Quick engine swap question

Hey guys I’m real sorry if this has been covered.

How hard would it be to put a 2.2 from a ‘95 Impreza into a ‘98 Forester? The Forester is obviously 2.5 DOHC. The Impreza is auto and the forester is 5 speed. I could potentially have the entire Impreza if need be, it’s low mileage and in pretty great shape but was wrecked in the rear.

 

 

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You'll have to swap a bunch of the sensors and or the intake from the 2.5 onto the 2.2. The upper radiator hole ports won't line up well and the 2.2 is going to sit kind of weirdly in the engine bay. But it'll work and it'll run, it was a very common swap in WV where subarus are plentiful and cheap.

The 95 Impreza 2.2 was OBDII. The 95 Impreza 1.8 was OBDI. The engine is plug and play. Sensors, radiator hoses, mounts, everything. The only external difference you'll notice is a SOHC engine where a DOHC engine should be. Your Forester ECU will also run the 2.2 without issue too. The only thing you'll need to swap over is the flywheel and clutch assembly from the Forester motor. I believe the Impreza with that motor of that vintage was also without EGR, so double score, even though the Forester ECU won't even look for it.

The 95 Impreza 2.2 was OBDII. The 95 Impreza 1.8 was OBDI. The engine is plug and play. Sensors, radiator hoses, mounts, everything. The only external difference you'll notice is a SOHC engine where a DOHC engine should be. Your Forester ECU will also run the 2.2 without issue too. The only thing you'll need to swap over is the flywheel and clutch assembly from the Forester motor. I believe the Impreza with that motor of that vintage was also without EGR, so double score, even though the Forester ECU won't even look for it.

 

I was thinking this particular swap would work with a '98 Forester with the EJ25D engine, just like it would on an Outback or GT with the same engine.

 

Since the Forester went to the EJ251 SOHC starting in '99, that swap would be a lot tougher, so my thought is a Phase 1 EJ22 would only go into a '98 Forester easily

Since the Forester went to the EJ251 SOHC starting in '99, that swap would be a lot tougher, so my thought is a Phase 1 EJ22 would only go into a '98 Forester easily

 

That is correct. 98 was the last year for Phase 1 on the Forester 2.5 and Legacy/Impreza 2.2 so you'll need to source a 90-98 EJ22E.

Ok guys I’m not going that route. I have another question. I asked this on the Subaru Forester forums and didn't get a response so please bear with me. What I am posting is copied directly from my thread there so it may read a bit strange.

 

So I have a '98 Forester 5 speed that runs and drives.. with 300k on the odometer. The body is falling apart, the rear subframe is rusted, trunk pan falling out, etc. FYI I believe the engine is out of a '96 Legacy GT, mileage is unknown on the engine but I just did the timing belt, water pump, oil pump, etc. It seems to run good and sounds good.

 

I am going tomorrow to look at a 2002 Forester with a good body, it does have a bad spot on one of the quarters but it's nothing compared to mine and looks easily fixable. It is overall a nice car with around 100k on it. It has loads of parts that mine is missing, but it has a blown engine.

 

My question is this, how hard is it to put a DOHC engine in this '02 with a SOHC engine? I will have my entire car to use for parts so that's no issue, also both are 5 speed if that changes anything.

 

Thanks for the help everyone!

 

 

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This is a link to Setnev's Phase 1 to Phase 2 electronics.

The 96 EJ 25 is Phase 1 the 02 Forester is Phase 2.

 

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?url=http%3A%2F%2Flegacygt%2Ecom%2Fforums%2Fshowthread%2Ephp%3Ft%3D258372&share_tid=258372&share_fid=5383&share_type=t

 

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This is a link to Setnev's Phase 1 to Phase 2 electronics.

The 96 EJ 25 is Phase 1 the 02 Forester is Phase 2.

 

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?url=http%3A%2F%2Flegacygt%2Ecom%2Fforums%2Fshowthread%2Ephp%3Ft%3D258372&share_tid=258372&share_fid=5383&share_type=t

 

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Yeah, I think I'm the only one who has successfully converted the harness to accept a Phase 2 engine, but I have not tried a Phase 1 in a Phase 2 car, but I presume it is the same process.

 

It was like that for a while, the motor ran well, but it was a frankenstein of a mess in the passenger footwell, which is when I started looking into building an adapter kit. I since abandoned it for the time being due to building a frankenmotor with my Phase 2 engine.

 

Without a simple solution, like an adapter kit, it's a very tedious task of comparing the two harnesses, tracing the connections, splicing into the ECU harness, repinning connectors, running extra wires, etc, but it can be done.