legacycentral bbs

ok i just went from really sad to really confused, then to really happy. all within 10 posts...
i need some kind of medicine


pictures will be nice

Aerotech wrote: I went with the RA because it was:
1. Relatively cheap, for a 9500 mile motor with a performance pedigree. I couldn't stomach paying $5K for a STI motor for a 16 yr old car.

You should search for my pictures of my RS-RA in pieces. It IS 100% without a doubt an STI motor. In fact it is a hand built hand finished perfectly blueprinted motor. You mention Porsche. The RS-RA motors get the same care that the 2.8l and 3.0l RSR motors got. I would sooner give up my first born than give ECS that shortblock, spun bearing or not!!! It's like the recent issue of Excellence where they built an ST replica and then put a 993 engine it. It's wrong.

I understand your position and feel for you. However, I STRONGLY encourage you to take that EJ20G bottom end home with you. Putting an Ej257 block in there will be fun for now, but it's just not right. This is why I sold my RS-RA to Splinter. I knew he would do right by it in a way that I wasn't going to in the foreseeable future. At least think about. Search for my RS-RA thread. Search for Splinters. Look at the history behind that engine before you leave behind the block. Subaru stopped hand building STi engines somewhere around 1994-1995. In reality, they only did maybe 4000 handbuilt engines. Someday that engine may have similar value to a 911/83 RS engine. Seriously. Give it ten years and it might...

Aside from that, please try and get some details about the wiring issues with the RS-RA ECU. I am not buying that it's much different. It is 250ps, but the wiring can't really be much different. I know that ECS has experts, but something just doesn't jibe with that story...

+1 - take that motor & your ej22t back home with you!

I have a '95 Impreza STi Ra swap & the little alt. belt cover says "Handcrafted & Tuned by STi" so I think STi was still handbuilding motors in '95.

Yep,
The STI-RA motors should be handworked as well. In reality, STI has probably hand built more motors than I guesstimated, but at some point in the mid 90's you stopped seeing them put into street cars. There was eventually a transition where they were only doing that kind of work on racecars, kind of like Porsche's factory Werks division. STi definitely doesn't mean what it used to. Now it's just a trim level. It used to be something else completely different...

You're right.
After all this, not coughing up a few extra bucks to keep the RA block doesn't make sense. I need to keep the components close by, if not together at the moment. I'll just stack it with the rest of the stuff

It's funny you quoted that line...that's basically what I ended up with. The long way around.

As far as the wiring, I think what happened was they wanted to use the RA ECU and wiring harness, rather than modify the SS harness and plugs to fit the RA motor. MOre work, but less of a hack job. They merged the RA harness into the car.

I've almost forgotten what it's like to drive the car. Crikey, it's been 3 months in early Jan. I should have picked up a '91 beater to get around, then parted it out when the SS gets back. I need a rear pax door and the roof trim, and assorted other crap...I still might get one for parts.

Good to hear that you are keeping the block. You won't regret it.

Btw, if down the road you decide you want an ej put into that synchro drop me a line. That's what my brother in law does for a living...

I'm actually right in the middle of the conversion! Suspended for winter... no heat/elex in garage. This was the main reason for sending my car out to get worked on in the first place...can't get to the garage for the beached van on stands in the driveway, and the garage is full of crap from the conversion process. Did not get to work on it enough last summer, paying for it now.
'93 EJ22, just replaced all oil seals & T-belt, I'm waiting to get the 22T back so I can rob one of the tensioner pulleys and the plastic belt covers. Planning a turbo setup.

What's your in-law's name? I'm familiar with most of the pro shops, we get a lot of names thrown about on the Subaru-Vanagon list; I'll mention his shop to the list if no one knows about it yet.

His shop is called Peregrine Autowerks. His name is Lucas Hofgard. He worked for Volks Cafe in Santa Cruz for a number of years and very recently moved back to Boulder and started his own shop. He did his own swap a number of years ago and has done then as side jobs in the ensuing years. It just seemed a really good focus once he came to the conclusion that he didn't want to wrench for someone else anymore.

He's going to help me with my 914 to wrx swap and depending how it goes he may also add teener swaps to his list of services...

Is the car done yet?

Updates?

OK, chapter 6 of this rancid soap opera... or something like that, I've lost count.

