i have a 95 leg 2.2l sedan with 167k miles, new t-belt, pump, seals and a bad tramsmission. vin#6 - 6

 

i just bought a wrecked 96 leg wagon 2.2l with 125 k miles and a good tranmission. vin#6 - 4

 

i'm ok with the trans. tranplant, i can swap the tcu if needed and the rear end for that matter. but what is the difference between the engines? what i read on this site leads me to believe the 95 is "bullet proof" and the 96 is an interference engine. am i close? is there any real way to tell?

 

thanks, john

The 2.2L are all non-interference -- only the 2.5's are an interference design. So I'd just stay with the one you have the most faith in. (IMHO, since you know the history of your '95 it's probably the best bet, and there's bound to be somebody out there who wants that other one!!)

 

i have a 95 leg 2.2l sedan with 167k miles, new t-belt, pump, seals and a bad tramsmission. vin#6 - 6

 

i just bought a wrecked 96 leg wagon 2.2l with 125 k miles and a good tranmission. vin#6 - 4

 

i'm ok with the trans. tranplant, i can swap the tcu if needed and the rear end for that matter. but what is the difference between the engines? what i read on this site leads me to believe the 95 is "bullet proof" and the 96 is an interference engine. am i close? is there any real way to tell?

 

thanks, john

I don't know what that digit does, maybe since the 2.5L was available, that was the reason for the change.

 

As far as the 2.2 Not being an interference engine, Starting with the 97 Model year, the 2.2L Became an interference engine, due to the addition of Solid Lifters. So ALL 97 and on EJ 4 cylinder engines ARE interference.

I wasn't aware that any solid lifter 2.2's were in any '96 model year vehicles. Are there any?

In the 96 model year, the 2.2L was unchanged. For the 97 model year is when they did the next phase of the 2.2L which included different piston design and solid lifters, then another head change in the 99 model year. In the 99 model year, the heads were similiar to the 2.5L heads.

Thanks, ferret! You have more info about the details of these engines than anyone else I have ever corresponded with!!

Yeah, my sources say that all changes to the Phase I EJ22 were in 97. The change to solid lifters and the bump in compression to 9.7:1 (hence the interference). In 99, the Phase II EJ22 came out with the biggest change being the thrust bearing moved from the center to the rear.