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Other injectors to replace gray tops in 1990 4EAT?

Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 11:12 pm
by notnowles
I have ongoing problems with injectors in this car. Last winter, I managed to find a decent set of used ones and they worked fine until the other day, when I lost one injector, yet again. Same old symptom, Check Engine light on, running on 3 cylinders, plenty of spark to the cylinder that isn't working, though admittedly, this time I haven't pulled a compression test...


I know I posed this question before, and was told that only gray topped injectors would work in my car, but I also remember that someone once said that later injectors could be used (perhaps as a set of 4?) w/o any real problems.

It's getting hard to find cars as old as mine in the U Pull It yard, so if anyone has any experience with later injectors in the 90 and 91 4EAT cars, I would love to hear about it.

Thanks very much!

Re: Other injectors to replace gray tops in 1990 4EAT?

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 2:25 pm
by Legacy777
You can use the 92-94 red top injectors, however I would recommend swapping to the 92-94 ECU. I ran the red top injectors with the 90 ECU and while it did run, it ran rich. When I put in the 92 ECU, I started getting better mileage and the car had its original power back.

On the 92 ECU I used the MT/AT identifier pin was wired backwards so I had to handle that, but it was as simple as snipping a wire.

Re: Other injectors to replace gray tops in 1990 4EAT?

Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2012 11:46 pm
by mcmikey65
Why did Subaru use the gray topped injectors for Legacy's from 90-91 only?? I lost an injecter Code 14 (#1 injector) and thought i could just go out and pull injectors from any EJ22 motor,...............wrong!!! What freakin gives here?!! :o What is the difference between the reds and grays,...and why did they do this!!! :(

Re: Other injectors to replace gray tops in 1990 4EAT?

Posted: Fri Jul 13, 2012 6:43 pm
by Legacy777
As for why Subaru made the change....I really don't know....

As for the differences, I believe they have slightly different flow rates 260 cc/min vs 270 cc/min and have a different injector body which requires a different fuel rail.

Re: Other injectors to replace gray tops in 1990 4EAT?

Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2014 9:01 pm
by djshimon
My #2 injector is toast(says the shop) and I would like them to put in some red top injectors and rails I grabbed from a 1992 legacy. They say the only ones I can use are the Manual injectors for my manual 1990 legacy-is this so? I've read that I can use any red tops from the 1992-94. Besides the Ecu, will these work? Thanks, Aaron.

Re: Other injectors to replace gray tops in 1990 4EAT?

Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 5:45 pm
by Legacy777
Aaron,

As I mentioned above I believe the red 92 injectors flow slightly more than the 90-91 injectors. So if you were to run the red injectors, it would be best to swap to the 92 ECU. The problem with that is that the 90-91 manual transmission cars used a different MAF sensor & idle air control valve. So it's less of a direct swap without changing things and the wiring is different.

Unless you are able to do all that work and troubleshooting yourself, it's going to be cheaper and easier to just get a replacement injector for your 90 Legacy.

Re: Other injectors to replace gray tops in 1990 4EAT?

Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 6:34 pm
by 86BRATMAN
I might have a set of gray tops, I'll check tomorrow and see what was on the motor I swapped into my forester. I know it was a 90/91 but I'm not sure if it was from a manual or auto car originally

Re: Other injectors to replace gray tops in 1990 4EAT?

Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 6:50 pm
by Legacy777
I'd recommend sticking with the black tops for the manual trans. The gray tops from the auto trans might be able to be used with the MT ECU, but you may need to swap the fuel rails.

Re: Other injectors to replace gray tops in 1990 4EAT?

Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2014 6:21 pm
by bcmaxx
I have installed in mine red injectors from a 1998 subaru outback 2.5 dohc, they seem to be working perfectly. I tried some yellow ones from a jdm 2.0 tubo motor... the black smoke and raw fuel out the tailpipe was terrible! make you choke and burn your eyes!

Re: Other injectors to replace gray tops in 1990 4EAT?

Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2014 9:28 pm
by James614
Wow... the JDM yellows flow almost 80% more than the reds... Im impressed it even started honestly.

Re: Other injectors to replace gray tops in 1990 4EAT?

Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2014 11:26 pm
by bcmaxx
James614 wrote:Wow... the JDM yellows flow almost 80% more than the reds... Im impressed it even started honestly.
It didnt do much more than idle!