Harry Potter and the Fucked Up Subaru

I didn't want to post anything until the issue was resolved... You'll recall that I brought ECS an armload of parts for the car; amongst these was a set of 550cc injectors I'd had lying around, Ebay from Japan about 4 years ago.
Turns out one or more of the injectors was bad, jammed open, and was hosing fuel into the cylinders as fast as the Walbro could supply it. Engine ran great for about 30 seconds, started to bog, and died. Unable to turn over. Hydro-locked a cylinder with gasoline. Keep in mind, this is a brand-new shortblock, rings aren't seated, nothing is sealed up...

wait for it....

Diluted the oil almost instantly, and SPUN A BEARING!

ECS took the block back to Subaru, and after a few weeks of arguing and inquisition, Subaru agreed to replace the shortblock under warrantee.

My spectacular swings of good and bad luck with this engine continue... Dodged a pretty big bullet there, almost had to eat a rebuild on a new block.

So, now the car is back together, and running, but with cold-run issues. ECS thinks it's the EJ20 coils going bad, and I've sourced WRX coils towards that end, but I have my doubts... communication has been poor the last few weeks, I've been laid up with flu and bronchitis, and now Paul at ECS is suffering from the same thing.
I'm probably going to pop for a Haltech stand-alone, to make things easier in the future, the configuration we ended up with is considerably below the motor's potential, just to start off with. The Haltech seems to be one of the easiest to work with on the fly, for seat-of-the-pants tuning, and I plan on bigger injectors and better intercooling a bit later. Stock is 440cc, by the way.

Should be starting the install Monday, and, barring any more cock-ups, the car should be ready to go the week after.

Please, Jesus, Allah, Buddah, Satan, Shiva, L. Ron Hoover*,...anyone who's listening...
I WANT MY FRIGGIN' CAR BACK, ALREADY!


*Zappa reference... 10 points for anyone who got that. Just name the album.

DANG!!!! And I thought I had it bad purchasing a car back in September & not having up & running yet... At least mines been the whole collecting parts issue vs. your's being built & failing. It sucks the injector stuck open, but awesome that ECS got you another block!

Damn dude... that really sucks.

Thankfully Subaru replaced the block though!

Here hopin the rest goes fine...

Dam you are having BAD luck.

Hope everything works out for you.
I have EJ20G coil packs pm me if you need them.

IT'S BAAAAACK.....

6 months almost to the fucking day, the car is back in my posession.

First impressions are;

Holy SHIT this thing is quick. Much better than the 2.2 ever was on it's best day.

Second impression;

It needs tuned... running on the stock JDM ECU right now, running only about 7 psi boost, and throttle position has varying effects depending on speed and gear, not consistant.

Of course, the motor is not broken in, so I'm trying not to cane it too hard yet... but it's very difficult to resist blasting away from lights. Pulls tremendously, and revs higher than I care to take it regularly. Very docile in traffic, idles smooth, no hiccups or anything weird.

The car still has a cold-start problem. The fans are on all the time, the car thinks it is running full hot, and if it's close to freezing out, it takes a lot of cranking to get it to fire. I believe this was the problem in the last month, when ECS could not get the car running; it was simply too cold to get the car going before the battery died.
It is also throwing a code, which cycles off-then-on again about every 4 minutes of running, with an audible relay click from the instument panel. Have not had a chance yet to read the code(s). This came on during the trip back to NY, and may not be related.

I admire the work they did, but ECS's troubleshooting leaves something to be desired. Seems fairly obvious that the car is seeing full hot; gotta be a temp sensor or associated wiring...

The other puzzling thing is the rear swaybar... I installed Whiteline adjustable lateral links in place of the early stock setup ('91 with stamped control arms and pin-style swaybar links) Assumption is the mother of all fuck-ups, and, naturally, I assumed if it fit one car, it'd fit this one. Wrong answer, dumbass, try again! The swaybar is too narrow, in total width, to reach the new C-style droplinks, by about 1/2" on both sides. Is the '92 & newer bar an inch wider than mine??? WTF!? I suppose I'll end up ordering a WL rear sway as well.

