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Planning RX EJ swap, need ideas


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So, I'm more than likely going to be picking up an RX soon, and planning an EJ swap.

 

Now, I have a '93 impreza with an EJ18. The million dollar question: do I tear my Impreza apart and use the EJ18, or see if I can source an EJ22?

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I disaggree with the opinion that the ej18 is a downgrade. The rx has the ea82t, which is many consider the worst motor subaru ever made. Although it may not seem like an upgrade because horsepower is comparable, you will see a huge improvement in reliability. Those ej18s are indestructible. Furthermore, if you ever stumble accross an ej22 that you like in the future, you can probably get away with doing a direct bolt in, since you will already have the wiring harness and adapterplate at that point.

 

If you have an ej18 that is running well, I would suggest using it, rather than opening up a box of unknowns with a new motor. It would be the cheapest and most reliable way to ej swap your soon to be RX. You could even sell the rest of the car to fund an adapter plate and other things you will need to buy for the swap. Just my opinion.

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i wouldnt' part a running car that's usable for an EJ18 swap unless you're the frugral, practical, and pennywisedollar dumb type.  why not sell the EJ18 vehicle and just buy an EJ22 you need or wrecked EJ?

 

not that this is a "which engine is worse thread" but, the EA82T was fine when new, but they're fragile and sensitive like any turbo engine, it's only now that they're old, had 7 owners, been poorly maintained, that they are sketchy.  all things being equal the EJ25 is a far worse engine with problems right off the lot when they were new, the EA82T didn't suffer that debacle.

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I disaggree with the opinion that the ej18 is a downgrade. The rx has the ea82t, which is many consider the worst motor subaru ever made. Although it may not seem like an upgrade because horsepower is comparable, you will see a huge improvement in reliability. Those ej18s are indestructible. Furthermore, if you ever stumble accross an ej22 that you like in the future, you can probably get away with doing a direct bolt in, since you will already have the wiring harness and adapterplate at that point.

 

If you have an ej18 that is running well, I would suggest using it, rather than opening up a box of unknowns with a new motor. It would be the cheapest and most reliable way to ej swap your soon to be RX. You could even sell the rest of the car to fund an adapter plate and other things you will need to buy for the swap. Just my opinion.

 

 

i wouldnt' part a running car that's usable for an EJ18 swap unless you're the frugral, practical, and pennywisedollar dumb type.  why not sell the EJ18 vehicle and just buy an EJ22 you need or wrecked EJ?

 

not that this is a "which engine is worse thread" but, the EA82T was fine when new, but they're fragile and sensitive like any turbo engine, it's only now that they're old, had 7 owners, been poorly maintained, that they are sketchy.  all things being equal the EJ25 is a far worse engine with problems right off the lot when they were new, the EA82T didn't suffer that debacle.

 

EA82T is a good engine if maintained like many other underrated engines. It ain't unreliable if maintained properly and have been kept oem specs. I've got nothing bad to say about these engines this far. Every time I've got some problems with them it's been about poor maintenance or too high expectations about the endurance of the engine when tuning. 

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Well see the above points,  maybe worst motor ever is harsh. if you got a pristine ea82t thats been very well taken care of then go for it. But is that likely to be the case? I doubt it. In all likelihood, it probably has ~200k on it with an unknown history. So if you had to pick between an ej18 or ea82t, each with 200k on them (as most that exist today do), which one's safer better bet? I think we all know the answer to that.

 

And he is just now buying the car. So who knows what a long line of previous owners did to it. I think its safe to assume the ea82t will not be as reliable as an ej18 with comparable milage. And he's wanting to do the ej swap and this gets him down that road.

 

I'm just saying, if I had an 93 impreza that ran well, I'd go ej18. I'm not arguing that other options like ej20T wouldn't be better, but the ej18 is there and the rest of the car could fund the swap. Upgrade to an ej20T later down the road if you need more (just my opinion).

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