I totaled my 95 L wagon yesterday.  Got 10k miles out of all the work I just did to it.  So assuming the engine is ok, and that may be a big assumption at this point as it sounded pretty bad, what can I easily drop it into?  It is a 5sp.  There's a decent looking 98 L 5sp on cl with blown headgaskets for 500$.  would that be a decent candidate?  As always TIA.

Yes it will bolt right up and plug in and run.  If the EGR is not the same the CEL will come on, but you can work around that.

yeah. there's an easy fix if the EGR doesn't match. Your 95 is the ideal motor for a swap. it's OBDII so you can put it in any 95-98 (and some 99) cars without having to swap the intake manifold. It's dual port exhaust so it bolts right up where a bad 2.5 used to live. An it's non interference in case anything ever happens to your timing belt.

 

The 98 sounds good. If it's a 2.2 it will be single port exhaust so you'll have to swap your Y pipe to match your motor. But yep, Your motor can go in any 90-98 Legacy or Impreza with little to no modification necessary/

 

96-99 Outbacks are my preference since you get the extra suspension/ground clearance and extra goodies that Outbacks came with. And they were outfitted with that troublesome DOHC 2.5 that blew headgaskets all the time so you can usually find one. Swap in a good 2.2 for a bulletproof combo.

Edited November 12, 201411 yr by AdventureSubaru

Ok thanks.  Not sure when they switched but my 95 is OBD1 and I'm pretty sure it doesn't have an egr valve.

I had a 95, 2.2 motor swapped into wife's 98 Outback with no issues. I could be wrong, but I think the 95 motor is OBD2, I know the 98 motor was. The swapped in motor was plug and play.

My 95' is OBDII. It's possible you had an end of the run 94' drivetrain that was squeezed out as a 95' or something. It's not entirely unheard of for previous year parts to find their way in, or god help you it was a rebuild or a previous theft vehicle