legacycentral bbs

ive been searching around for so long on here and NASIOC and still havent found the answers im looking for. maybe im looking at the wrong topics but i cant seem to find it. i figured i mite as well join up and post the topic so i can get some answers. i need some info help on the conversion i am doing. i have a 90 N/A legacy 5MT with a blown ej22. The block literally blew up. i bought a ej22t at a local junkyard with around 100k miles on it for a pretty good price. i think the ej22t was on a 4EAT.

Now, ive heard that i have to switch up THE WHOLE CAR's wiring harness. but then i read in a post that i only needed to add 2 wires somehow. i cant remember who said it but someone who posts a lot and is "respected" on NASIOC i think it was. i need some clarafication on this please??

i also heard the things i also need are:
1. turbo legacy crossmember or WRX crossmember
2. ECU
3. all the exhaust stuff
4. i heard i also needed to change the hydraulic clutch to a cable clutch

i've heard a lot of things and i am realli confused about it all. there is a shop here in tacoma,washington that i went to for some advice but their advice is different from what i have read on these forums. so i am realli confused. need help please!

Are you switching the motor and trans or just the motor?

If you just switching the motor, you don't have to screw around with any tranny/clutch/wiring issues with that.

Just put the new subframe in, put the motor in, and exhaust.

If you want to run the stock ECU, you'll have to run a few wires for some of the turbo specific sensors, etc.

There are a few sensors that may be specific to the turbo ECU, and you might need to swap the ones currently in your 90 MT legacy out for some different ones. Vikash (vrg3) would be able to give you specifics.

its easier to do the swap if you do the whole wiring harness, like i did (i did the same swap as you except i did the tranny and everything). you will need the front x memeber as it has a molded part to allow clearance for the up-pipe, i would go with the turbo ecu as it has the boost control stuff in it (i think the cam and crank sensors are flipped to so you would have to switch the plugs they are in) and its made to use the 370cc injectors instead of the lower flowing na ones, and its made to have + manifold pressure unlike the na one, in short go as close to stock as you can, and if you need a ecu, i know where i can get at least one. exhaust stuff -yes (i happen to have some, but i would rather have some custom stuff made). you shouldnt have to mess with the transmission at all unless your changing it. i'm assuming you bought the complet engine w/turbo and everything right? there is lots of useful information on this board, if you search for NA to Turbo swap in the search bar you should get some pretty useful information. which shop did you go to in tacoma? was it pacific import auto? if you ever need any help just pm me as i live in spanaway thats all i can think of for now

What are you talking about ? It is easier to do the whole damned harness? No freaking way. Speaking from personal experience I would never do it that way again. All you need to do is run the wiring for the boost solenoid/pressure sensor/ MAF and O2 sensor from the turbo car into the ECU. Then you switch the placement of the Cam Position Sensor wires and the Crank Position sensor wires on the ECU pinouts. Lastly, you take your stock EJ22 NA intake manifold wiring harness and put it onto the EJ22T engine. All the connectors are the same, but the EJ22T harness will not plug into your chassis harness. Presto, swap done. I am never pulling the dash off of one of these bitches again.

Everything else you need has already been accurately covered. Check out my Ghetto Garage FS thread. I have almost everything you are missing except the turbo ECU and the crossmember.

OR, you can go real ghetto, switch the engine harness to the new engine, run a manual boost controller and let the stock EJ22 NA ECU run it. It won't be optimum, but it will drive. We are doing something along these lines in my garage right now. I will post in a few weeks once we do it...

I suspect you could even get the engine to run on the stock ECU. I am running close to 9 psi on a stock NA ecu via my supercharger and not getting any cels. You do NEED the aluminum MAF though. The plastic piece of shit JEC thing wont work for the high flow. You will also get horrible gas milage as the stock ECU thinks it is running 270 cc versus 370 cc injectors. I improve my milage for now by using a poteniometer as AFC for cruising on the freeway and around town. When I know I am going to be getting on the boost, I turn the knob all the way up so i run real rich.

damn u guys are great. i shoulda joined a looooong time ago. and yea jake15 i went to dat shop. its me da same dood dats been tryin to figure out how to do that swap. and yes i realli do not want to do the whole wiring harness. LoL. wow everything seems so easy now. thanks a lot for ur help guys! Much appreciated.



o yea im just switching the motor. so when u say "All you need to do is run the wiring for the boost solenoid/pressure sensor/ MAF and O2 sensor from the turbo car into the ECU." are u talking about the ej22t ECU or the N/A ECU? im a little confused now. SO, i would be using the N/A wiring harness which WOULD NOT have the wires on it for the boost solenoid/pressure sensor since the N/A motor doesnt have any. i would some how connect them into the ej22t ECU? also, i would need to pretty much get the ej22t sensors? ok. im just making sure because i DO NOT wanna wreck anything.

