Saturday, December 29, 2007

ej20g ecu codes of sort

7K - 95 sti ra version 2 (and v-liminted)
6K - sti normal (sedan and wagon)
z4 - normal wrx sedan (one of a few)
Z5 - WRX-RA (non sti)

Thursday, December 20, 2007

how to replace a broken subaru lugnut

stock stud changes are piece of cake. if you are fitting ARP extended longstuds, the front will go on pretty straightforward with a bit of wiggling, rear dosnt work unless u pull the hub apart.

Tone ring can be replaced by getting a replacement, Cutting the circle into 2 semi-circles, bolting on and then JB welding in place. You an get a tone ring for free if you ask around enough. better than tearing the hub apart to replace a perfectly good bearing (if your bearings are going then its a differnt story)

studs are easily replaced:

Wheel stud replacement DIY:

Cost : $1.50

Buy stud at local auto parts store, cost you $0.99 each (last time i checked)


lift/jackstand car
remove wheel
remove brake caliper - 2- 14mm (rear) or 17mm (front) bolts
remove rotor (may require some bam bam if rusty)

take your 5 lb mini sledge ($15 at home depot) and bash the broken one out. a couple nice taps and hes out.

Subaru wheel studs are press fit. Wiggle it into place from the back, give it a couple taps with a mallet to center it (there are little splines)

get 1 lugnut that you dont want anymore (or buy a $0.50 one from your local auto parts store- they have this stuff in stock).

put spacer over the stud- i have used open end wrenches before, be creative. put lugnut on, tighten . make sure goes on straight and bottoms out- will take some force to seat-

after its good, reinstal rotor, caliper, wheel. torque caliper bolts to 40 lb-ft, lugnuts to 85 lb-ft.

drive.

check torque on lugnuts after a short drive and in a week, as the lugnut may settle.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

ej20 swap notes..

FAQ: JDM EJ20 swap. the easiest way IMO.
this applies for EJ20(G,K,T,05, 07, etc)

if you dont know how to work on a car, please refer to the trusty FSM (factory service manual). A subaru is simple enough that with $100 worth of hand tools you can do anything.

You can find downloads for the 2002 USDM GDA FSM and the older JDM GC8 FSM somewhere on this website. hit the search button, i wont give it to you because i dont know where it is.

so what you need to know.

#1. All imprezas are almost fulley interchangable, All motors will fit each other, All transmission will fit each other. You may have to convert things to make them totally compatible, BUT they will fit - provided you do the proper monkey work and have the right parts.

Examples

can i put a ej205 2005 WRX engine on my 1994 FWD transmission??
-YES.
Can i put a 2001 AWD gearbox on my 1993 EJ18 engine??
-YES.
etc, etc, etc

#2. transplanting the proper bits from your setup is rquired -

Example:

problem: i wish to put a 1998 DOHC Ej25 engine on my FWD 1995 automatic impreza
solution: get EJ25 converted to 95 EJ18 wiring harness, then bolt up COMPLETE automatic parts to it (torque converter plate, torque converter etc)

#3. Can i convert my FWD to AWD? Can i convert my AWD to FWD? can i convert my FWD/AWD to RWD

-YES. Look for the proper FAQ to find the solution.

Steps in logistically doing your conversion:

1. find FSM for your existing setup and for whats going into it.
i.e.- if putting 1996 Sti-RA EJ20 into 2003 USDM 2.5RS, get both FSM. you need all the info you need.

2. Figure out the logistical scope of your project; how much $$$ you need to blow, how much $$$ you have to blow, how much time / manpower / tools you need and have.

3. Get all your ducks lined up - get all the parts in or slotted to arrive JIT (just in time)

4. do it.


so my secret to doing efficient (time /cash) EJ20 swap.

--my personal pervious experiance in swaps;

2002 - FWD-> awd gas tank / disc brake conversion on 93 impreza
2003 - EJ20G sti version 1 into FWD 94 EJ18 5 speed car
2003 - EJ25 DOHC into EJ18 FWD car
2003 - AWD sti version 1 gearbox into FWD EJ18 car with Hyrolic clutch conversion and turbo transmission setup / clutc
2003 - EJ20G sti engine into EJ18 FWD car - full engine bay conversion
2004 - drove car around and was happy
2005 - 1998 180SX type X blacktop into 89 Sohc S13 car
2005 - 1995 STi-RA v2 v-limited 3.9 Gearbox swap into place of 4.11 sti version 1 gearbox with Mechanical LSD rear swap into Viscous 3.9 housing
2005 - (coming up) 1995 Sti-RA V2 V-limited EJ20G entire engine bay and interior into 94 impreza with RHD conversion, electronic climate control and brake/clutch conversion for RHD......

