no valve damage like later year EJ22's. install a new timing belt every 60,000 miles and a timing belt kit every 120,000 miles and run it for many hundreds of thousands of miles.

 

EJ25's have headgasket issues - actually all years DOHC and SOHC up to like 2010.

 

an EJ25 DOHC with the MLS 610 (last three digits of part number) headgasket installed is a great motor.

 

an EJ25 SOHC engine with the EJ25 turbo headgasket installed is a great motor as well.

 

you could get any EJ25 block (SOHC or DOHC) and bolt your EJ22 heads to it.

 

the DOHC EJ25 is the only plug and play engine swap option, the SOHC EJ25's are not.

 

the key is getting a known good EJ25 block that's never been overheated - those are worth good money. they tend to be pricey due to high demand because of headgasket issues.

 

it's not a large power jump, 165hp is nice but not really that big of a deal.

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That was actually my intention, to snag a EJ25 DOHC bottom end and put my EJ22 heads on it. The engine i've got a chance to get idk the history on the car but all it says is "Bad trans" on the window so i assume it was running ok. Personally i've always liked SOHC vs DOHC for belt driven engines. When it comes to timing chain engines i'll take DOHC all day. I think my 22 was oveheated before I bought it. Water pump was seized and knock sensor was melted. That's why i put head gaskets and redid the headds and did all new timing set on it when I bought it. So far i've got 500 miles and havent burned a drop of oil. Leaked some from the rear head seals which i forgot to replace while i had them off tho.

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ll it says is "Bad trans" on the window so i assume it was running ok.
the problem with the EJ25 is that it has a high probability of having been overheated at some point in the past. if it has the original headgaskets on it - that's a good sign it wasn't overheated though because you really can't drive the DOHC's when they start overheating (like you can the SOHC's).

 

but yours was already overheated so .......???

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is this true?

 

i thought the HP was more than the ej22 but less than the stock ej25?

 

The build I copied put down 203 crank hp to the 165ish that a stock 25 puts down. The 22 heads up the compression ratio to 11:1 or so. Throw in torque cams, phenolic spacers, and a mild valve job... Gotta run premium, but it's worth it IMO.

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But that would be an interference motor at that point correct? Also another curve ball would it be better to put dished pistons and lower compression and turbo that or keep a high compression all motor? I like all motor. Im curious about superchargers since my old v6 had one. Theres plenty of room under the hood as low as the engine is.

Edited by Recian
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