2005 Outback XT Motor replacement

[GloNDark]

I have a 2005 Outback XT that developed a nasty rattle over the past couple of months. I've had it about 40k miles but it had a HARD life before me and the previous owner rarely changed the oil or maintained the poor car. So i'm not surprised it's dead at 155k miles.

 

I'm looking for a replacement long block just for ease of swapping and i'm confused as well on what can be dropped in.

 

Engine code is: EJ255BLAUB

 

I'd prefer to do the work myself and spend more on a quality replacement motor and some upgrades like up and down pipe, intake and a tune.

 

Will a EJ255 from a 2008 to 2014 wrx work with a 2005 outback xt?

 

Such as:

https://jdmracingmotors.com/en/subaru/ej205-motors-impreza-wrx/6852/used-2-5l-jdm-subaru-wrx-2008-2014-ej255-dohc-avcs-turbocharged-single-scroll-engine-for-sale/

[Max Capacity]

Checkout the click here link in my sig for what most of us do.

 

Are you sure its not just the turbo ?

 

I don't believe that engine the way it is will, it has the air pump.

[GloNDark]

Thanks, looks like an awesome thread. I will read thru it all tonight.

 

I'm pretty sure it's the bottom end. My son was driving it and called me when it let go. He pulled over right away and called me. I drove out with my diesel and the car hauler and it drove up on the trailer but it sounded like an old steam engine and was clunking and clanging around. It died on the trailer and when we got it home and pushed it into the shop, it barely turns over. So either the timing belt gave up the ghost after 50k miles which is possible or the bottom end is toast. Either way, We are going to pull the motor after Christmas and see.

[awfulwaffle]

It'll work, you just need to buy some block-off plates for the secondary air and EGR ports on the newer motor's heads. If you use just the shortblock and re-use your heads after cleaning them up, you'll see a bump in compression. It's probably fine, but you may choose to datalog things and adjust the tune a bit afterwards.

 

You can also choose to swap your intake manifold assembly, since the fuel injectors on the newer motor are different. Not positive whether the main harness connector has the same pinout, but it is the same physical connector between your car and the 08-14 WRX. I have both in the shop right now, if you need comparison pictures of anything let me know.

 

 

https://www.importimageracing.com/products/prl-air-pump-delete-plate-subaru-wrx-2006-2014-sti-2007-2020-legacy-gt-2006-2009?gclid=CjwKCAiArIH_BRB2EiwALfbH1CwGI98F0r-x4N4FcjwpMKz-BzMQFQTaPDRAKDlNwGovxrKUIawAzBoCZYsQAvD_BwE

 

https://www.importimageracing.com/products/torque-solution-egr-delete-kit-subaru-wrx-2015-2020-forester-xt-2014-2017?gclid=CjwKCAiArIH_BRB2EiwALfbH1Kf-X1MDOS8gnlS3UnR9aSnglN_5bMVAXjkUvTWoq7HbmIdPZYSkLxoCw18QAvD_BwE

Edited December 21, 2020 by awfulwaffle

[GloNDark]

It'll work, you just need to buy some block-off plates for the secondary air and EGR ports on the newer motor's heads. If you use just the shortblock and re-use your heads after cleaning them up, you'll see a bump in compression. It's probably fine, but you may choose to datalog things and adjust the tune a bit afterwards.

 

You can also choose to swap your intake manifold assembly, since the fuel injectors on the newer motor are different. Not positive whether the main harness connector has the same pinout, but it is the same physical connector between your car and the 08-14 WRX. I have both in the shop right now, if you need comparison pictures of anything let me know.

 

 

https://www.importimageracing.com/products/prl-air-pump-delete-plate-subaru-wrx-2006-2014-sti-2007-2020-legacy-gt-2006-2009?gclid=CjwKCAiArIH_BRB2EiwALfbH1CwGI98F0r-x4N4FcjwpMKz-BzMQFQTaPDRAKDlNwGovxrKUIawAzBoCZYsQAvD_BwE

 

https://www.importimageracing.com/products/torque-solution-egr-delete-kit-subaru-wrx-2015-2020-forester-xt-2014-2017?gclid=CjwKCAiArIH_BRB2EiwALfbH1Kf-X1MDOS8gnlS3UnR9aSnglN_5bMVAXjkUvTWoq7HbmIdPZYSkLxoCw18QAvD_BwE

 

Wow, thanks man! That's awesome. Now I just need to make a decision and move forward. I was stressing this over the weekend and now i'm stoked and can't wait to get the motor out of the car and get it done.