For now, I'm concentrating on the cold-start issue, and keeping my foot out of the loud pedal too much until the motor's ready for it. And boy, does it sound good, too... back to stock exhaust manifold, no more ricer sounds, just chunky boxer growl...but better, somehow. Big-block Subaru, sort of. Sweeet.

Pictures to follow. Really. I promise.

YES, PICTURES!!!!!!!! Please give us the drug we crave & need (pics)!!!!

Congrats BTW!

AH! so sweet!
i want to see!
don't lie to us, post em' up

Glad to hear your car is back!

The fans running all the time does sound weird & possibly CTS related.
Sort out the problems, break it in, & have some fun.

Did the car have the cold start problem when the RS/Ra motor was in?

Yeah.....ECS's troubleshooting is so-so. They did a full STi drivetrain swap on an ex-friend's 98 RS.

The front right wheel would lock up, no abs codes. The fuel gauge wasn't working, and there may have been a few other things. Anyway, they installed the brake lines into the new ABS unit incorrectly. The fuel gauge issue was due to the float being stuck. So just some shotty stuff if you ask me.

Make sure that your Green diagnostic connectors are not connected. If they are, that will cause the fans to be on.

Does your speedo work? Have you checked the codes?

YAY!!!! I hate you. grrrr...

i think we all do

Don't be hatin'. I gots my problems too. Give a cracker some love.

OK, none of the diagnostic plugs were connected, which sort of surprised me...
Does the ECU control fan speed?? I'm trying to think back to the wiring harness for the van, I can't recall fan speed coming off the Subie ECU. The ECU coolant temp sensor was replaced with my old one. Car sputters and stumbles first 4-6 start attempts, then settles into a low (800rpm) idle. Once it warms up for a minute or two, it runs fine. Before that, touch the gas and it drops dead... no enrichment at all. I'm starting to think it's not related to the fans after all.

Another glitch I've found is that the heat is on all the time... looks like they neglected to re-attach the control cable. I'll attend to this soon, and also try my EDM HVAC controls pack while I'm in there.

The STI strut bushings certainly make a noticeable difference. The ride is harsher, sharp bumps are much more of a shock to the car. Old plastic bits rattle a little more. Not sure I like it yet...The engine and transmission mounts are a joy, however; where the old engine flopped around like a hooked fish, the new one is anchored firmly to the chassis.

The lower front tie bar really helped with steering turn-in, the car seems much more put together. No comment about the Whiteline ALK yet, as I have not tested powering out of a hard corner yet... seems to rear up as much as it did before in a straight line, tho.
I have yet to install the fender braces.
I do have the wrong front swaybar...22MM WL for a NA car. Hits the crossmember, makes a racket when the suspension moves.
Anyone in the market for a NA swaybar? Missing a little paint.

Lastly, on the way to work the other day, a coolant hose broke. Naturally, right before I was getting into the Holland tunnel. On a Sunday. I got out of line, and tried to see where..It was under the A/C compressor, a 2" long coupler hose connecting two hardlines, one end was the bottom of the coolant resevoir, the other end was the coolant temp feedback to the water pump. It looks like the hose was stressed, the pipes did not line up very well. I found a store, bought 6 gallons of Poland Springs distilled water, and nursed it to the airport. To get home the next day, I undid the resevoir hose and clamped it, then blocked off the lower hose at the pump (with the spindle from a cake of DVDs, of all things...just happened to have it in my laptop bag). Been running like that for 4 days now, no ill effects. I guess the other return line from the turbo is enough to ensure proper thermostat operation.

No pictures yet, it was raining during my whole time off.

ECS......seriously. This is what their work looks like. They must not respect your car at all.

The ecu controls radiator fans based on coolant temp sensor.

REPLACE THE COOLANT TEMP SENSOR

Yeah....I honestly can't say I'm overly impressed with ECS work. It's half assed.

Aerotech wrote: Please, Jesus, Allah, Buddah, Satan, Shiva, L. Ron Hoover*,...anyone who's listening...
I WANT MY FRIGGIN' CAR BACK, ALREADY!


*Zappa reference... 10 points for anyone who got that. Just name the album.

Joes Garage.
Perhaps you just need to learn a foreign language, like german for instance (or japanese in this case) to get your car up to snuff. Then you'll be doing the peppermint twist For Real!!

-Chad (owns at least 10 Zappa albums... errr CD's )