So - going into my personal favorite conversion - what i am doing and what i put my money into (i dont listen to anyone who dosn't put their money where their mouth is)

you have a early impreza (1993-2001) i prefer early (pre 97 because its lighter). you want to have better stuff-

you need to buy a front clip. YUP. entire frekin front clip.

why the whole monty?

You actually get everything. no cut wires, nada.
You get more than you need - you can sell off anything u dont need.
Cool toys come with it -$$$$ aluminum control arms, Fatty radiator, Extra coolant overflow tank, Waterspray tank, Power steering oil cooler, Etc, etc.

if you are lucky you'll get a undamaged hood and a bumper too.

regardless, you can sell everything you dont need and it'll help offset your costs severely.

No turbo kits, no excuses, no lamearse EJ205 engine that needs $2000 thrown into it to be interesting, get the real deal. you need a JDM EJ20.

why? its the best bang for the bank. easy, Cheap (relatively), simple to do.

You can do a USDM swap, but for the expense involved ill pass. a 2004 STi would be nice with EJ257, but that is for ballers. if you get your hands on an entire USDM car dirt cheap, go for it. otherwise stick with the JDM.

have i worked on the USDM WRX? yes. i sold them before you drove them. Do i like it? my best friend has a well tuned 235 AWHP machine that i enjoy. is it good? of course its good, but $2000 of tuning bits dosnt seem a really good deal on top of the stock EJ205. not in my book. more reasons that the EJ205 isnt good enough - look at the market demand for EJ207's.

so EJ20G old skool is the best bank for the bang. comparisons with a well tuned EJ205;

will the Ej20g will be less responsive? will it make less power?

yes--IF comparing STOCK 94-96 EJ20g with hydrolic lifters, stock downpipe / flywheel/crank pulley and everything in comparison to a EJ205 standard usdm WRX motor with no cats, ECU retune to 300 CHP, aftermarket downpipe and up pipe.

Why? its obvious, response and tuning does what you pay $2000 for.

Is the older EJ20g head design inferior to the newer MEchanical ("sti version 6 head casting") ??

Yes. It is not as responsive at higher rpm's -6,000 +

does it matter? not really. not for the price differance.


What about putting an older Japenese motor in my newer car (i.e. 94-96 EJ20g into my 99 RS). Sure, why not? JDM motors only have at most 60,000 miles - it plugs in and works just fine.

all this being said, if i coould get a version 8 EJ207 to drop in my own car instead of my sti-RA version 2, id do it in a jiffy, but last time i checked - longblocks were abo9ut $8000. i dont have $8000. if you do, procede to the baller section and read somone else's FAQ.

ok. prices;

EJ20G 1994-1996 WRX front cuts can be bought for under $2500 bucks. UNDER $2500.
EJ20K 1997-2001 WRX front cuts should run you about $4500 or so.

is it worth it to go for the later ones? in my opion no, but to each his own. I'd rather spend the extra $2000 on footwork or really good food and beer, or a ticket to go to TAS.

wont the earlier clips be harder to put in my later car?
perhaps, if u are doing the wiring yourself. Otherwise the wise guru's at lachute and i-speed and the like are professionals at wiring, and it shouldnt phase them at all.

Mechanically, they are all the same.

in my book, there are 2 ways to do this conversion.

LHD and RHD.
************************************************** **********

the LHD conversion is intense. Mad props to sam (powerlabs), and anyone else who has the guts to deal with 40 lbs of wiring hell. MAD props.

i will do any sort of monkeying mechanically, but wiring scares the ehll outa me. wiring on a SR20DET wasn't bad, but thats a walk in the park compared to a subaru.

option 1 for LHD - strip all harnesses out of your donor clip and your current car, send both to a ace shop - lachute, i-speed, rallispec, etc. Pay them $$$ for their hard work, and they will chop both harnesses and make them into one proper one for you. Will you pay for it?? YES. but its worth all the cost. I'd budget $800-$1000 for that option, i'd never do it myself.

option 2. Be an animal like yamaharocket, or powerlabs and do it yourself. when i think of this option i usually cry like a little girl. you need to pinout all the wiring, and splice things to where they need to be. not fun.

option 3. be king of monkey labor and extend all the RHD wiring. We've done this on my friends 1994 STi version 1 swap. Not fun, but easier IMO than splicing to USDM harness. figure out where everything needs to go (from looking at the JDM FSM) and then make the plugs happen there.

