suberman Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 Hi guys, I'm new to this forum. I hoping someone can assist me with a problem I have with an engine swap. Here's the situation. I have a 2005 Legacy GT (EJ25 turbo w/AT) The engine burned a rod bearing or two and I bought a 2007 WRX EJ25 turbo out of a manual trans car. My first question is, is there a problem with putting a MT engine in an AT car if I simply change over the plate/converter etc? Or is it just as simple as doing that? Second question, aside from having to extend some vacuume hoses and also the brown, square 7 wire plug on the harness to reach the connector on the new engine, everything went together just fine and without too much trouble. The main 30 wire (or whatever) harness plugged right in to the new engine, fuel lines are fine, everything else just plugged in as it should. Filled it with oil, coolant, charged the battery up to full charge and attempted to fire it up. It turns over like it should, oil pumps as it should (I know this because the turbo oil line was not completely tight and was spewing oil as the engine cranked) but it never fires. I know I have fuel (smells like gas after cranking) but there is no spark. I checked it with a spark plug/wire tool. Didn't light the light. Any ideas? Are the two ECU's 2005 and 2007 going to be compatible or do I need an 07 ECU for the 07 engine for some reason? I've disabled the security system thinking it might be that but the owner's manual says it should start then die if the security system is reacting. I never get any firing what-so-ever. I've checked the CAM sensors and CRANK sensor and the part numbers the same for both the 05 Legacy and the 07 WRX. I've checked all the fuses, I have good grounds. Please help!! I'm going nuts! Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rao Posted May 29, 2009 Share Posted May 29, 2009 Why didn't you use the wiring harness and sensors from the GT engine? Rob IF YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR CAR YOU SHOULD NEVER DRIVE IT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suberman Posted May 30, 2009 Author Share Posted May 30, 2009 The sensors are the same part number for the 05 legacy and 07 wrx so i didn't see it as a problem to go with the ones on the 07 engine. It only has 9000 miles on it. Removing the wiring harnesses is quite a task. It's snaked all around, in and out of tiny areas on the engine, going under the intake and all around. I didn't figure the harness was any different considering everything looked the same and was in the same positions on both engines. Both the main harness plug connectors (big grey one and smaller brown one) were the same on both engines. Do you think there is an unseen difference in the harnesses/sensors? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rao Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 Well something is obviously amiss. Check the easy stuff like all of the connections. The 07 uses a diferent ECU, but I am not sure about the wiring harness. You need to get both wiring diagrams and check it out. Serarch for "vacation pics" and you should be able to find both. Rob IF YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR CAR YOU SHOULD NEVER DRIVE IT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scruit Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 Are there any codes? Don't assume the wiring harnesses are the same. I swapped an engine in a 97 RAV4 using a 97 RAV4 donor - same engine. Found the wiring harnesses were different and had to use an multimeter to verify and swap wires where needed. Out of about 25 wires I have to cut/swap/solder/heatshrink 4 of them. I also did an engine R&R in a Maxima and it wouldn't start (same symptoms) and I wound up removing and cleaning both the crank and cam pos sensors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank_ster Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 un plug both cam sensors .. try that .. Now that's thinking out of the boxer! fyi all 05 + legacy's have built in code reader Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindzEyeWRX02 Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 Wouldn't it be easier to just swap out the shortblock? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suberman Posted May 31, 2009 Author Share Posted May 31, 2009 Well I thought it would be easier to just drop the entire engine in and go, but now, the time I thought i'd be saving, not tearing two engines down to short blocks, has gone out the window. One other reason for using the entire engine is the intakes and turbos are different and the turbo on the GT was wasted. If i reused the intake and throttle body etc off the GT engine I'd then have to buy a new trubo for it. The only place to get one is the dealer at a cost of $1200. It's the VF40, bolts directly to the intake, no pipe/silicone tubes. I can't find them aftermarket anywhere. I haven't tried pulling codes. I thought it would have to start to get codes? Guess I can see if it says anything. Thanks for all the info and ideas guys. I'll try some more things and keep you posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 As usual - things aren't as easy as they appear, but I suspect that the real problem is that the wiring is different. Check and compare the wiring with the old engine cable for cable to the connectors where you parted them. It's often possible to realign the contacts in the contact block if you have a tiny screwdriver or some small sharp object to press the hooks with and then move the cable to the right position. Normally no need to cut&solder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suberman Posted June 4, 2009 Author Share Posted June 4, 2009 Houston, we have contact!! I ended up swapping the two harnesses out. Took the harness off the GT engine and put it on the WRX engine. There were a few differences that I had to overcome though. The injector plugs were different so i had to cut and splice the new plugs to old harness, and the temperature sender had to have the same done. But other than that everything else plugged right in. Then the moment of truth... Vrooommm. Started right up!! Ran like crap though, wouldn't idle. Shut it down, read CEL codes. Had like 10 of them. Wrote them all down, cleared them, tried again. Still ran & sounded good but wouldn't idle right. Then thought, duh, maybe it will run right if I put the intercooler on Got all the rest of the parts put back on, hooked up all the vacume lines, and everything then ran really well but I had the CEL light on. Scanned it and got a MAP sensor code. Looked around and OOPS... forgot to plug it in. Now i have no lights and it runs like a dream, fast too. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction guys. No matter how much you think you know about cars, sometimes you need a little push to get over the hump that has you stuck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rao Posted June 4, 2009 Share Posted June 4, 2009 Glad to hear it Rob IF YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR CAR YOU SHOULD NEVER DRIVE IT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scruit Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 Houston, we have contact!! I ended up swapping the two harnesses out. Marvelous! Tweaking the harness is pretty common when you swap a modern engine unless you get exactly like for like... Swapping a different car's engine in there almost guarantees you'll be doing some electrical work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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