[19941.8walkietalkie]

need help deciding on a Motor I just bought a 94 1.8l AWD and it has 200k on it what motor should I plan on swapping in. it will be my DD and I will offroad/rally it. I plan on doing a full rsti swap for everything but the drive train. turbo is awesome but is the maintenance worth it? I have never done a motor swap before. please help!

 

[George.of.the.Jungle]

you need to have a look around in the turbo section. TON of info in there.

something else that may be cheaper, though i don't know much about the wiring aspect of it...would be to toss a cheap realiable engine in there and get it running. such at the 22e. would give you a nice little bump in power along with some extra torques. then if you feel like you want more, throw some boost at it. which, there are threads in that same section along with a few in the member journals section that outline it all pretty well with do's and don't.

for reference: my car came stock with the 22e. i put some boost on it for pretty cheap, ~1600 bucks. at 11psi (max for this styler maf) it will just about keep up with stock 15+ WRX's. as in, they only pull away once i shift out of third.

there's also all the other swaps out there. ej20g, ej20k, ej205, ej255, ej257 etc. though, the further up you get in displacement, the more money you spend. also, plenty of threads in the turbo section about the pro's and cons of each.

happy reading.

 

[Racer Dave]

For daily and rally I'd recommend going naturally aspirated. More reliable, cheaper, better in traffic, easy to race and open lights is the largest and most competitive rally class in the country. It doesn't have the straight line "weeeeee" factor of a turbo but for me that got old after a while and all the annoyances of lag really drove me nuts on the road. That's why I sold my 2012 WRX and got a 2001 RS. I also rally an RS and beat built turbo cars all the time. You won't win any drag races in it any time soon but a 2.5 is plenty quick for daily driving. Just my opinion. Either way you go will be a huge improvement over a 1.8.

 

[19941.8walkietalkie]

i think i am going to go with MY98 ej255 because thats what everybody says to do. everything i find online is super old information id like to make a new thread with up to date info. also im having trouble finding exactly which motor to buy jdm or usdm ect

 

[careercadaver]

The ej255 was not released in the states until 2004 in the Forester XT and came standard in the WRX from 06-14. It’s a turbo 2.5L engine.

George, correct me if I’m wrong but the MY98 engine was a 20K or 2.0L turbo JDM engine. This is a solid platform and is considered to be an “easier” route but it’s not just swapping an engine and go by any means. As these engines get older parts are likely to become harder to find. Alive Cover gaskets and such can to be specific so you’re ordering them from overseas, etc.

Also, because You hadn’t ruled out a non-turbo engine yet the USDM impreza did come with a 2.5L in 1998. In specific the DOHC ej251. The SOHC is a bit more sought after but was Phase II, so you may run into a few corners there.

The n/a swaps are often just slapping the intake manifold on a 22e but I’d have to read further on it to be much help. The 22e is a rather impressive engine man. Arguably the most reliable set-up Subaru ever released. Plus non-interference. Not flashy but will go forever.

I hope that avoids some confusion. I’ll be following along to learn and help where I’m able. I’m in a similar boat/wagon with my 93L. Always weighing all options. Lol

 

[George.of.the.Jungle]

i'm not sure about the JDM engines, i always get the confused. i would imagine that going in order the 98 should be somewhere around the K as the G was earlier in the production line. not 100% though.

the 98RS in the US had the 25L engine coded 25D.

as i said before, go with the 22e and throw some boost at it. it is BY FAR the best engine subaru produced. iirc they were only non interferance in the dual port exhaust headed ones, which, ended production in 1995.

 

[19941.8walkietalkie]

I recently drove my buddys 96 impreza with the ej22. his was an Auto but it was pretty fun and zippy. I think i am going to go in this direction. ive heard you use the ej22 block and heads and reuse the ej18 block. what can i expect for this swap? if money isnt too different i wouldnt mind a boosted swap. i would really like a 200hp motor any ideas?

 

[careercadaver]

As stated above, you’re best route is a boosted 22e. Your buddy has the interference single port version. Dont bother with the 1.8L unless you want to tear her apart again.

 

[Wwwwwrx]

yeh, better buy a new block, 2.0 or 2.5 and build a new engine

or u can buy assembled one, or find urself a car donor

so u see there's a lot of option, but not for 1.8 engine)

 

[2slo4u]

JoeJoe69 boosted a 1.8l and didn't build the block, he made good power and never blew the engine up. Search his posts, it's all how you build it. Otherwise, you could swap in a phase 1 dohc 2.5 and see a huge difference in power, with zero boost required. It's very little work to go the na route.

 

[19941.8walkietalkie]

thanks for all the replys! ive found a 100k ej22 out of a 96 legacy in the junkyard anyway to tell phase 1 vs phase 2? is the only difference the exhuast manifold?

 

[johnxx]

Nope! Some phase 1 EJ22s (EJ22E) come with single port heads! I think (and someone can correct me if I'm wrong) is that all the phase 1 EJ22s have the idle air control valve going into the intake manifold separate from the throttle body. And I believe all the phase 2 EJ22s (EJ222) have the idle air control valve on the throttle body housing and a little air bypass on the throttle body surface that matches to another bypass on the intake side where they mate

TL;DR:
phase 1 EJ22 throttle body: Just a big circular opening, one sensor on throttle body (TPS)
phase 2 EJ22 throttle body: not-exactly-D-shaped bypass above the circular opening, two or more sensors on throttle body (TPS, IACV and maybe MAP).