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Old 10-10-2020, 06:25 PM   #1
St3fan
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Default Tell me your “I need a new engine” story

Hmm.

So it seems that I’m gonna need a new engine. Looks like I dumped a bunch of oil while driving the car pretty hard, and the internals (don’t know what exactly) sound like a can of nuts and bolts were poured into the block. Very bad noises coming from top and bottom.

Being ever the optimist, I see this as a great opportunity to... Aw, I’m lying, I’m super bummed. But anyway.

I guess my options boil down to:

Having it rebuilt
Having a new one installed
Having a used rebuilt one installed
Having any of the above installed but with some cams and other goodies because why not?

I’m leaning towards the latter at this point.

The car is entirely a luxury and I’m not poor. But all luxuries have a cap I guess - however, within reason, and perhaps a little beyond, I’m not that bothered about cost.

I’d like something that reliably puts out about 300hp and won’t grenade too easily.

I’d really appreciate any experience shared from those who’ve been in this exact situation.

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Old 10-10-2020, 06:34 PM   #2
martin028
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170k mile EJ205, 16g turbo and all the supporting mods. Tuned it myself, got sick of giving point bys on the straight to everyone including miatas, gave it the spicy timing tune as well as pass through antilag. Ringland failure on cyl4 not long after.

Went to a built hybrid 257, the 2.0 heads being cnc chamber matched. Forged rods and pistons, same turbo, fmic, oil cooler, iag aos, and very conservative timing at 19psi. Makes around 310, block good for 400. If anything, going to go fp green and turn it down to make the same power with less boost and timing for more reliability instead of the heat pump I call a 16g. This car only sees road course and autox, so being at the limit will mean insta explode.

Sorry for the potato quality photo. Only one I have with the fmic and oil cooler mounted. Taken at NJMP Lightning.
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Old 10-10-2020, 07:21 PM   #3
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Ej207 that's what I would do
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Old 10-10-2020, 08:19 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by subaru_gc8 View Post
Ej207 that's what I would do
How much dicking around is that though, for the shop I mean? There’s a few longblocks with ECU, harness etc for sale all the time. Seem to run around $3.5k. Just need to math out what a decent shop charges for dropping that in against the rebuild I guess.

Any ideas?
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Old 10-10-2020, 09:13 PM   #5
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Second the 207.

You're probably looking at around the same cost if you keep the rebuild fairly OEM spec. If you're going to have a shop do all the work for you then figure starting price will be $7k and go up from there. This is based on pricing I know local to me. Where you live may be a little different but probably not drastically different. This would be for an engine swap or rebuild to OEM specs and all labor.

The 207 is a good choice as you can get the ECU to match and have the benefit of AVCS. These engines are more than capable of your goals from the factory which has the benefit of not having to split the block for a rebuild. The hidden costs with a swap come with replacing worn parts while you're in there; gaskets, timing components, etc. A reputable shop should be able to give you an estimate with those things in mind. Take in consideration the potential worn bits currently in your car such as bushings, suspension/chassis parts and things like that that will be easier to do while you have the car apart. Could also be a good time to add a 6 speed into it as well since it's fairly easy to find a 207 with trans for $4000-$5000. Or a full STi swap including 5x114 conversion for $6k or a little more depending on where you find it.

My point with this is the ball starts rolling and quickly gets away from you. Be patient. Find a good local shop to work with that really knows these cars well and make a decision based on what's best for you. An OEM 205 with an 18g sized turbo tuned to 300ish is plenty fun and will be less stressful on the engine than a VFxx trying to make 300ish. A JDM 205 or 207 with AVCS would make that 18g (or ay other turbo) that much more fun.
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Old 10-10-2020, 11:14 PM   #6
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Ver 9 ej207 with oem twin scroll turbo, fat midrange, easy 300 wheel foot pounds of torque, reliable 8000 rpm factory motor. Done!
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Old 10-10-2020, 11:48 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by D-Rodman View Post
Ver 9 ej207 with oem twin scroll turbo, fat midrange, easy 300 wheel foot pounds of torque, reliable 8000 rpm factory motor. Done!
I really do just want a non-headache fun weekender.

Wouldn’t that entail a whole bunch of wiring harness and fuse box chaos though? Trying to avoid gremlins down the road.

Thank you for the input!
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Old 10-11-2020, 12:43 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by St3fan View Post
I really do just want a non-headache fun weekender.



Wouldn’t that entail a whole bunch of wiring harness and fuse box chaos though? Trying to avoid gremlins down the road.



Thank you for the input!


Nope, simple swap on your GD but does require wiring AVCS in order to make it worthwhile.
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Old 10-11-2020, 12:45 AM   #9
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It's literally plug and play on 02-05 wrx's .... only have to run 2 wires from engine to ECU if you want AVCS working.....

Quote:
Originally Posted by St3fan View Post
I really do just want a non-headache fun weekender.

Wouldn’t that entail a whole bunch of wiring harness and fuse box chaos though? Trying to avoid gremlins down the road.

Thank you for the input!
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Old 10-11-2020, 08:12 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by murrdogg24 View Post
It's literally plug and play on 02-05 wrx's .... only have to run 2 wires from engine to ECU if you want AVCS working.....


It's a bit more than that. There's 4 wires that get run from the ECU to a passenger side connector on the strut tower. Those four wires need to be shielded. Theres 4 other wires on the ECU that get repinned. There's a black connector on the driver side that needs 4 wires repinned. With the correct ECU, this will allow you to use AVCS. Or you can buy a premade wiring harness from iWire or iATuning and connect it appropriately to use AVCS.
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Old 10-11-2020, 08:40 AM   #11
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Repining sucks, I normally use an avcs harness kit from IA Tuning, installation is super simple.
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Old 10-11-2020, 11:07 AM   #12
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yeah when i did mine, I had a problem with a blinking check engine light, come to find out we had to switch one of the grounds or something like that, and if you want more torque get a 2.1 it is a noticable difference
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Old 10-11-2020, 11:17 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by St3fan View Post
How much dicking around is that though, for the shop I mean? There's a few longblocks with ECU, harness etc for sale all the time. Seem to run around $3.5k. Just need to math out what a decent shop charges for dropping that in against the rebuild I guess.

Any ideas?
uhh im no where near stock so Its hard for me to give a number, figer about 1500 for a shop to r and r the engine and get it back up and running. another 300ish for the wiring kit for the AVCS and if you can do the wiring yourself that should be it. plug the ecu in and you should be able to get back on the road.
Oh and being in California, make sure you keep your stock ECU as you will need that to pass smog
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Old 10-11-2020, 11:51 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by subaru_gc8 View Post
uhh im no where near stock so Its hard for me to give a number, figer about 1500 for a shop to r and r the engine and get it back up and running. another 300ish for the wiring kit for the AVCS and if you can do the wiring yourself that should be it. plug the ecu in and you should be able to get back on the road.
Oh and being in California, make sure you keep your stock ECU as you will need that to pass smog
Thank you!

Smog not an issue for me.
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Old 10-11-2020, 06:46 PM   #15
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Default Tell me your “I need a new engine” story

https://iatuning.com/products/subaru...-2-0l-bulkhead

Wiring is my kryptonite, yet I’ve installed the IA Tuning avcs kit on 3 of my cars successfully without a problem.
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Old 10-11-2020, 10:00 PM   #16
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This ****ing three day weekend is killing me.

First, thank you so much all for the guidance. I will go with a v9 207.

I've found a really nice complete engine with everything included.

Now the agonizing wait for the shop to get back to me - Tuesday seems an age away. I can't drink, so perhaps a bit of MDMA and some anxiety medication to take the edge off. Make some tunes, pace around in circles, take pictures of the dog, think about Adventure Time, wonder if any of the above is appropriate behavior for a middle aged man.

Haha.
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Old 10-12-2020, 07:37 AM   #17
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Make sure the ECU they send with the motor is not immobilized from the ver 9.
Ask for a ver 7-8 ECU,
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Old 10-12-2020, 09:47 AM   #18
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Just picked up a 2006 Outback xt with a 5mt. Car has a p0304 code for cylinder 4 misfire. Previous owner had it diagnosed as a bad valve on cylinder 4. Car has 168,000 miles. Not sure what direction to go but want to spend as little as possible. Was thinking an ej20x swap but not sure if that is the best option. Thoughts?
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Old 10-12-2020, 09:06 PM   #19
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Default Tell me your “I need a new engine” story

Quote:
Originally Posted by DkBlueWRX View Post
Just picked up a 2006 Outback xt with a 5mt. Car has a p0304 code for cylinder 4 misfire. Previous owner had it diagnosed as a bad valve on cylinder 4. Car has 168,000 miles. Not sure what direction to go but want to spend as little as possible. Was thinking an ej20x swap but not sure if that is the best option. Thoughts?

Dkbluewrx.
Create your own thread.
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Old 10-12-2020, 09:22 PM   #20
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Dkbluewrx.
Create your own thread.
Super helpful thanks
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Old 10-13-2020, 12:04 AM   #21
D-Rodman
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Default Tell me your “I need a new engine” story

Dkblurwrx,
I get your sarcasm but I am helping you.
Here you are asking questions about your situation in somebody’s thread, it’ll get confusing when people respond to your questions in the op’s thread. By creating your own thread you’ll get responses specifically to your situation. You are asking a question about a legacy platform, a 32 bit ecu drive by wire platform, the op is working on an Impreza with a 16 bit ecu drive by cable platform. You are on a completely different platform, the swap you are looking to do is documented, search. My first answer was polite and helpful as is my second answer.

Last edited by D-Rodman; 10-13-2020 at 01:04 AM.
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Old 10-13-2020, 11:15 AM   #22
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So I got the following email from the shop:

Quote:
Personally I would not recommend a EJ207 except for someone looking to do some racing/crazy modification as that engine is really reliant on octane quality to make use of it's design and sadly we just don't have the gas at the regular pumps to make the cost of that engine a worthwhile investment (on 91 octane we're basically detuning the engine to survive the crappy fuel we get here) if the cars running E85 then it's a fantastic engine.
Which both reassuring and a little disappointing. He's like basically, we'll just do a like for like swap with a low mile 205 and turn up the knobs a bit. It will save you a bunch of money, we don't have to mess about too much...

Again, happy to be back on the road quick. Bummed he's talking me out of the swap. (They're a highly reputable Subaru shop, well recommended my the community here.)
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Old 10-13-2020, 11:34 AM   #23
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octane? you know the Subarus that are built here are made to run on 93 right? well that is what is suggested by subaru. alot of us are running on the 207 platform.The bueaty of the 207 is the large ports Avcs and the twinscroll turbo. Its not a race engine... I mean if you are worried, all you have to do is get a tune. and there is plenty of power to make on 91, I have a 207 thats been stroked out to a 2.1 with a spoolinator kit and im have no knock at all.



to me its a lie that your mechanic is telling you. but yeah its ultimately up to you on how you proceed.

Last edited by subaru_gc8; 10-13-2020 at 11:40 AM.
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Old 10-13-2020, 12:00 PM   #24
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This makes no sense. In Japan RON 98 is basically the same as 93 OCT here. The swap itself is really quite easy. Replacing with a US 205 you won't have the benefit of better internals that the 207 gives you. As gc8 said you get the benefit of AVCS and it will make plenty of power even on 91 and you'll have the added strength of its internals. I had originally swapped a JDM 205 into my car thinking I wouldn't need a 207 and now, 2 years later I'm swapping a 207 in. Save money and do it once.
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Old 10-13-2020, 01:56 PM   #25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by snow_bound26 View Post
This makes no sense. In Japan RON 98 is basically the same as 93 OCT here. The swap itself is really quite easy. Replacing with a US 205 you won't have the benefit of better internals that the 207 gives you. As gc8 said you get the benefit of AVCS and it will make plenty of power even on 91 and you'll have the added strength of its internals. I had originally swapped a JDM 205 into my car thinking I wouldn't need a 207 and now, 2 years later I'm swapping a 207 in. Save money and do it once.
The shop is GST Motorsports and come highly recommended around here - on the regional board too. I strongly doubt any lying is involved, as another poster mentioned, and I don’t think that sort of assertion is appropriate, fair or realistic. Not cool.

As for the suggested replacement, it’s a Japanese low mile 205. Quote with tune on my existing mods is $4.5-$5k. As far as bang/buck goes, I am a little disappointed with this outlook, I will admit.
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