heartless Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 So, madkow keeps a running alert of Subaru's for sale from Craigslist, and this little gem popped up last night... 1998 Forester, automatic...Bad engine - $350 - I am going to pick it up and bring it home today - leaving very shortly in fact. Apparently the po (prior to the guy that has it now) had replaced the head gaskets on it, but didnt bother to torque anything to spec...or so says the guy's mechanic.... So - will be doing a 2.2 swap with my current 1990 Legacy as the donor (known running engine) Is there anything I should be aware of specific to this model - and/or doing the swap? I did a bit of research last night, and know I need to swap over the throttle body & intake harness from the dead 2.5 to the 2.2 so things will plug in - what else? Tranny should be the same, right? 4EAT? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 yep, trans doesn't matter - bolt the Ej25 flexplate to the EJ22 engine. Ej25 is dual port, unsure what 1990 EJ22's are but swap exhaust manifold if needed. that year EJ22 is not plug and play so yes you'll have to swap wiring and whatever necessary to make that happen. what i would do is get a 1995-1998 EGR equipped intake manifold and bolt it to your 1990 EJ22 then it's plug and play with zero work, no wiring at all. bellhousing bolt pattern changed in 1998 but don't let that concern you, just use the existing holes that line up - 4 of them i think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivans imports Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Have a egr intake and head for 2.2 just got yesterday is very not commen but is needed for 2.2 swap with no check engine. Only came on us cars 95-97 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivans imports Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 If puting a 4 bolt bell in a 8 bolt hole you must hili coil the lower starter bolt and install a stud a exhaust stud works well as the lower bolt is a bell bolt on late model Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted June 5, 2013 Author Share Posted June 5, 2013 (edited) Thanks for the replies, guys, much appreciated. Especially the bit about the flexplate - missed that last night. As for getting the EGR setup - I have pretty much a Zero budget as of right now - $350 for the car, and $70 in gas to go get it blew what little i had - will have to make work what I have to work with. I am not adverse to doing a little wire splicing - if it comes to that, and CEL is no big deal around here - no emissions testing to worry about. Overall the Forester is in pretty decent shape for rust prone Wisconsin - just starting to get a little in the left rear wheel well, has a few little dings here & there, but nothing serious - not too bad for a 15 year old Wisconsin car. The biggest "problem" (aside from the motor of course) is the interior could use a good shampooing. LOL Got a spare grill & the Subaru cargo area mat for it as well. Edited June 5, 2013 by heartless Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86BRATMAN Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 You'll need to bolt on the idle air control valve from the ej25 onto the ej22 manifold. There is something screwy with the 90 ej22 iacv, can't remember what right now though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 If puting a 4 bolt bell in a 8 bolt hole you must hili coil the lower starter bolt and install a stud a exhaust stud works well as the lower bolt is a bell bolt on late model That's only for the 5mt. The 4eat has a stud, and then the "extra" hole is under the starter lip. You can swap the EJ25 harness and TB onto the EJ22 intake and it will work fine. You will need to pop the pins for the coil wire out of the EJ25 harness, and swap the connector from EJ22 harness over to use the EJ22 coil. You will also need to swap the Evap solenoid. May need to install another Vac nipple into the manifold for the Evap line to go too....unless your EJ25 TB has the line for evap in it. Some are in the TB, some are in the top of the intake just infront of the TB. Likely need to "T" into the evap line for the MAP source sensor hose. Minor detail tricky tset up just right but won't make it not run anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted June 5, 2013 Author Share Posted June 5, 2013 That's only for the 5mt. The 4eat has a stud, and then the "extra" hole is under the starter lip. You can swap the EJ25 harness and TB onto the EJ22 intake and it will work fine. You will need to pop the pins for the coil wire out of the EJ25 harness, and swap the connector from EJ22 harness over to use the EJ22 coil. You will also need to swap the Evap solenoid. May need to install another Vac nipple into the manifold for the Evap line to go too....unless your EJ25 TB has the line for evap in it. Some are in the TB, some are in the top of the intake just infront of the TB. Likely need to "T" into the evap line for the MAP source sensor hose. Minor detail tricky tset up just right but won't make it not run anyway. Thanks for the additional info! Actually now thinking about yanking the 2.2 out of the parts car (a 91 I think) - that one has slightly fewer miles on it, but would need a reseal, timing job done, etc......using it would mean being able to keep my current Legacy on the road until the Forester is ready to go... already have a full gasket set, would just need to get a timing kit for it.... anyone have a spare $100 bucks lying around I could borrow? LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 