bhazard Posted February 7, 2017 Share Posted February 7, 2017 Anyone done it? I've had a hankering to swap an EJ251 into my Legacy. Found a 5 speed forester cheap and wondered if the 5mt would swap over without too much hassle. Looked through some sticky threads but it seemed kinda vague. Wondered if anyone had first hand experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DN1911 Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 I swapped a 5mt from a 95 to a 95 a few years ago. bolting it all up is pretty straight forward. The pedal assembly is the biggest mechanical hurdle the wiring is the trickiest part. mine only required moving a pin at the ECU and grounding it for it to know it was now a manual. Your 99 may or may not be the same way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtdash Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 The trans swap should be covered on other Subaru forums - as well. Remember the Forester is similiar to the Impreza, so RS25.com and NASIOC.com will help. The '99 is either a MAF or a MAP-based but different than the MAP-based in the '01 Fozzy, I believe. The engine will work if you swap over your INTAKE MANIFOLD and the header (dual-port vs. single - I think - in your '99 EJ222), and you may need to REUSE your '99's crank and cam sprockets...they changed in there somewhere. Td Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhazard Posted February 8, 2017 Author Share Posted February 8, 2017 Yeah the engine swap seems easy enough. Just a long block swap basically. Would the ej222 phase 2 heads be a benefit on the ej251 block? I think I read they're basically the same as 251 heads. The trans swap seems a lot more involved. Might pass on it as the 4eat, though anything but sporty, is in very good shape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtdash Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 ^Yeah..head swap NOT worth it. BUT you've heard of Subaru head gaskets failing, right? I would NOT install the 251 w/out doing the HG while it's out - unless you know w/documented proof they've been done. Even if that 251 has 25K miles, it's still over 10 years old. Read up on THIS for a possible 'sporty' 4EAT....but if it hoses your trans, you're on your own! I've done it on multiple Subies w/out issue....but only on the Phase 1 '90-'98. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setnev Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 Yeah the engine swap seems easy enough. Just a long block swap basically. Would the ej222 phase 2 heads be a benefit on the ej251 block? I think I read they're basically the same as 251 heads. The trans swap seems a lot more involved. Might pass on it as the 4eat, though anything but sporty, is in very good shape. The swap is fairly straightforward. The EJ222 ECU can be used with the EJ251. If the 251 is a MAP based system, you'll want to use the MAF from the 222 in the swap and retain the 222 ECU. The EJ222 heads are nearly identical in terms of flow, but have a smaller combustion chamber so it will increase your compression ratio on the 251 to about 10.4:1, which is a negligible increase from the 10:1 the stock 251 has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhazard Posted February 9, 2017 Author Share Posted February 9, 2017 My ej22 is MAP so I guess it would actually be a 221. Come to think of it I think that's what the body tag says. The sport mode mod is very tempting but I don't wanna chance wrecking a good trans if there's risks with the phase 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setnev Posted February 9, 2017 Share Posted February 9, 2017 Quite honestly, if you swap over the 5MT into it, you won't need the sport mode mod, just the ECU from the 5MT car. The 4EAT transmission has a very unbalanced power distribution. Most of the time you're getting 70/30, or worse 90/10, power distribution. I will be doing the 50/50 power and handbrake mod to my 99 Outback 4EAT. There is no risk involved as the transmission automatically adjusts to 50/50 power when it needs it and the handbrake mod just momentarily puts the car in 100% FWD mode so that you can rip the handbrake and lock up the back wheels for some mad skids and not ruin your center diff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhazard Posted February 9, 2017 Author Share Posted February 9, 2017 Pretty much everything I've read says the 5mt swap is quite involved and getting cruise and abs to work is a real pain. I need to minimize downtime as this is the gf's daily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setnev Posted February 10, 2017 Share Posted February 10, 2017 Pretty much everything I've read says the 5mt swap is quite involved and getting cruise and abs to work is a real pain. I need to minimize downtime as this is the gf's daily. All you need is the ECU from the 5MT car. This will stop throwing the codes for the EGR and TCU not seeing the auto trans and allow you to do everything without tricking the car into thinking it has an auto trans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhazard Posted February 10, 2017 Author Share Posted February 10, 2017 Guy sold the donor car out from under me :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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