Ej18?

[Uberoo]

How good of an engine is an Ej18 compared to a EJ22 for swapping into an EA81 vehicle?

 

I know it makes about 20 hp less than a '22 but its like 30 more HP than my engine had when new

 

will a '18 and '22 intake manifold swap over because I have a intake manifold for a 91 EJ22 sitting in my garage complete with all the sensors...as well as the engine wiring harness

 

also will a EA82 5 speed clutch and PP hold the power a EJ18 makes?It would be going into something with a divorced transfer case so there should be less load on it..

 

thanks in advance

[kamnk]

we tested a lot of EJ18 engines and I can say those engines can not be kiled

[NoahDL88]

If you're not worried about the loss of power they are a fantastic engine, Jerry has one in his hatch and commutes 300 miles a week.

[WoodsWagon]

They're decently peppy if you wind the ************ out of them all the time. If you're offroading it you will notice the lack of low end. But heck with enough gearing even the 1.3l samurai's do well off road.

 

If you have a car set up to run an EJ motor, then you can swap to a 2.2 or 2.5 later easily.

[Mr. Brat]

I just pulled my EJ18 out of my brat last weekend. It had plenty of power to move it on 28" tires. I also had an EJ22 intake manifold on it. So to answer your orignal question. Yes it will work.

[bheinen74]

ej18 is a terrrific engine, every bit as good as a early ej22

[idosubaru]

great motors for reliability and cheap maintenance. beat the snot out of it and it'll keep going.

 

they already said it, i'll add some details. swap over any EJ22 manifold, it bolts right on. if the EJ22 manifold doesn't have EGR then just plug it up on the engine as all EJ18's had EGR. the last one i installed didn't have a knock sensor but the hole is already drilled and tapped in the block, so just screw one in and plug it in.

 

they do lack power as compared to the EJ22 and it's noticeable in certain situations. the EJ18-EJ22 difference seems to me like a lot more than the EJ22-EJ25 difference (from a swapping standpoint, not just vehicle) but that's only experience with newer stuff i've swapped so they're much heavier than older stuff i think.

[Fenix747]

EJ18 hits its peak torque at lower rpm's than the 22, but it hits its peak horse power higher than the 22. And from talking to Jerry and seeing his hatch set up the wiring is much more simple with the 18.

 

In my opinion the 18 is perfect for an offroad rig. It has more power than ea motors but not too much that you would break axles all day, the wiring is simple and they can take a lot of punishment and keep goin.

 

I believe a ea81 with the right mods (weber and such) is good enough for an offroader, but if i ever feel the need to swap to ej ill be goin for the 18.

 

-Andy

[Numbchux]

The only downside to the 1.8, is they don't have a knock sensor. so they cannot adjust timing maps to compensate. This isn't a huge deal in stock form. but if you're beating on it, and if you ever want to step up to a 2.2 or 2.5....

 

 

 

Go for the EJ18. but I would highly recommend running it on a '96+ OBD II EJ22 ECU. You'll get the most out of the 18, and then you'll get the most out of anything beyond that (2.5 ECU is plug and play).

[idosubaru]

The only downside to the 1.8, is they don't have a knock sensor.

they're set up to receive one so like you said, just use an OBDII ECU and intake and he's golden. that's what i did with my EJ18 as mentioned above.

[Mr. Brat]

Agreed, I had to plug the EGR on mine, not a big deal at all. My EJ18 hit the power band at 3200 rpm and it pulled nicely. I am thinking about pulling that motor in my hatch such as Jerry did. As for the wiring, stay with the EJ22 intake and harness. That way if you want to do the 2.2 upgrade, everything is there. Such as I did.

[LeoneTurbo]

As a bad coil (I used coil on plug) ruined my built EJ22 DOHC engine, I swapped in a USDM (yes, out of a 2-door 1.8 AT that was imported last year to be fitted with a proper engine) EJ18. I blocked all EGR stuff on the heads, gasket matched the EJ18 intake ports and I'm running a EJ20/EJ22 SOHC intake manifold. I also fitted Delta torque cams for the occasion. It's running on 1994-1996 Legacy wiring loom, currently with a JDM 2.0 DOHC ECU which allows it to spin to 7.2k rpm.

 

The cams do cause the EJ18 to have a lopey idle, I guess the EJ22 with those cams will idle more smoothly. It really comes on cam at 4000 and pulls hard to redline.

[Gloyale]

They're decently peppy if you wind the ************ out of them all the time. If you're offroading it you will notice the lack of low end. But heck with enough gearing even the 1.3l samurai's do well off road.

 

 

Actually, the EJ18 makes BETTER low end power, at lower RPMS.

 

I have one in my EA81 wagon, turning 29" tires w/5spd, and it does great. I haven't run out of grunt on anything yet.

 

And as noted, you can beat the snot out of them. Thick walls to the cylinder, and more room for coolant around them. Small pistons love to rev.

 

I'm running it all off an EJ22 intake and engine management, so yes it's easy.

[WoodsWagon]

Actually, the EJ18 makes BETTER low end power, at lower RPMS.

 

Oh really? I'd like to see a dyno chart of a stock EJ18 vs EJ22 where the torque generated by the EJ18 excedes the EJ22 at any corresponding point on the RPM's.

 

I used to use an EA82 with 30" tires and a d/r 5spd, just because the car could be driven didn't meant it couldn't be a lot better. EJ18 would have been 1 step up from that, EJ22 was much better. Even with the EJ22 I still powered out on some hills in the woods. I'd have to get a run at them to be able to keep enough momentum to make it up. But that's a factor of traction being higher than the torque of the motor. With snow wheeling I would commonly have the engine get pulled down from redline to stall by the resistance of plowing through, and that was in 1st 4lo.