************************************************** **************

RHD swap. its like a choose your own adventure book.

For a JDM EJ20 conversion, I feel that RHD swap is hte best way to do it. i'm going this route for my personal car - i put my money where my mouth is.

why?

everytrthing fits perfectly. Every single wire, EVery sensor for electronic climate control, Every bit for power steering, AC, Everything.

what is the catch - ? you have to learn how to drive RHD, but the mail man does it, and my IQ is > than the average mailman, so you can do it too.

if you want to complain to me about RHD, go away. im not listening to it. half the world drives RHD, suck it up.

only 1 wiring plug to deal with, its R1 off the SMJ - goes to the rear bundle (fuel pump, Turn signals and the like. Besides for that, you are golden. Plug it all in and you hott.

************************************************** *************

what about the Hydrolic pedal box and such? which gearbox should i use.

the 4.11 gearbox that comes with the JDM wrx is awesome. the USDM WRX gearbox is a POS in comparison, trust me.

you'll want to use the proper JDM gearbox with the proper JDM EJ20 motor. you'll have to make sure you have a 4.11 rear diff, LSD or not isnt important for now, deal with that later if you havnt already done it.

for RHD cars you can run the complete RHD hydrolic pedal box assembly, feor LHD you need to obtain a LHD hydrolic pedal box and clutch MC assembly. the slave cylinder is good for either LHD or RHD. Use the turbo clutch and everything in your kit - youll neeed to have all the parts, but it will all be there because you are buying a complete front clip intact.

Buy the sucker intact. FULL front half of car. the full monty.



anything i left out - please post. if you want to debate USDM vs JDM, please post on differnt thread. i'm extremely biased and have good reason to be so

if you care about emissions or need to pass inspection - find a shady smog man. or register your car in a cool state like michigan. a JDM Ej20g WILL pass california smog legit, you just neeed to have it properly installed with cats.

how to make impreza L look like 2.5RS - THe look, the reason why people like GC8's to begin with

93-01 Impreza GC8 STi Version 6 bumper & front end swap FAQ....how to do look here.
okay, so you have a 93-01 impreza. you want to look cool, so you want to have the look of the 1999-2001 2.5RS, or STi version 6 impreza.

first of all
1999 usdm 2.5RS = JDM sti version 5 (no little holes for lip spoiler-iirc but same look as V6)

2000-2001 = JDM sti version 6. has little square holes to mount OEM JDM lip spoiler with

okay. so lets start with the bumper first of all:

any GC8 (1993-2001) bumper is interchangabble with any other GC8 bumper. that is fact, if you ask why, i will not respond.

i own a 1993 impreza L, i have sti v6 complete front end on my own car. so yes. i have done this before.

you will need for converison from 1993->2001 2.5 RS bumper

Parts:

1 bumper skin from 2000-2001 2.5 RS (sedan = coupe) ~$220 @ your local parts counter

1 set of bumper turn signal lights with harness ~$35 for set of clear ones at autodynamic.com

1 set of ugly orange vent thingys (if you wish- i dont have any bc they dont do jack)

1 bumper beam; 3 options. Sti lightweight bumper beam $58 @subaruparts.com, OEM 2001 RS beam ~$110 @ parts counter and 25 lbs heavier, stock L bumper beam + grinder and saw = $0. stock L beam in unmodified form will NOT fit. sorry. foam thing will be thrown away as well, dont ask me what it is, you'll see it when you take bumper off

this having been said, all that is required is to remove the bumper beam - 4 17mm bolts, remove the random small 10mm bolts that hold the bumper skin in place, and the fixament thingys that hold the ends of the skin in place by the wheel wells. i dont remembber how it is in place OEM, i have a special way i do it myself.

reuse the metal top arch piece that sandwiches the bumper skin, and re-install the new parts jsut like you took apart the old parts. hoooray. you look cool now. the turn signals will plug right in, exact same harness ends, jsut differnt bulbb setups.

hood/ lights / grille conversion:

97-01 hood and lights and grill are all the same shape.

differances in lights:
93-96 is fuzzy lense and rounded
97/98 is fuzzy angular
99-01 is clear angular. these are hott and hard to find. i dont have any for sale.

