engine decoding

[vanman281]

could anybody tell me what year engine I have by this serial number and how to engine serial numbers. 242L9024L977

[Platinum_Racing]

If this is in the 1999 Legacy 30th Anniversary Edition it's the EJ25D engine, with a SOHC cylinder head design and 165 horses from the factory.

 

Serial numbers aren't nearly as easy to deal with as just giving us the year, model, and trim level of the vehicle.

[vanman281]

it's actually a dif. motor than the one in my car. I have an ej22 currently in my car not the 25, but I bought an engine from a guy who got it from his friend and he wasn't exactly sure on the year or mileage. The engine is in great shape and was just rebuilt within the last 20k. I am just wanting to know what is going to fit from my engine on this other engine.

[Platinum_Racing]

If the other engine is an EJ25 a lot of part are interchangable. Pretty much anything actually except for engine internals.

 

If it is an EJ25 it will have EJ25 casted into the block to the left of the alternator and slightly in front and underneath the intake manifold. If the engine is an EJ25 with single overhead cams it is most likely an EJ25D. If it has dual overhead cams and no turbo it is a Legacy GT engine. If the engine has a complete wiring harness you just need to get an EJ25 ECU with the same number of plugs as the engine and all should work fine.

 

The engine will drop right into the car and bolt right up to all the mounts including the transmission. To do an entire engine swap all you need is the computer. Be cautious though, the EJ25D has head gasket issues that you won't find on the EJ22, which is probably why the car has an EJ22 engine right now.

[vanman281]

Both engines I have in car and in garage waiting to be swapped are 22s. I know the engine I got from the guy on craigslist is an older ej22 because it has the plastic top cover, different style heads and intake manifold. I will need to switch over my intake manifold as it hold the ignition coil and wont fit on the one that is on the other engine. I am also wondering if 97+ heads will work with an older engine 92 or 93. I will be adding cams and would like to know if head work aka lifters valves and what not should be rebuild with high performance parts or if oem will be suitable for reliability. I don't plan on taking the car to high rpm's a lot, but when I want the power I will.

[Platinum_Racing]

All the parts are interchangeable.

 

The cylinder heads are the same bolt pattern, but the Phase II heads have a narrower valve angle. I think that if you were to use the Phase II heads with the Phase I block the engine would still be a non-interference engine. The piston crown on the Phase II engine was different from that of the Phase I engine. That means that if you run a total Phase II engine, the valves can contact the piston should the timing belt snap. By using a Phase I block with Phase II heads the engine should still be non-interference. The only problem I can see with using the newer heads is the fact that they haven't been rebuilt. You said the engine you bought was a fresh rebuild, which might mean the stock heads have all new parts and a 3 angle valve job. If this is the case you might be better off using the Phase I heads. Ask the person you sold you the engine if any headwork was done to the cylinder heads on the engine before you make a decision. You will also have to buy new head gaskets if you change the heads, seeing as how they are one time use only. Once they've been compressed once, you don't want to reuse them or they might leak prematurely. The Phase II heads would slightly boost performance, however. Phase II heads used solid lash adjusters, which should be checked and adjusted every 100K miles. The Phase I engine used hydraulic lash adjusters, which never need adjustment but increased valvetrain friction and cause the valves to float at high RPM's. If you get cams that move the power and torque higher on the RPM band, you may consider switching to the Phase II heads just because they won't allow the valves to float (Meaning the valves won't fully close) at higher RPM's.

 

US law states that you cannot put an OBDI engine into a vehicle that came equipped with an OBDII engine. You can still use the older engine, but you will need to swap the intake with the newer one with all the new fancy electronics. You can bolt the newer intake right up. Whatever intake you decide to use will determine which ECU you will need.