If you DO NOT wanna wreck anything, and aren't super familiar with the territory you're about to enter, you should use the turbo engine management to be safe. Use an EJ22T ECU.

Assuming you get the EJ22T IAC valve and injectors (which should both be mounted to the intake manifold), the only additional electric/electronic parts you need are the pressure sensor, pressure exchange solenoid, and boost control solenoid. All three of these are mounted near each other on the passenger side strut tower.

If you can't find a pressure sensor and pressure exchange solenoid, it's possible to use cheap and common Chrysler turbo parts instead, with a little ingenuity: http://www.graphics.cornell.edu/~v/chrysler_map/

And if you can't find a boost control solenoid, you could just leave it out and use some other kind of boost control (it might not be a bad idea to start by just connecting the wastegate actuator directly to the compressor outlet). A 470K 1/2-watt resistor can be wired in its place to pacify the ECU.

Your stock MAF sensor is the same as a turbo MAF sensor, so you're set there.

Like Matt said, the easiest way to go is to use your stock wiring harness and just add the pins you need. Use your entire stock harness, including the portion that's mounted on the engine under the intake manifold. Then reverse the "(+)" pins for the cam and crank sensor at the ECU, and add wires for the boost control solenoid, pressure exchange solenoid, and pressure sensor.

So you'll be modifying your stock non-turbo harness to adapt it to a turbo ECU. It's pretty easy to move and add contacts to the ECU connectors; if you look at them closely you'll see what I mean. You switch those two contacts, and then add five additional contacts that you will have to get from another harness.

i'd much rather swap the harness from the dash/firewall forward, that way there is no worrying about messed up wiring. the dash is not that hard to pull, i've done it in around 5-10 mins, theres only like 10 bolts and some screws holding it in, then its just the heater core and stuff (that is a Pain to take out) and then you just swap the stuff over. we swapped my brothers car in 4 days total (just me and him) and it only took so long because we did EVERYTHING. including body panels (he had been in an accident before) anyways, like Vikash said, stick with the stock ej22t engine management as much as possible. and make sure you put some extra protection on the knock, cam, and crank sensor wires, because on turbo cars they get brittle and break and cause problems. and i sent you a pm on where to pick up your extra parts

thanks guys for the help. all this information is great.

hey guys is there any way to modify the stock crossmember to get it to work? jus wonderin. thanks

pm matt (matt monson). i think he still has a turbo legacy xmember if he hasnt sold it. also search nasioc.

I think people have cut notches into them to clear the uppipe before. The NASIOC conversions forum is the place I'd look for info on that. I'd be a little worried about maintaining structural integrity, though.

yea that does sound like a pretty bad idea with that.

i was talkin with someone who owns a N/A to ej22t conversion legacy and he says that if i do the swap without doing the whole car wiring harness that i have a better chance of blowing my motor. is that true??

on another note, my WRX intercooler just came in today. looks nice

Project_Legacy wrote:i was talkin with someone who owns a N/A to ej22t conversion legacy and he says that if i do the swap without doing the whole car wiring harness that i have a better chance of blowing my motor. is that true??

That doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Its pretty hard to "blow" an ej22t to begin with, but I don't see why you would be better off rewiring a whole car rather than add a few wires??

yea i kno. he said somethin about mistakes happenin... or somethin like that. kinda scares me but i will be going that route anyway cuz i needa get this damn project started.

anyone with a legacy turbo crossmember or turbo ECU they willing to send and sell me??? thats all i realli need left to get it goin.


Thanks everyone!

91White-T wrote:

Project_Legacy wrote:i was talkin with someone who owns a N/A to ej22t conversion legacy and he says that if i do the swap without doing the whole car wiring harness that i have a better chance of blowing my motor. is that true??

That doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Its pretty hard to "blow" an ej22t to begin with, but I don't see why you would be better off rewiring a whole car rather than add a few wires??

i dont think they were talkin about rewiring the whole car, i think they were talking about swapping the wiring harness's

Don, i havent had time lately to go to Roy Y and check, but i'll go asap (probably thursday or saturday morning) good luck!

oooo... that could be it. haha. thats what i thought it was the whole time tho. lol. u sure? cuz when i went to the shop they had EVERYTHING stripped. yea but anyway that would be kool if u get to roy y. i think they didnt even wanna help me. but who knows. most i need now is turbo xmember and ecu... thanks man. peyce

yeah, when me and robbie did the swap on our cars we stripped EVERYTHING, because we swapped EVERYTHING, complete interior, complete wiring harness, trunk surround stuff, engine, tranny, rear end, subframes, susupension, brakes, and body panels.

o wow. ic. too bad i cant realli do that rite now. dont have all those resources or the funds. heheh

yeah, well we both bought parts cars to get our parts from, came out cheaper in the end