Greetings,

 

Forgive my relative ignorance, I'm posting a question for a friend that just called me. He;s doing an engine + tranny swap in a 90s Legacy.... got the engine in....... and he's installing the tranny...... and it "bottoms out" before the bellhousing mates up with the block.

 

I've read about this before.... all the bolt holes appear to match up... except the shaft is too long.

 

Isn't there an adapter plate for that? Not even really an "adapter"... but more of a "spacer"????

 

I could be crazy.... bit I SWEAR I've heard about something like that.

 

Anyone have a good link where you can purchase one?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

--M

Is it an automatic or a stick? If its an auto I bet he doesnt have the torque converter properly seated. I hear its pretty tricky.

-Bill

if the torque converter is not seated it wont go in, if the clutch is not properly alligned it will not mate all the way.

its a 90's legacy. with any ej series awd trans and any ej engine there's no need for a spacer/adapter (check torque converter seating or clutch disc alignment as previously noted). also, if it's an auto and you're going to a larger torque converter than the engine originally had, you'll probably have to swap the flexplate.

 

the adapters are for bolting ej engines to ea series transmissions, particularly the d/r 4wd 5speed which has an input shaft that measures about 1/2" longer than an awd 5speed.

Ok Just to fill everyone in, its my car. Its a 97' Subaru Legacy GT with the EJ25 motor. I recently bought this motor after having 2 bad motors from a company called Attarco.

 

So my problem is that I am putting the engine in car, I have it all but 1/4" to a 1/2" gap. It is a Manual.

 

The spindle is part way in the motor. When I rotate the Main Pulley it doesnt move when in gear, but when its out of gear is slides freely.

 

This is actually my first engine swap. So I am really new to this, but I have a friend that is helping me with it that has done a swap before, but it was a V-8 motor and was nothing like this.

 

 

 

Thanks 914er for making the post

Edited December 30, 200817 yr by Drakien

Get a 22mm socket on the crank pulley and wiggle the crank back and forth, make sure that the centerline of the engine is lined up with the centerline of the tranny, if its at too much of an angle it won't be happy.

 

jack up the front of the transmission so that the engine mounts don't interfere with the cross member, thats my suspicion as to why its not going in all the way.

Thanks for the idea, we have done that with no luck.

make sure alignment dowels arent on both tranny and motor but just one or the other

the clutch plate might not be aligned. might try loosening the pressure plate bolts and re-aligning the clutch (with a real-live alignment tool) before re-torquing.

 

the input shaft only slides about 1/2" into the pilot bearing. so my immediate reaction (having done many of these) is that that's not lined up. it can be an enormous ***************, as they have to be perfectly aligned (not just in the right place, but if the engine or tranny is angled a bit, it can hang up).

 

sometimes it helps to put a bit of grease on the input shaft.

 

 

then, put a jack under the front of the tranny to get it high enough so things will line up without the engine mounts hitting the crossmember. get the engine lined up, and you'll probably have to shake and wriggle things a bit. and yea, turn the crank a bit to help the splines line up. you may have to use the bolts to help a bit (don't use them to pull things in, you could strip the threads. but put them in finger tight, then rock the engine back and forth to get it to seat better, tighten a bit more by hand, etc.).

 

it's an extremely snug fit, so it'll take some coaxing.

Alright I am going to be picking up a clutch alignment tool in the morning and will try this again. Thanks for the recommendations! Everyone here is very helpful!

Ok I have the the engine installed...just in time to take it out and fix the timing. Appearantly the book lied. lol

 

So as soon as I get that fixed

"recently bought this motor after having 2 bad motors from"

well, hate to ruin your day, but all those 2.5 are Bad.....when you need a 4th motor, go with a 2.2. I so rude today

It was the clutch.

 

As for the motors, they were imported from Japan. They both had rod knocks like you wouldnt believe. I got the engines from Attarco.com.

 

So I went with a local guy that had a spare laying around. I almost did get the 2.2l Motor, but this 2.5l motor was cheaper and I didnt have to ditch a car.

Ok I have the the engine installed...just in time to take it out and fix the timing. Appearantly the book lied. lol

 

 

Why would you take it out to set timing? you mean timing belt? There is no reason to pull hte engine for a timing belt.

Why would you take it out to set timing? you mean timing belt? There is no reason to pull hte engine for a timing belt.

 

I didnt end up pulling the motor, just removed the fan shroud and upper radiator hose. Then fixed the timing.

 

This was the problem with the timing. The sensor wasnt picking up the two missing "teeth"

Good thing I still had the spare engine sitting there to take parts from.