2.2L vs. 2.5L (late 90s Subaru)

So there was work being done by a mechanic (only other person to touch my legacy ) for a recalled master cylinder on my 98 LGTL. He was looking at all the "2.5"s branded around the bodywork after he was peeking in the engine bay, and turned to me and said "There's a 2.2L in here". I must've asked him ten times or so to confirm it; the block number doesn't match the VIN, and mechanically the 2.2 has the SOHC, which he pointed out to me on the engine that shouldn't be in my GT. Me, in my lack of knowledge, kind of flipped, because I had bought a car that had the engine swapped out of it for some unknown reason, and there's no record of the mileage on the 2.2. But the mechanic was saying how he liked the 2.2 better than the 2.5...what do you guys think or know about any swaps like this? What are any tradeoffs, and is it worth losing sleep over? Thanks!

Practically speaking it makes no difference.

the 2.5 in those years had head gasket problems.

^ yah, those year 2.5's blow up pretty much every other week. The 2.2's are about a trillion times more reliable.

 

I'd do the same conversion if i was foolish enough to ever buy a 2.5

 

In fact i have done a very similar thing! A mates 250t (Japanese equiv of the 2.5GT in the states, only better, and bilstein equipped) blew an HG, so we dropped an old EJ20E that was lying around in it, goes just as hard, but is better on the gas. Gotta hate the 2.5's eh...

 

Of all the 2.5's that have entered my life, they have all blown HG's. Both my mates, and my brothers. I owned a 2.2 before i got my GTB, and it's up to 300,000 on the clock now, and still going strong.

The engine size should be casted on the intake manifold. It might be a SOHC 2.5 SOHC from a non-GT.

 

Either way, the 2.2 is more stout anyway. As everyone else has said, head gasket issues on the 2.5 were so common it's hard to find one that hasn't had them replaced.

 

From what I can tell, the 2.5 Engine always seems to encounter problems before the rest of the car. The 2.2 engine seems to outlast everything else on the car, to the point where sometimes it's the only thing that still works. Take my 2.2 as an example.....

You lost about 30hp and gained infinate amounts of reliability...I would say you're way ahead.

You lost about 30hp and gained infinate amounts of reliability...I would say you're way ahead.

 

Perfect...ok if the 2.2 was only a little more reliable than the 2.5 I'd be disappointed because I thought I was putting more power to the road anyway. Either way, the 2.2 is a more torquey engine, and it's got enough "get up and go" for now As long as the engine won't quit on me, then I'm happy! Yeah the mechanic was talking about blown head gaskets on the 2.5s ALOT, and that started to worry me if it was in fact a 2.5 in my car.

 

Any problems I should know about the 2.2 (unless all of them run like Platinum's haha) before I go on my merry way that the legacy carves for me? I know that was cheezy but I couldn't help it

All anectodal evidence indicates that the 2.2L is as rock solid as they come. I would say that you should make sure all reccomended maintence is up to date (especially since you don't know the actual mileage of your motor) and possible do a compression test just to confirm that the motor in you car is in good shape. Otherwise you should have a very reliable piece of transportation with all the good looks of the GT. I would say the previous owner had enough the 2.5L and smartly swapped in a 2.2L.

Yes, we may speak of the 2.2's as bullet proof. But that's only if you maintain them. Like any engine, they won't work without oil

 

(Though the 2.2's may surprise us )

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like how you listed the car as being a 98 LGTL. That's pretty clever!

I like how you listed the car as being a 98 LGTL. That's pretty clever!

 

As far as 2.2L problems... There aren't that many to be honest. The AC compressor seized up on mine, so I just took off the belt.

 

You could see how the timing belt is doing, luckily if it does decide to break it would not destroy the engine like if a timing belt broke in a 2.5L. The 2.2L engine still has clearance from the open valves, to the piston at top dead center, so it will never self destruct when the belt breaks... It will just stop running.

 

Sometimes the coolant temp sensor can throw a CEL code and cause both cooling fans to stay on at full speed all the time. When this happened to me it was the dead of winter so I just unplugged one of the fans so I could get some heat out of the vents, otherwise that thing would take longer to warm up than a diesel train. Only time it ever gave me trouble starting was in the winter time. I think it was electrical, because it just went away one day and never happened again. It would crank and crank and miss, then stall. Then you'd start it again and it would do the same. Third time she always fired right up. I think it because the ECU wasn't injecting enough fuel at startup to get the motor running in the dead of winter (Kind of like an old carburator'd car with no choke). I suspect this had something to do with the coolant temp sensor. That problem is gone now too. About once every 2 thousand miles I'll start it up in the morning and the Check Engine light will pop on for about 3 seconds then shut right off. Haven't been able to figure that one out, but it doesn't seem to change the way it runs at all.

