Bye Bye Headgaskets (99 EJ25D)

[OBiOne]

Well, my head gasket cherry has been broken. Temperature gauge spiked, and I pulled over, cranked the heat, and saw it puking coolant out of the reservoir and lots of bubbles.

Time to go source an EJ22.

Remember Kids, when in doubt, the D comes out.

[OBiOne]

On the bright side, it gives me a chance to detail my engine bay. Parts will be painted.

[Wiscon_Mark]

How many miles were you at? Any idea if this was the first time on that engine or not?

[OBiOne]

How many miles were you at? Any idea if this was the first time on that engine or not?

As far as I know, it went 160,000 on the originals. It did get lot of work done on the engine about 3 years ago by the previous owner, but I don't believe the headgaskets were done at the time. I plan on testing the coolant to be sure, but as of right now, it sounds like an EJ22 is getting dropped in.

[Wiscon_Mark]

The EJ22 is a stout engine. I can honestly say that I loved the power my EJ251 had though, I would probably keep the D and replace the head studs with ARP studs (supposedly this and the revised gasket can fix the issue).

It really depends on what you want out of your car and how long you plan on keeping it. If you are realistically keeping it for 10 more years, I'd say the EJ22 is the safer bet.

[OBiOne]

I found out that I could get an EJ22 for about $500 with an acceptable amount of miles on it (about 120000). It looks though like some idiot (me) forgot to check the coolant before using the car to haul all the stuff from the dorm down the freeway on an 85 degree day. After adding coolant, the car has yet to see anything above halfway on the temperature gauge. I will test the coolant, but it almost looks like I got off ok. Knock on wood.

[meepers]

I would take a look where the heads meet the block, if you have a metal tab (the gasket) then the MLS gaskets have been installed. If the gasket looks like fiber, it is not the new style.

Having driven my 2.2 wagon back to back with my 2.5 wagon (both with 200k+ miles, the bottom end power difference is very noticable. the 2.2 is a very good motor and will run for ever with regular oil changes, but the smaller displacement has its draw backs. Also, double check if it is a single port or dual port. If it is a single port exhaust, you will need the manifold as well.

[OBiOne]

Well, it got hot again during some fairly normal driving. I pulled over and saw lots of bubbles in the overflow. The headgaskets look original (no tab like Meepers described) so I'm betting they're toast. I figured that with an EJ25D, this was inevitable. I'm now looking to source an EJ22. This leaves me with a few questions.

I was told that all the 1995 2.2s were dual port and non-interference. Is this correct?

The closest EJ22's are about 200 miles away from me, in Southeast Michigan. I'd like to haul it back myself if possible, so does anyone know if an ej22 will fit in the trunk of a legacy sedan? Failing that, how does one go about shipping an engine 200 miles?

Finally, I heard that 1999 and up EJ22's will not work. Is this correct?

I know I'll have more questions for you guys. Go easy, this is the first time I've done this.
The SnowDog will rise again.

[meepers]

Put it in the trunk! Then you can inspect it. I have driven longer for less lol. You can use pretty much any ej 4cyl short block. But if you want to add any ej2x with a number after it instead of a letter, you are either doing a wiring merge and stuff, or you are doing the short block and using your heads.

My car is ej255 short block and 25d shim under bucket heads because I didn't want to use a wrx harness and ecu. Well I would have been way better off lol.

[Wiscon_Mark]

My '95 was an early production (august 94) and was dual port, non-interference. I've heard reports that some '95s may have been single port, but '96 was definitely single port. Interference started in '97 with the revised valve design and the bump in CR.

[Odycee]

I have both 99 25D and 95 22E. When 25D over heated, I replaced with MLS gasket and call it a day. 22E is a non-interference SOHC engine, swap in place of DOHC 25D will NOT work unless harness merged and ECU replaced.

When I swapped a EJ205 turbo into my RS98, I had to merged WRX harness together with 98 harness to run with WRX ECU. Not just a simple drop in. Save a headache, just replace your 25D with MLS head gasket.

[OBiOne]

Thanks Guys. If anyone in or near Southern Michigan comes across a low mileage EJ22, please be an awesome member and shoot me a PM. Think of it as helping to rescue a fallen comrade. So far, it looks like a road trip is in my future

[OBiOne]

So I'm doing some more research, and I'm thinking that I may keep the D and replace the Head Gaskets and timing belt, and have the heads decked and valves done. Mainly because of the availability of EJ22s.

[meepers]

I prefer the 25d over the 22 performance wise stock for stock. And I REALLY prefer my frankenboosted motor to any including my worked wrx. I really am excited for getting some bigger injectors and running corn juice and having a dual tune on my Emanage Ultimate. I think I will run 75%/25% Super/E85 just to get the added knock resistance since I live in Phoenix. I also plan on getting an STI rotating assembly to stick in the 99 ej25d Phase 2 block I have to do a mild build (spare motor) so if/when I blow a hole in the stock ej255 piston, I will have a motor ready to drop in that will not require ANY tuning as it will be the same less the semi-closed deck. At that point I will go with a set of Forged and coated pistons for my 255 bottom end. The down side is I am about at the limit of the 04 WRX tranny power wise. I guess if I wanna play harder, I really need to look at saving up for a 6 speed.