im just curious why a bunch of you 80's subaru guys are upgrading the ea engines to the EJ22 NA? why not a EJ25, EJ22T or even EJ20? i understand most of your cars are used offroad a lot and high horsepower isnt a need, but if you do the work for a EJ22 NA then why not more? the EJ22T makes 181 ft-lbs at 2800, everyone can use low end torque.

 

just figured id throw that out there.

-nathan

well alot of us still want ot use the stock D/R tranny with the really great low range, but it cant handle much more power than a EJ22 or EJ25. unless you go to a different tranny then your kinda stuck in a way.

 

 

 

 

~Josh~

The EJ22 from the Legacy, 90-94 runs well without the VSS, vehicle speed sensor, which is necessary to get the later cars to run right. basically, its easier to get an OBD I to run than an OBD II.

that and turbo engines kinda suck for wheelin. Not a lot of bottom end torque when the turbo isn't spooling due to lower compression

ya...there is sometihng about having most of your low end just above idle......that and the older cars weigh 800lbs less than the newer cars.

 

 

 

~Josh~

Another thing from what i noticed abt EJ22s are that they're tougher than EJ20 & EJ25. EJ25 has crankshaft problems.

 

EJ22 is known to reach just before 500,000 kms.

 

EJ22 has low rate of wear on pistons.

 

If i wanted to convert from EA81/EA82 to EJ series, I'll choose EJ22 engine.

 

Cheers

AP

Also, the EJ22 is superior to the EJ25 in that it:

 

1. Doesn't like to blow headgaskets regularly.

2. Is a non-interference engine, so it's okay if the timing belt breaks (which can happen to even a new belt if you get mud/water on it.

3. Doesn't have piston slap issues.

 

The EJ22, since it came in every 90-94 Legacy, is also substantially cheaper and more widely available than any other EJ engine.

 

That said, I am pondering the possibility of running an EJ22 with an EJ25 ECM and fuel system. Why? In talking to a friend of mine that does Subaru Vanagon conversions, I found out that it's possible to interchange the fuel/ignition systems on the two engines with very little work. The EJ22 fuel and spark maps are designed to produce better top-end power, while the EJ25 fuel and spark maps are designed to produce better low-end power. In trying to build a real screamer, my friend ran an EJ25 engine with the EJ22 ECM. Soooo, in theory, an EJ22 engine running the EJ25 ECM should have more low-end than a stock EJ22. If the VSS could be dealt with, this would be a good conversion for off road use.

The EJ22 from the Legacy, 90-94 runs well without the VSS, vehicle speed sensor, which is necessary to get the later cars to run right. basically, its easier to get an OBD I to run than an OBD II.

 

The OBDII appears to read correctly the old EA speed sensor. I haven't done an EJ swap with an older EJ but did one with a 97 and the wiring was very easy and straight forword. Have people run into problems when trying to swap the Newer EJ's?

I'm not aware of a speed sensor on any of the EA series cars. Which ones had them?

I'm not aware of a speed sensor on any of the EA series cars. Which ones had them?

 

Well whatever sensor they use to send a signal to the speedo It is a 91 Loyale and had spfi, I would have to look back again to see if the Old ECU needed a speed sensor or not.

hmm lots of reasons i can see! thanks guys.

 

BUT, the EJ22T is a non-interference motor, OBDI, 181 ft-lbs @ 2800 rpm, are you guys talking lower than that? the turbo doesnt really need to "spool" because its so puny, on wastegate its like 6psi. also for the VSS, ive heard of people converting a ABS sensor (from any car) into a vehicle speed sensor, really its just got to oscillate 5V.

 

anyways it makes sense why youd pick the N/A EJ22, i was just kinda wondering if anyone had tried the 91-94 legacy turbo EJ22T.

 

thanks for the input--- im an impreza guy and have that turbo motor in my car and its fun, couldnt imagine it in an off-roadin GL!

lower than that....yes sir alot lower. when you just are poking along in low range your rpm's are only like at 1000-2000 most of the time anyway. if your turbo doesnt spool until almost 3k, then you are off boost for most of the "crawling parts". now if your trying to spin the wheels in a mud pit thats different, but as far as offroad speed. your not going very fast at all, in fatc, you could probably get out of your car and walk just as fast as the people in their cars on the trail.

 

 

 

~Josh~

a) OBD I

 

A dime a dozen.

 

-Brian

Hey Brian, when you gonna convert yours? i got my soldering pen and wire cutters ready to go.

Coveted a EJ22T, but the cheapest one I could find was $1k, used. $75 for a whole running/driving beatable Legacy which I can part out as needed. Everything is there and I have no qualms about tearing it apart. Rebuilt the engine for $600. Bought supercharger for $20. Will have high comp with low boost coming on soon, best of all worlds for wheeling. My EA82 had nothing untill 2,000rpms, so I will have to modify my wheeling style to compensate for the increas in power and torque and go slower.