grills:
93-96; rounded and fits the lights
97/98: angular, i believe its = STi v4 iirc
99-01; usdm market is same as 97/98 iirc

hoods.
93-96: usdm rounded steel sans hood scoop or vents
93-96: JDM STi version 1-3 one is aluminum, has thin scoop and floppy vents. $$$$ to find one. weight is about the same as STi version 4-6. (i have both- NOT for sale)

97-98: usdm steel, angular front, no scoop heavy
98-01: usdm 2.5 RS / obs steel. looks cool and has proper vents to fit STI aluminum hood, just heavy
JDM STI v4-6: aluminum lightweight hood, vents and scoop compatible with all usdm OBS/RS parts.

sti v1-3 had all rounded hood and bumper, sti v4 had angular hood and rounded bumper, sti v5-6 had angular hood and angular bumper. i thinks.

fenders: all fenders are the same. jdm had no moulding on lots, you can shave the moulding or buy a 98-01 RS fender that has no moulding factory stock.

headlights / grilles / hoods fitament:

angular grille will NOT fit with rounded headlights.
angular headlights WILL fit rounded grille

either hood will fit with either headlights.

to do conversion ala my personal green bus,

sti v6 aluminum hood ($454)
2001 RS headlights $180 (used)
1999 RS grill piece ($35 used)
2000 RS hood scoops adn vent. ($120 used)
2001 RS bumper ($220 new)
clear turn signals ($35 new)
sti bumper beam ($58 new)

$1102. + paint, labbor, whatnot.

waterbox delete mod on ej20


so Ej20's have a Waterbox bolted on the intake manifold with a radiator cap

-NA engines have radiator cap on radiator
-turbo engines have radiator cap on waterbox
-2003 wrx and newer have a round radiator cap without ears on their radiator (this is useful for filling level)

for a GC8; the most ideal radiator setup is:

only works on RHD conversion car, or non AC car-

+52mm all metal Koyo for 1991-1994 usdm ej22t legacy turbo - capless
+gc8 jdm radiator brackets
+gc8 jdm metal fans
+gc8 jdm x over coolant pipe
+gc8 jdm fendermounted overflow tank

+stock style intake mounted waterbox (or header tank) with radiator cap


issues: Gc8 turbo Radiator (either stock or aftermarket) does not fit LHD NA AC condensor (you can bend or relocate if you wish to suit, been done by several) -it dosnt fit properly because the JDM RHD AC condensor has in and outlet on the battery side, the LHD part has one in/out on each side of the condensor - hits the radiator design.

IF you have a LHD NA car and you want to fit a turbo motor/cooling system there are a few choices:

**
Traditional hack style - originally developed on nasioc in the SCC ej20 swapping days:

-gut original radiator cap to be dummy cap and hold pressure (not clean and leaks sometimes)
-play routing hose games and connect to NA overflow somehow



My suggeston: if you have a LHD NA car, keep your NA radiator style, the stock raditor cap and overflow setup, and DELETE the metal on intake manifold waterbox. Yes- REMOVE it completely.

This was first invented for our 6 hour swapped full WRX-RA project, let our thought benefit you.

Remove waterbox. theres basically 3 connections on the waterbox - one from cap is overflow, one to bottom from the shortblock X over pipe is coolant feed from shortblock, one outlet is waterbox to turbo feed. Subaru oem turbochargers are oil and watercooled, you can remove the watercool if you want and run pure oil, keeping watercool is suggested though if possible.

steps:

1. remove waterbox completely.
2. make a L bend pipe to connect the

xoverpipe -> turbo feed

instead of

Xover->waterbox->turbo feed.

3. Use NA radiator, Na overflow tank, NA fans. substitute 52mm KOYO NA fitament aluminum radiator if desired.

4. What does the oem watertank do?
- creates temperature differance to circulate water in system after car is shut down; cools down turbo center bearing for you (thats why subaru does not need turbo timer).

5. what happens after i remove this waterbox? Nothing really, if you are tracking your car you should let it cool down manually between sessions, for street driving a cool down is not required on a modern turbo system - unless u call a Z31-T modern.

6. Have you proven this?
-yes. our 95 WRX-RA swap ran oem 1995 impreza L ej18 radiator and full cooling setup from SF->LA->houston. 1800 miles, non stop with a break to race a crotch rocket uphill inbetween on a mountain pass. He was completely happy, your results may vary.

pictured is EJ20G swap into 95 impreza with waterbox delete (with makeshift crappy green metal tube, done in 5 minutes while swapping)