 

Starting out with an EJ18 is fine, if you run an EJ22 harness with the knock sensor. Then later you can upgrade to the EJ22, EJ25, or an EJ25 block with EJ22 heads, depending on what your needs are.

[Gloyale]

Oh really? I'd like to see a dyno chart of a stock EJ18 vs EJ22 where the torque generated by the EJ18 excedes the EJ22 at any corresponding point on the RPM's.

 

 

 

More total toque, but at much higher RPMS.

 

1st gen EJ18= 110 ft/lbs @ 3200 rpm

 

1st gen EJ22= 137 ft'lbs @ 4800 rpm

 

 

roughly 20% more torque, but at 50% higher revs. (actually more because the bottom of the curve would actually be at the 700 rpm idle, not 0 RPMs)

 

I would wager that a dyno would show that torque at or below 3200 RPMS would be equal or better with the EJ18

 

EJ18 makes a higher % of it's peak torque at lower RPMs. To me, for wheeling that is better.

 

Now if you put a torque cam into an EJ22........throw all this out the window. Of course you could put a torque cam in the EJ18 too.........

[LeoneTurbo]

Stock EJ22 has better torque over the entire rev range, compared to stock EJ18. I bet you 100 bucks on any dyno

[WoodsWagon]

EJ22's:

 

 

 

[Gloyale]

Well, one of those Dynos doesn't give an RPM reading.

 

So we can't compare the low part of the curve since we don't know the RPMs of the EJ22.

 

Also, does this EJ22 have anything done to it? What about the EJ18? The numbers for the 18 seem off from what subaru says....Peak torque should be at lower RPMS than that. What generation and what heads and Cam is that EJ18 running.

 

But let's eximne what we can from what those graphs do show. It's a matter of 5 hp and maybe 10 ft/lbs difference. And the EJ18 torque curve is more flat on the top all the way to 5500 rpms. We don't know what rpms the EJ22 is turning where it starts to drop off.

 

Look, obviously there is no substitute for displacement. That wasn't really my point.

 

I'm just saying that for a swap into an old gen wheeler, it's a great choice.

 

Facts are facts:

 

1). Definately true that the EJ18 makes it's peak torque lower than the EJ22. And it's peak torque is barely less than the EJ22.

 

2). It revs quickly, cools well, and has almost no history of sudden HG failures.

 

3). It's none interfernce.

 

4). If it's run off a EJ22 intake and harness, you are ready to put in an EJ22 or 25 so it's a perfect "starter" EJ swap cause you can get them cheap.

 

5). The highway MPGs are better so you don't use up all your gas getting to the wheelin spot.

 

It's a great engine for wheeling. That's all I got to say about that.

[WoodsWagon]

Both of those are EJ22 charts, and they are hp at the wheels, not the crank. So the EJ22 is turning out more power after drivetrain losses than an EJ18 can muster at the crank. I couldn't turn up an EJ18 chart. If you could that would be great. The differences between those 2 charts is variaton due to different dyno's.

 

It's frankly absurd to reccomend the EJ18 as better for offroad use than an EJ22. Of course it will make less torque at any point in it's rpm range, as you said there's no replacement for displacement when you're trying to generate torque.

 

Leone turbo has a $100 bet out that if you overlayed a EJ18 dyno graph on an EJ22 dyno graph the EJ18 would fall under the curve of the EJ22 every step along the way. One could argue that he would want it to be two stock cars tested back to back on the same dyno.

 

Smaller displacement gains you nothing for torque. It's advantages are lighter reciprocating mass for higher rpm capability and better fuel economy. Of course the torque specs at any rpm up to 4500 of any subaru motor are laughable compared to what my old Caddy 500's and 472's turn out.

 

I'm happy the EJ18 works out for you. However I would never reccomend that someone seek and EJ18 out over an EJ22 for offroad use. That doesn't make sense. I would recommend that you swap an EJ22 into your car, you may be pleasantly surprised at the improvement.

 

Oh, and if you're going to do an EJ swap, you usually start with a donor car. Starting with and EJ18 car will not be good because of the lack of knock sensor. So you have to use and EJ22 car, at which point it makes more sense to use the EJ22 the donor came with rather than seeking out an EJ18.

Edited October 17, 2010 by WoodsWagon

[Gloyale]

never reccomend that someone seek and EJ18 out over an EJ22 for offroad use. That doesn't make sense. I would recommend that you swap an EJ22 into your car, you may be pleasantly surprised at the improvement.

 

Oh, and if you're going to do an EJ swap, you usually start with a donor car. Starting with and EJ18 car will not be good because of the lack of knock sensor. So you have to use and EJ22 car, at which point it makes more sense to use the EJ22 the donor came with rather than seeking out an EJ18.

 

I have an EJ22 in one of my other cars (89 GL) it's great for street/highway.

 

EJ18 is cheaper, and has plenty of torque for wheeling without so much that it will break stuff like axles and trannies all day. it's more durable.

 

As far as a donor car. IDK why everyone obsesses over that. TO me it's cheaper to go to a pick-a-part and pull a harness, ignitor, and MAF. Ussually less than 100 bucks, then get a used 1.8 ((50-$100)

 

Good running EJ22 cars (especially OBD II ones, which I preffer the harness) are at least $300 if not $700 or $800. And then you have to deal with all the hassle of getting rid of a stripped out junk car. Easy for alot of us, but harder for alot more.

 

opinions are like ....oles, ya know:rolleyes: