Subaru Junkies Help Please

Replaced the factory USDM EJ25 with a JDM EJ20 after the timing belts teeth deteriorated. The engine fired up on the first try and sounds good. However.... The USDM EJ25 (Both are SOHC) had Variable Cam Timing and the EJ20 did not. I believe this is causing the engine to go into limp mode. How can I correct or bypass this? The car is an '06 Legacy with an Automatic transmission. Here is a screenshot of the DTC's

Am i to understand that you are trying to run the EJ20 with the original EJ25 ECU?

Yes.swapped intakes, cam gears, crank pulley, from EJ25 to EJ20. What ecu will i need as I have no idea what the engine is out of... car we did this swap too is an '06 Legacy Non Turbo with Auto Trans.

Microsquirt for $300 please alex

That's seems to be what I'm leaning toward.

Exactly which ej20 did you get and what year is it from? Is it a phase 1 or phase 2 engine? Did it come with an ECM or an ECM plug? How many pins does/did that plug have? You could get out of this with a reflash or some minor wiring.

I dunno what it came out of, but the exhaust, and wiring were different.i used the USDM Intake so the wiring is correct for the car, but the pigs for the AVCS have nothing to plug into.

Go to the forums on rom raider, you may be able to reflash the ecu for the correct profile with minimal fuss.

In reply to Ojala:

Probably came out of a forester. I was mainly concerned uou got stuck with a phase 1 engine with a JEC ecm-much bigger problem. the engine you have is phase 2 and came with a denso so that's not a problem. You should be able to re flash the ECM in the car to a non-avcs map. Or you could just turn off the MILs for the avcs faults.

I have only ever gone "the opposite way" as I was adding avcs to an avcs car. So I could be wrong.

Tell me more...

Remove EJ20, install EJ25.

In reply to dansxr2:

Sorry, I meant adding avcs to a non avcs car. In your case I think all you would need would be avcs heads.

If that is what you are referring to that is...

Locally an Ej25 was $2400 with 100K.. This JDM EJ20 was $1k delivered. Sounds great and runs smooth just doesn't want to rev over 4k rpm. Above is the codes Im getting.

Yup, 4k rpm means you are in limp mode. I couldnt see the codes on my phone earlier.

The transmission codes make me think that you might have a problem with the transmission bulkhead connector. Either that or the ground wire is broken or not connected. I would double check them to make sure they are all plugged in correctly, not broken, or some gunge didnt get into the plugs. The ground wire is VERY commonly missed/broken when re-installing an engine.

The oil temp sensor code is puzzling me. I didnt think your car had one.

The AVCS solution comes down to a few possible solutions.

1. replace the ECU with a non-avcs 32bit ecu that came from a car with an auto. -a little $ but requires no special knowledge

2. read the rom on the ECU you have, disable the AVCS cels, and flash it back on your ECU. -works if your ECU is supported but you will need to dig through the available definitions on romraider-most likely in the experimental section

3. load a whole new rom from a non avcs 32 bit car. -this one is actually similar to #1 but you cant just load ANY 32 bit rom or you run the risk of bricking it

I wish I could be more help, but I don't do much with N/A cars. Maybe one of the real super-brains that works on more cars such as "Modern Beat" can be of more use.

Anyone here remember how to set up and tune a set of SU Carbs?

OP - Why did you attempt this operation?

In reply to Ojala: The transmission codes are reset, my problem is the USDM EJ25 had the AVCS, and the JDM EJ20 doesn't have provisions for it to be added. How/Where would I have the ECU flashed? Any idea how many pin the ECU's are in a '06 Legacy.

Greg, cost and availability were the two biggest reasons. 10hp and less tendency to blow headgaskets are another. The car lot she bout ut from gave her $1000 for a new engine, and sticking a 100k $2400 engine in a $6,000 car isn't feasible. Just for a daily driver that my sister won't keep too long.

Your car has the denso ecu but so did the forester this engine came from. That's not an issue at all. To load or " flash " a different file onto the ecu's rom you will need what is commonly called a "Vag com " cable with a soldered power line. Then you will need a copy of romraider or ecuflash to read, alter, and reload the file to your ecu's rom. There are some very good guides and tutorials on getting the process started at romraider.

I just looked up where you are to see if I could help. I have family in Clay County, mostly around Procious, but I won't be in WV till my brother graduates from school in late may. If he graduates this semester :(

Ojala wrote: The AVCS solution comes down to a few possible solutions. 1. replace the ECU with a non-avcs 32bit ecu that came from a car with an auto. -a little $ but requires no special knowledge 2. read the rom on the ECU you have, disable the AVCS cels, and flash it back on your ECU. -works if your ECU is supported but you will need to dig through the available definitions on romraider-most likely in the experimental section 3. load a whole new rom from a non avcs 32 bit car. -this one is actually similar to #1 but you cant just load ANY 32 bit rom or you run the risk of bricking it

I have access to a Tactrix Cable, downloaded the ECU Flash & Rom Raider programs.... Wonder if I can disable the AVCS on the Stock ECU, or What MAP I'd need to use to get this this thing up and running?

dansxr2 wrote: Locally an Ej25 was $2400 with 100K.. This JDM EJ20 was $1k delivered. Sounds great and runs smooth just doesn't want to rev over 4k rpm. Above is the codes Im getting.

those prices are insane I recently bought an ej22 with 98k on it for $150.

In reply to dansxr2:

Have you managed to read the roms yet? You should be able to read the engine ecu and the tcu roms.

Or have you found a good rom on romraider yet? I would look closely at "experimental" roms. Open up the experimental rom and compare it closely to what your stock rom looks like. Look at what maps are not included and what changes have been made to corresponding maps. Some people will post roms with funky things done to them and no documentation.

Not yet, the cable is in my friends possession, i just wanna be sure i have everything here before I screw with it.