Are the engines from a Forester different than a legacy?

I have a 97 legacy outback that need an engine....again.

I put the 2.2 in the last time and it was farly easy. (after learning a lot)

Well, 40,000 miles later the engine broke a timimg belt and wrecked a lot of ************.

I found a 98 2.5 out of a forester. Will this bolt up? What do I nedd to be aware of?

Please help!

Thanks,

Chad

forester and legacy outback engines are not always the same.

 

but in this case they are - the 98 Forester should be the same engine in your outback. if the forester happens to be a SOHC for some reason then it's not the same...but it shouldn't be.

 

the forester EJ25's are the same engine and have the same issues as legacy EJ25's - piston slap, head gasket issues, and bearing failure (rare but more prevalent than in other EJ engines).

 

anytime yo'ure using an interference engine with miles on it or close to 10+ years old, you need to replace the timing belt and pulleys. by this age most of the pulleys are devoid of grease. i recommend the ebay kits, they come with the belt and all new pulleys and tensioner. replace the water pump at the same time for the same reasons.

 

you also have the option of checking the engine you have if you're doing the work yourself. a friend of mine fixed an EJ25 with a broken belt, only needed to replace two valves and everything else checked out just fine.

What year was the 2.2l that you put in? Are you sure it broke a lot of ************, or did someone tell you it did without replacing the belt? All pre-1996 EJ22's can break a t-belt and be fine.

What year was the 2.2l that you put in? Are you sure it broke a lot of ************, or did someone tell you it did without replacing the belt? All pre-1996 EJ22's can break a t-belt and be fine.

No it was my own diagnosis. The 2.2 is a 97 and that year they became an interference engine. I was standing in front of the car when my friend started it. It made some bad knocking clanging noises and stoped. Then it wouldnt start and had the sound of no compression.

I picked up the 2.5 from the 98 forester yesterday. (its a EJ2.5 dohc) Im going to begin installing it today. Hopefully its just plug and play. I keep reading something about the cam sprokets possibly being different. I read where someone had this problem and the motor wouldnt start after the installation was complete. They had to change the sprocket and cam sensor. I hope I dont have this problem. Most people are saying its all the same so I hope so. Wish me luck!

this is really simple - you WILL NOT have cam sprocket problems. that's only if you get a SOHC Phase II EJ25 - which you didn't. the DOHC is the same engine, simple.

 

you probably could have fixed the EJ22 for the money you spent on the EJ25.

 

are you bolting the EJ25 in without getting new pullies/timing belt/water pump? i always replace that stuff to avoid exactly what happened to your EJ22.

this is really simple - you WILL NOT have cam sprocket problems. that's only if you get a SOHC Phase II EJ25 - which you didn't. the DOHC is the same engine, simple.

 

you probably could have fixed the EJ22 for the money you spent on the EJ25.

 

are you bolting the EJ25 in without getting new pullies/timing belt/water pump? i always replace that stuff to avoid exactly what happened to your EJ22.

 

The 2.5 was only $500. The 2.2 had severe internal damage. The timing belt was still turning some but it sounded likr it was skipping teeth somwhere near the center by the crank pully. So every time someone tried to start the car more damage was being done until there was no compression. It sounded like it came apart internally.

 

This engine has had a recent timing belt change according to the previous owner.

So I installed the 2.5 today. It starts and runs good but there are some changes that need to be made.

There is no place to hook up the charcoal canister and there is one extra wire that I think is ground anyway but it does have a connector on the end of it.

I think im going to have to swap the intake for the one that came with the cars original 2.5. I still have that engine too. That has the charcole canister hookups and no extra wire.

I will have to buy a y-pipe for the exhaust because I dont have the original 2.5 y-pipe anymore. It needs the dual port instead of the 2.2 single port.

So....the engines dont quite plug-n-play, but close.

glad you got it running. you're welcome for telling you it would work.

 

no one said it would "plug and play". but since you brought it up....

did the engine harness plugs plug in - yes.

did the car start, or "play" - yes.

it's plug and play because the engine harnesses do plug in and the car runs just fine. evap hoses and one random wire aren't sufficient to not call an engine swap "plug and play".

 

there's no need for the charcoal canisters. last swap i did i intentionally installed an intake without charcoal canisters (even though the car came with them) because it's simple and looks cleaner in the engine bay. there's no ill effect to doing that.

 

a 10+ year old engine should have the timing pulleys checked and the water pump replaced, not just the belt replaced. i can guarantee that at least one pulley needs replaced or regreased - usually the lower geared tooth pulley at least, if not others. simply replacing the timing belt at this age is risky. i'd plan for it in the future at some point.

The engine light is on and I was assuming it was because of the charcole canister. I guess I will have to wait until I get the y-pipe so I can take the car to Advace Auto Parts to get the codes read and cleared.

Im sorry I didnt give you credit for saying the motor would fit, Grossgary. I got most of my information from other people in private messages because it was faster, But....THANK YOU!

My guess is that this engine will outlast the car. It is 11 years old. Its not in great condition. There will be clutch pack issues to deal with sometime before winter. If this motor goes it will be the last one and the car will be junked. Thats what I do for spare money during the summer. I will recommend that my friend buy a newer subaru the next time. Im sure she doesnt want to replace the engine again. Its too bad these engines are not as "bullet proof" as the earlier 2.2.

As far as plug-n-play goes....I would consider it that if there was no extra work involved. I am going to switch the intakes because I want everything to be as original.

hey man, why didn't you drop an EA81 into it? Then it would be HALF old-gen!