awesome. no emissions here either - I don't bother to install the EGR in my stuff since it doesn't matter here either/no emissions and fewer parts, hoses, stuff which i like. does the evap stuff even matter? mine had an EJ25 with vapor canister and stuff up front and i just removed it all when i installed an EJ22 intake manifold that didn't have all that. nice clean, simple looking engine bay with no vapor canister and no EGR stuff. forget the $100 kit, you can go 100,000 miles without one really easily. go buy a $2 needle tip for a grease gun and gently pry the face cover seal up off the timing pulley bearing and inject new grease into the pulleys. then tap the face seal back down. you'll need some fine tipped dental cleaning type picks to get under the face seal...the harbor freight cheapies aren't quite stout enough, they bend. but even if you use what you got you can get it to work with small nails, etc and maybe you'll not get a perfectly smooth end result on the face pulley - but you can always go back in in 30,000 miles and check, not a big deal, and regrease them. the bearings never fail - they simply run low on grease...which causes them to fail. do what i just said and the pulley feels tight and smooth again just like a new pulley and you'll never have to replace them. don't overfill them as the grease will expand when heated and push out of the pulley and can even pop the face seals off (unlikely). i've owned like 20 XT6's and you can't get timing belt kits for them - they're $399 on ebay and i'm not paying that. i've done this many times for many years and it works great. i've done it for EJ's too in rare situations, usually i just use the kits. someone on here will send you a set of old pulleys to practice on if you want another set. water pumps never fail on these things so not a big deal. timing belts - you can probably get a cheap belt off ebay or even a forum member - i know i've bought kits before just for the pulleys not used the belts...so i might have a belt lying around....problem is my garage is a mess and id on't have time to look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted June 5, 2013 Author Share Posted June 5, 2013 (edited) Gary - for all the bluff & gruff, you really are a pretty decent guy! (shh - I wont tell anyone tho! lol) I was only kidding about the $100 bucks! The engine in the parts car will need a good going over - it has been sitting for several years - and I would much rather do the job right the 1st time and be done with it for a good while. (but very good to know about regreasing the bearings anyway!) By using the parts car motor, I can take my time, and still have my current daily driver on the road while job hunting, etc. (only one more semester of college to go for my associates degree! yay!) and that will save me a ton in gas if I dont have to drive the big Dodge pickup...5.9L, gas sucking pig that it is, it does have it's uses. I only thought of using the motor out of my Legacy because it is known good runner, and just had a full reseal/timing job last summer (only about 18-20K on that), but after a little more thought, it just seems to make more sense (time wise) to use the parts car motor - I am fairly confident in my (our) ability to get it up & running just fine again. It was a runner when we brought it home for use as a parts car - tranny had supposedly been rebuilt, but they forgot an o-ring or something in it, so it wouldnt shift right/move or something..regardless, we got it cheap & didnt need the tranny, so didnt care. There have been a few minor bits & pieces pulled off it over the last 4 years, but nothing we cant handle replacing easily enough. A couple more pics of the new beast - on the trailer just about ready to head home with it... It is now sitting in my driveway, still on the trailer - was pouring down rain when I got home... I am going to miss my sun/moon roof tho... Edited June 5, 2013 by heartless Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted June 5, 2013 Author Share Posted June 5, 2013 huh - just noticed the rear wiper is missing...what is it about the rear wipers either missing, or not working?? Ok, next question - anyone know if the rear wiper from my 90 legacy fit/work on this beast? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishy Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 As far as I understand the rear wipers quit on so many of the old subarus because they operate on with a metal-on-metal bushing which oxidizes and seizes up when they don't get used for a while.According to safety inspection around here anyway if the wiper is there it has to work... so that's why so many of them are missing in my area anyway. huh - just noticed the rear wiper is missing...what is it about the rear wipers either missing, or not working?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted June 5, 2013 Author Share Posted June 5, 2013 a pause in the rain allowed me to go take a look at that rear wiper - it is broken off! Does look like I might be able to use the arm from my Legacy wagon tho - guess I will just ahve to give it a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3Pin Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 Heartless, good luck with this one, it looks pretty nice for what you paid. I have lots of subie parts from all of the transplants I have done. If you have a specific need, ping me and I will help you if i can. I am in Milwaukee and if I have extra, you can have it. I know there is a 98 forester at my mechanic's yard abandoned rotting with a bad motor. I will see if it has a rear wiper and motor if he will give up for free. