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ej swap question

Featured Replies

Hey all:

 

2k miles on the ej swap and things have been great. My check engine light has come on twice. The codes were the same. 21 water temp sensor, 35 canister purge solenoid valve, and 42 idle switch. Both times the check engine light came on while driving in stop and go traffic. Both times my throttle control changed alot. Instead of smooth accelleration I got a big gap between idle and approximately half open throttle, so from coasting I'd put my foot on the gas and the brat would take off like I floored it and then I'd back off the throttle and it was like I put the clutch in and had no power.

 

After the first time the check engine light went out by itself after I parked the car for the day. The second time a few weeks later it came on and stayed on. I cleared the codes the proper way with the test mode connectors and its been normal again.

 

One thing I've noticed since the swap is that my idle surges everytime I start the car to about 2k rpm and then slowly backs down. The other thing I've noticed is that the hotter the engine is ( and it runs very cool) the higher the idle gets.

 

My coolant temp sensor sends the proper signal range to the ecu, I've checked it, but the idle switch is sending 2v with the ignition on and the manual says it should be 4.6v. I'm thinking the idle switch is my problem.

 

I have no idea where the idle switch is located. I cant find it anywhere in the manual. Any help appreciated.

 

Daniel

 

 

ps- I drove the brat to Tahoe the other day and it kicked a$$ going up the sierras. I used to have to ring its neck in third gear to try to keep up with traffic and this time it jammed up in 5th gear with a few steep spots where I put it in 4th. If you have considered doing the ej swap, do it.. IT ROCKS!

Man im so jealous! I have driven EA81's over the pass many times and I have suffered the 3rd gear at 4500rpm dilemma far too many times.

 

Anyhow, im not sure about the problems you are experiencing, but i did want to let you know there is a free tool out there for the OBD1 Legacy's with the EJ2.2. If you got your 2.2 and ECU from a Legacy 91-94 & have a laptop, you should look into this:

http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?t=16219

 

I use it for my Turbo Legacy and it has come in very handy for diagnosing problems or just seeing what the ECU is reading and examining it. VRG is the guy who coded the software and it is open source. He's a real great guy, and he has even started making stand-alone units that do everything the laptop software does, but in addition it will also read & clear stored ECU codes. Info on that can be found here:

http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?t=34119

 

Im going to go take a look at a Brat tonight and if all goes well it will be in my driveway this weekend. The EJ Swap is definatly #2 on my list (#1 would be the 5spd swap since it has a bad tranny).

 

-Brian

  • Author

Hey Brian:

 

Thanks for the link. I'll check it out. I hope you get the brat. Let me know if you need any help with the swap. ej/5sp dr brat=:banana::headbang:

 

Daniel

daniel

 

one other thing to consider is that the ECU might be still learning the car.

 

When I started driving the EJ22T RX for the first time, I was told to let it warm up and then low idle a few times w/o touching the gas.

 

Will look at my info too see if I can spot the idle solenoid for you.

 

BW

  • Author

Hey Sko:

 

Thanks for the info. The idle switch is part of the tps. Mine was adjusted wrong. Someone in the new gen section posted a link to the FSM section on adjusting the idle switch. It has made a big difference. I haven't gotten stuck in traffic since I readjusted the idle switch, but the car idles lower and more steady, so hopefully its taken care of.

 

I'm going to schedule my appointment with the smog ref soon. Wish me luck.

 

Daniel

I've just pulled the pin on a HUGE grenade of a project... EJ22 into my 82 Brat coupled with an RX turbo 5spd swap AND Megasquirt standalone ECU... Call me crazy but I'm stoked about this whole shebang!

Megasquirt standalone ECU...

 

you're crazy.....totally unneeded :)

DANG!! You sound just like my wife!! :lol:

 

Initial plan is to run the EJ22 as a N/A setup. Once that's running good on the Megasquirt I'm going to stick my TD04 on it. (don't worry, I'm aware of the open deck block that I have. I've got means at my disposal for dealing with that)

The N/A legacy computer won't handle the level of tuning that I want out of this thing whereas with the Megasquirt it'll be a no-brainer.

Also, the engine I got didn't have the ECU with it and prices to get an N/A ECU as well as a Turbo ECU meant that it was cheaper to go the MS route.

Add to that the fact that I'm planning on doing some development work in the Megasquirt realm to hopefully make it more accessible to folks running the stock Subaru ignition system, the whole package makes a lot of sense.

Does the EJ22 fit between the 81-84 Brat/GL frame rails without any modifications? I bet it's a little tight up front too.

 

Thanks,

-Jeff

  • Author

Hey there:

 

Yes it fits right in. You have to lose the fans from the ea81, but I found a mazda fan that fit in front of the radiator and works great. The mechanical part of the swap is very easy. The engine pops right in with very little work. If I could figure out how to find my pics in the "new" USMB I'd post a pic to show you the engine compartment.

 

Did picks get lost when the old "thing" crashed? I can do an ej swap but cant post a pic:lol:

 

Daniel

Great! I can do the wiring myself and in fact I enjoy that type of project. When looking for a donor car are there better years to go for with the Ej22, or anything to avoid? Where did you get your adapter plate?

 

Thanks Again, and I'd love to see the pics.

 

-Jeff

Edited by XT6 Magic

There is a new gallery, and its a fresh start. If you have the pix on your computer I recommend uploading them again.

 

I know shawn got rid of the old gallery, it was a backdoor for hackers and the new gallery is much more secure. Dunno if we'll get those pics back or not.

Great! I can do the wiring myself and in fact I enjoy that type of project. When looking for a donor car are there better years to go for with the Ej22, or anything to avoid? Where did you get your adapter plate?

 

Thanks Again, and I'd love to see the pics.

 

-Jeff

 

year depends on smog in your area. If you don't care, then any year is good.

OBD2's have more sensors that need to be swapped over like the fuel tank pressure sensors and stuff. If you don't then you will have a bunch of check engine lights.

OBS1 has less sensors and is pretty straightforward.

 

So 1990-1995 legacy's and impreza's for OBD1,

1996 and newer for OBD2

 

BW

  • Author

Go to the second sticky note in this section. It has a write up that is very helpful about the ej swap. I bought my adapter plate from M. Rose. There are others as well. Mine fit just fine. I believe Scott at sjrlift makes them too.

 

I've said this before, but I highly recommend thoroughly reading through the pages with the ECU pin out and fully understanding what powers the ecu and what type of signals each engine sensor sends to it before you start chopping the harness. I didn't do this and got mine running, but I think I got lucky. If I had really understood what I was looking at it would have saved time. In the end I had to really understand this stuff to get it running and if I knew it before I started cutting up the harness things would have gone much more smoothly.

 

Lots of friendly advice available here also. Good luck.

 

Daniel

OBD2's have more sensors that need to be swapped over like the fuel tank pressure sensors and stuff. If you don't then you will have a bunch of check engine lights.

 

negative. just did an OBD II ('96 impreza Lx to be exact) EJ22 swap. no fuel tank sensor or anything. all the sensors I needed were either on the engine, or the 2 on the passenger strut tower.

 

 

I get more CEL codes from my OBD I swapped car than the OBD II. also, the OBD II one definitely has more power, gets better mileage, AND was simpler to route the wires.

 

1997 was the first year for interference SOHC motors.....so IMHO, 1996 is the best option.

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