 

These cars also put up some really good numbers when you do a compression test. The piston rings seem to last forever and ever. Some people report minor oil leaks from the camshaft seals and the oil pan gaskets, but these are easy fixes. The cam seals are a good idea to replace (Along with the water pump) if you ever go to replace the timing belt. Mine has 153K miles and doesn't burn or leak any oil at all.

You could see how the timing belt is doing, luckily if it does decide to break it would not destroy the engine like if a timing belt broke in a 2.5L. The 2.2L engine still has clearance from the open valves, to the piston at top dead center, so it will never self destruct when the belt breaks... It will just stop running.

 

That actually happened on my old liberty LX. Quite amusing really...

 

But when it comes to 2.2's, didn't they become interference in 96?

 

A quick way to tell, is to look under the oil cap. If the oil cap stayed with the engine, it will state what year it was made on the underside of it. Mine says 9/7, even though my car rolled off the factory floor in 98... but the car is actually an MY97.

I don't think they changed the EJ22 to an interferance type until 1999, when they switched the cylinder heads with ones that have the valves 20 degrees off center. They did mess with the valvetrain in 1997 by switching to solid valve lash adjusters, as opposed to hydraulic systems used in the earlier engines. I could be wrong on the year, though, so its worth checking out anyway.

 

Edit: Just checked the almighty Wikipidia again, and the engine became an interferance type in 1997 when they changed the crown of the pistons to increase the compression ratio. My bad!

 

And with the year/model year thing, yeah, my car was built in 91 but it's the 92 model year. My Ford was made in 85, but its an 86 model year. My old Cummins turbo diesel was a 90, but it was made in 89. It always seems like I get the first of the new model year cars. If the original owner of the car had just waited 6 more months he probably could've had a '92 that was made in '92, but that never seems to happen with me. Oh well, guess it doesn't matter that much at this point... The car is old as dirt now anyway.

Bah, being to old is a matter of opinion. If it's EJ powered, it's not to old for me

^ yah, those year 2.5's blow up pretty much every other week. The 2.2's are about a trillion times more reliable.

 

I'd do the same conversion if i was foolish enough to ever buy a 2.5

 

In fact i have done a very similar thing! A mates 250t (Japanese equiv of the 2.5GT in the states, only better, and bilstein equipped) blew an HG, so we dropped an old EJ20E that was lying around in it, goes just as hard, but is better on the gas. Gotta hate the 2.5's eh...

 

Of all the 2.5's that have entered my life, they have all blown HG's. Both my mates, and my brothers. I owned a 2.2 before i got my GTB, and it's up to 300,000 on the clock now, and still going strong.

 

personally i had a 2.5 dohc and I personally blew it up by hooking the throttle body up "wrong" i forgot to tuck the cruise control cable on the wheel and started the car right after an oil change and rpm shot up and sun a bearing. but anyway it had 208k and head gasket only replaced once. but im dropping a 2.2 in it. how does the power compare?

WOW. 4 1/2 year bump

personally i had a 2.5 dohc and I personally blew it up by hooking the throttle body up "wrong" i forgot to tuck the cruise control cable on the wheel and started the car right after an oil change and rpm shot up and sun a bearing. but anyway it had 208k and head gasket only replaced once. but im dropping a 2.2 in it. how does the power compare?

 

2.5 liter, multi-port sequential fuel injected 4 cylinder, 16 Valve DOHC boxer engine,

165 horsepower, 162 Ft. lbs Torque

economy - manual 21 city - 27 hgwy, automatic trans 21 city - 26 hgwy

 

2.2 Liter SOHC, 16 valve, 4 cylinder, Multi-port Fuel Injected boxer engine. 137 hp,

economy - 23 city, 30 highway, automatic and manual trans,

15.9 gallon fuel tank

CARS101

WOW. 4 1/2 year bump

 

 

If it's on topic, it's better than making a new thread!

 

 

CARS101

 

That's how they compare on paper, which would lead you to believe that the 2.5 is the one to have... In reality, the 2.2 SOHC is nearly bulletproof/indestructable, as has been mentioned. The 2.5 DOHC is an HG-munching time bomb by comparison.

he asked about the power so i posted specs...

I had a 2.2 L and beat the snot out of it, had to do a hybrid rebuild

and it still runs today at 250,000+

 

the 2.2L is the superior motor end of story

the 2.2L is the superior motor end of story

 

QFT. Seriously, unless you're bouncing off the RL in every gear, day in and day out, you can run those 2.2Ls til the end of time.