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted June 6, 2013 Author Share Posted June 6, 2013 (edited) 3Pin - if you can get your hands on that rear wiper setup I would gladly pay for shipping! I dont even know if this one actually works or not - no battery to test things out. Oh yeah - something else I might be interested in, if anyone has one (or two) they want to get rid of - keyless remotes - looks like this car is set up for it, but dont have any. Edited June 6, 2013 by heartless Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 (edited) Gary - for all the bluff & gruff, hmmm, not sure what that means but okay... i have remotes - need to know which kind, i think 98 forester should have the rectangular style: $25 shipped.. price varies depending what "bluff and gruff means" LOL remote info: http://www.cars101.com/subaru/keyless.html Edited June 6, 2013 by grossgary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted June 6, 2013 Author Share Posted June 6, 2013 Ok so maybe I was thinking of GD with the "bluff & gruff" stuff... LOL either way - both of you are pretty great guys. This looks like the one in all the paperwork that was included - yes, I actually have the owners manual, service & warranty booklets, along with keyless entry info. and there is a wire with a button on the end of it hanging under the dash...it must have been added later and they never properly installed the button... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Whale Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 That's how they were; the button would just hang down--unless it was caught behind other wires, in which you might have a hard time finding it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3Pin Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 I will look Monday at the wiper arm/motor on the 98 and let you know. Sorry no key fobs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted June 17, 2013 Author Share Posted June 17, 2013 Well - got the 2.5 yanked out of the Forester - didnt take much since everything was already undone. In the process I found that there had been a fire in the engine bay that was not mentioned when we bought the car - burned/melted wiring/loom/tape and various connectors. (some pics posted in my thread in "members rides" area, but not as much traffic there) Contacted the previous owner asking when it caught fire - was told it happened at the shop while the guy was supposedly doing a compression check? Is it possible to start a fire doing that? Not too worried about repairing the burned wiring - I am good at that sort of thing - can pull wiring from the donor car to repair/replace burned sections. what concerns me are the melted plugs...specifically the injector plugs on the drivers side - one is very melted, the other isnt too bad, but the wires going into it sustained damage. there are a couple of others as well, but those are the major concern. So can I just splice in the injector plugs from the 2.2 donor? they look the same, so it shouldnt be a big deal, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt167 Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 (edited) You will most likely be able to use the 2.2L engine harness entirely. Edited June 17, 2013 by matt167 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 (edited) Not from a 90 model car. Not without some hacking and splicing anyway. Heartless, yes it's easy to catch a car on fire while doing a compression check, by simply failing to unplug the fuel injectors and ignition coil. Raw fuel + 40,000 volt spark = WOOSH!! Edited June 17, 2013 by Fairtax4me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt167 Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 (edited) Ok, I forgot about the donor being a '90, I have an EJ22 harness from a '96. I removed the connector for the coil as I spliced it onto my EJ25 harness but it is complete otherwise. It does not have a connector for the purge solenoid which is why I made my EJ25 harness work on my '99 Legacy SUS, but it should be good enough to make good repairs to your harness if you want it. $10 shipped and it's yours Edited June 17, 2013 by matt167 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted June 17, 2013 Author Share Posted June 17, 2013 yes it's easy to catch a car on fire while doing a compression check, by simply failing to unplug the fuel injectors and ignition coil. Raw fuel + 40,000 volt spark = WOOSH!! Ok - did not realize this, never having done one ... thanks for the info. matt167 - if that harness has the main plugs going towards the firewall, I may just take you up on that offer - would only have to splice in one connecter vs. several... Wish I could afford to just pick up an entire low mileage engine from the appropriate year, but at the prices I have seen ($350 to $750), plus shipping costs...yikes! (nothing available locally) Seems like some junkyards think these things are made of gold, even with 200,000 plus miles on them! The only nice thing about using the 90 donor - no need to swap exhaust headers - the early ones were dual port. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivans imports Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 I use a remote starter button that way ig never has to be turned on make shure throttle is wide open for comp testing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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