Ej25 upgrade

[Mountain Cowboy]

I have finally got the bank roll to rebuild / upgrade my engine and would appreciate your advice. I have a 99 legacy L and am putting a 00 ej25 from an Outback in it, after I rebuild it. From what I have read this swap should be a straight plug-n-play with no wiring modifications, is this correct? I was wondering what master rebuild kit is suitable for the job if any. I plan on installing a stage 1 cam in it just to get a little more out of the engine and a CAI as well. Are there any more modifications that I can do and still have a solid motor that will go 300.000 miles I am also looking for advice on what gaskets I should be looking for as well as oil pump and water pump and timing upgrades. You all seem to have a great knowledge of this kind of work and I really appreciate that you are willing to share your knowledge with a NOOB thanks in advance for you time and advice.

[CaleDeRoo]

Nope not a plug'n'play swap. You need to use your EJ25D top end and sensors. That's a good thing anyways because the combo of EJ251 Block and 25D heads with 257 gaskets will bump your compression.


(That's what I'm doing if my engine asplodes before I can do my gaskets)

[shoguy]

Your 99 L has a phase 2 EJ22, correct? if so, then yes, the wiring to an EJ251 will be plug and play, but you will want to also get an ECU for the 251 to be able to add more fuel than the 2.2 requires. As far as cams, are you looking at the Delta regrind cams? the 1500 grind seems to be the best for street use. As far as Water Pump, I have always used Gates, along with timing belt, rollers and tensioner, usually getting the complete T-belt kit with pump off rockauto, never had a problem with multiple subies I have maintained. Best oil pump to go with is OE, but I have used ITM brand without problems before. Bottom end bearings, go with good quality parts, I am going with Clevite, only other ones I would use is OE. Head gaskets and seals, always go OE, nothing is as good for fit, Fel-Pro has worked for me for all other engine gaskets. I have used Rockauto for most all aftermarket stuff, their parts are good quality and discountedsubaruparts.com for OE parts, bounce part numbers off opposedforces.com with their parts breakdowns. I am in the process of a full rebuild right now of a 251 block with 25D pistons and heads, the factory 99 2.5 set up. Also when it is all apart, get your crank checked for bearing surface smoothness, get your heads and block resurfaced and Plasti-gage your bearings when going back together. Permatex Ultra Gray is the RTV you will want to use, same formula as the factory RTV sealant

[CaleDeRoo]

Oh derp misread the first post.
shoguy I'd love to heare first hand experience with how the 251/25D hybrid runs when you finish.

[shoguy]

I will be posting up as this rebuild progresses, it is actually the factory engine setup out of Nikolaus.conrad's 99 outback. during the transition between the 25D and the 251, they used the bottom end from the 251 and pistons, heads and intakes from the 25D. This engine is already on it's second rebuild from me (unfortunately), I did a full rebuild before due to worn rod bearings, rings and some other things. On reassembly, I missed the oil flow restrictor in the left cylinder head feeding the intake cam bearing surfaces, they have extremely small holes in the restrictors and it was clogged, most likely due to cleaning everything else out. Left head was junked, cam seized after about 4 days, bottom end bearings had aluminum in them, crank journals showed wear, #4 cylinder wall was scored.... expensive lesson about cleaning everything! Now she is bored .020 over, block and heads are almost finished at the machine shop, got all my parts, hopefully last week or so of this month it will begin being bolted back together. It was pretty strong for the 4 days, hopefully will be much stronger and last a lot longer this time!!!

[digdug18]

What are you running for engine management on these setups? Stand alone, piggyback?

[r3v_v3ng3]

If you have a 99 legacy L, it should be a 2.2 phase II engine which will work like shoguy says but..... use your 2.2 intake manifold because its mostlikely the California version. You can tell by the 3 wire IAC (instead of 6) and map sensor on the throttle body. The CA version have a different crank/cam trigger compare to the federal so you will need to transfer those too. Double check it or else you'll be chasing a no crank symptom forever

On a side note, I've seen the 00 outbacks come in 2.5 CA version. You'll be able to tell right away from the intake manifold/throttle body