 

There are aftermarket camshafts out there, but they come at a steep price... ($2,000 a set). They will work with Phase I or Phase II engines (I believe). The stock rocker assembly will work fine with aftermarket cams with no reliability issues. Aftermarket valves for the EJ22 are almost non-existent, but you can have some made. Some alternatives are titanium and sodium filled valves, but the weight/reliability savings are hardly worth the price to custom manufacture them. The stock valvetrain on these engines is rather bulletproof anyway. I've never heard of an EJ22 even suffering from noisy valves, let alone having one die from valvetrain failure. Aftermarket cams and performance regrind cams tend to make more power and torque than factory cams, but generally at higher RPM's (At least for most 4 cylinder cars). They also give you a nice, lopey idle that sounds awesome on boxer engines. For street driving, however, they tend to move the powerband higher on the RPM range, giving you less low end torque that's useful for everyday street use. Seeing as how the EJ22 is a naturally torque motor at low RPM's (For it's displacement), you might decide that aftermarket cams are the way to go. They will make the engine more of a beast at mid-upper RPM ranges, but at the cost of some low end grunt. Once you hear the lopey idle of a cammed boxer engine, you'll probably decide to go with the cams. They sound incredible. Phase II heads work best with aftermarket cams as mentioned above, because they don't suffer from floating of the valves at high RPM's. Usually valve floating doesn't come into play until almost 7,000 RPM (Where the EJ22 Rev Limiter kicks in anyway) so it might not be a problem. Again, this is your call.

[vanman281]

I really appreciate all of the info Plat. I will ask the guy who I bought the engine from if the heads had work done. The engine is super clean on the outside heads, intake mani and all so I would think the heads had some work. I have a phaseII engin in my car right now. I have read that 97 and up heads produce more power than earlier models, so i've thought about picking up some other phaseII heads and rebuilding them. How reliable do you think aftermarket cams would be in stock rebuild heads? Also I am going to need to switch my intake mani due to intake and ignition coil.

[Platinum_Racing]

The aftermarket cams shouldn't have any effect on reliability and durability. In many cases, the cams are just stock camshafts reground to a different pattern that provides more power. The only thing to worry about is the springs if you get a camshaft with extreme lift. For reground camshafts you shouldn't have a problem. Maybe a little bit of extra valve bounce at higher RPM's but I don't think it would be enough to damage anything. There are many reputable companies out there who will regrind stock cams to new specifications for you.

 

The Phase II heads do make more power, with their narrower valve angle and lower friction valvetrain. Both style heads have pentroof combustion chambers, but the Phase II has a valve angle that promotes better flow and more complete combustion. After some research they might actually use a different bolt pattern than the Phase I heads for the intake manifold, so you may actually want to consider a swap afterall.....

 

If you want to look around for more performance parts for the engine swap, check out www.Boxer4Racing.com. They have some underpulley's and lightweight crank pulleys that slightly improve horsepower and marginally improve throttle response. They also have an aluminum MAF adapter plate that allows the use of a cone air filter so you can make up your own intake. Ebay has some cheaper crank pulley options, but they are usually of lesser quality.

 

An MSD ignition coil from a Dodge Neon/Eagle Talon will work with the EJ22 as well, you just need to buy the coil and get a coil plug from a junkyard off a Neon or Talon and wire the three wires together, left to left, middle to middle, and right to right. If the engine won't fire just swap the left and right wires and try again. You will need to make a mounting bracket for the MSD coil though, since it uses different mounting holes. Get the coil with flat terminals. http://www.partsgeek.com/gbproducts/PN/2178-03141669.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=ff&utm_term=96+1996+Eagle+Talon+Ignition+Coil+MSD+Eagle+Ignition+Coil&utm_content=PN&utm_campaign=PartsGeek+Google+Base

[vanman281]

Do you remmeber where you saw that the different engines may use different bolt patterns? I've done some researching and have spoke to some people at a shop who build high performance engines and are known for their outsanding work. They have ej22 shortblocks, I believe he said from 93. All low mileage (hail damaged cars), and they were going to swap all of my parts over I.E. intake mani, heads, harness and all. I am going to talk to a subaru tech and hopefully find out what will switch right over.

[Platinum_Racing]

I can't find it now, but it was anther Subaru forum of lesser quality than this amazing one.

 

Then again, if the EJ25 DOHC heads fit on the EJ22, they must use the same bolt pattern. That person on the sub-par forum who provided the info must've been a n00b.