EA to EJ Adapters & Leone/L Series Lift Kit Advice

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charliemi16
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EA to EJ Adapters & Leone/L Series Lift Kit Advice

Post by charliemi16 » Sun Apr 26, 2020 4:47 pm

Hey guys,

Firstly, I hope you're all staying safe and well in these strange times, and that we can all get back to normal soon.

Secondly, what a great bunch! I've had an 86 Leone/L series for about 4 years now, and have been using your forum for info on various things over the years. Most recently in preparation for an EJ22 conversion into the old girl. What a fantastic resource. Thanks you all so much for all your efforts.

A couple of questions:

1. Who in Australia still makes and can supply an adapter plate, and who's would you recommend? I could make one, but having read numerous posts, it seems like it's really not worth the hassle.

2. What do you advise with regards to lift kits? Body, suspension, both? How high, what kits etc? I'm hoping to improve off-road ability a little, but still have it driveable on the road, and not compromise CV life too greatly.

I'm based down in New Zealand, and have been working on the EJ conversion over the last couple of weekends, while in lockdown over here. I have the loom out and reduced down to what's required, have the engine out, and took the transmission out too, in case I want to make an EA/EJ hybrid box one day. Any advice on this actually? What are the advantages? What diff do people run?

Any advice gratefully received.

Stay safe.

Charlie

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Re: EA to EJ Adapters & Leone/L Series Lift Kit Advice

Post by TOONGA » Mon Apr 27, 2020 11:45 am

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Re: EA to EJ Adapters & Leone/L Series Lift Kit Advice

Post by El_Freddo » Wed Apr 29, 2020 9:10 am

G’day Charlie!

As Toonga said above for the adaptor plate either - Subarino Auto Electrical (He’s a Subaru brumby nut) or Pro spares, I’m sure they’ll both look after you ;)

As for lift kits, I’m not sure anyone in Oz making them for the L series. If you keep the strut lift equal to the body lift your CV angles won’t suffer. Spring lift will add angle but you really can’t go high enough in the spring to damage CVs using the tried and tested methods you’ve probably read on the forum.

I’ve got a three inch lift in Ruby Scoo with 27 inch tyres. With some gearbox “trickery” I’m running 4.111 diffs, perfect for the 27 inch diameter tyres. The other compromise is the SF foz box, but you move to a centre LSD, rather than the rear engaging mechanism, which means a full centre lock.

Cheers

Bennie
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Re: EA to EJ Adapters & Leone/L Series Lift Kit Advice

Post by charliemi16 » Sun May 03, 2020 8:04 pm

Thanks for the replies guys, much appreciated.

As you said, both Pro Spares and Subarino have been super helpful, and I'm hoping the adapter plate will be on its way to me next week.

Just in time, as I've pretty much finished the EJ loom, and I'm ready to drop it into the L series. On that note, I have a few questions:

1. Where have you found the best location to fit the ECU & relays?
2. Depending on this, where do you route your harness? I was intending to route the loom that was inside the LH wing on the legacy in a similar way on the L Series to meet up with the 2 square engine harness connectors that come off the engine near the battery.
3. Having cut down the EJ harness I now have a small section of loom ending with the air flow meter and the hitachi ignition module connectors. Where do you route this? On the legacy it goes through the centre of the bulkhead, but I don't want to cut a hole in the L series. I'm thinking of running it to the right, and out behind the front strut tower. I may need to extend the loom in this case, depending on where the ecu ends up.

And one question not loom related; My L series is a carb version, so I'm planning on fitting a swirl tank with high pressure pump and return to the tank (probably installed where the spare wheel used to go) to give the high pressure feed to the EJ, and avoid any fuel starvation issues. Do I need to increase the diameter of the return line, or is this not necessary?

Any advice gratefully received.

Thanks

Charlie

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Re: EA to EJ Adapters & Leone/L Series Lift Kit Advice

Post by El_Freddo » Mon May 04, 2020 11:28 am

G’day Charlie.

With my setup on Ruby Scoo:

- AFM, igniter and sensor wiring at the back of the engine all came through the hole in the firewall for the choke cable. Start with the largest plug and go from there. I used an old clutch cable firewall grommet to seal it.

- the engine main wiring loom passed from the engine bay, into the LHS guard. It then follows some factory wiring and goes through a big rubber grommet in/under the A pillar and travels under the dashboard to the ECU.

- The ECU is mounted on the steering column, factory tabs cut off and sophisticatedly cable tied to the steering column.

- the relays are mounted on the firewall from memory. I recall finding a captive nut to use to secure these on their factory bracket. I may have bent the bracket to fit in where I wanted it.

The surge tank in the engine bay isn’t a good idea. Firstly from a safety point of view you’ve got a reserve of fuel in the engine bay that can be ruptured and become an instant fire hazard.

Secondly, you’ll be heating your fuel with under bonnet temps. I don’t know what temp fuel gets to by travelling back and forth to the engine bay and back to the fuel tank, but it would be significantly lower than fuel doing a circuit that’s only under the bonnet in the engine bay.

The other issue is that you might have noise issues with the fuel pump mounted so close to the driver and front passenger.

If you do the surge tank under the back of the car, it could be a good idea to increase the size of the fuel return line. I did this as I was experiencing a weird surging issue that was random with the MPFI EA82.
So while I had the dash out for the wiring (easier but not always necessary) I ran a carb inlet line to the fuel tank as my return line. I haven’t had an issue since the EJ conversion and this mod. I was running the same EFI fuel pump too. And I swapped in the MPFI fuel tank while I was at it.

I’ve also done the return line upgrade to the brumby when I did the dashboard swap, so it’s “ready” for the EJ conversion once it’s sorted to go.

The return line upgrade *may not* be needed, but it makes sense to have the least amount of restriction in this return line.

Your call on this though. There are some things to consider - safety, neatness of conversion and personal choice on how things are done.

Cheers

Bennie
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Re: EA to EJ Adapters & Leone/L Series Lift Kit Advice

Post by charliemi16 » Mon May 04, 2020 4:01 pm

Thanks Bennie,

I hadn't thought of the choke cable hole. Genius!

Regarding the surge tank. I had considered the fire hazard, but thought that tucked away at the back of the spare wheel well might be ok being a fair distance from any possible engine contact in the event of an accident. I hadn't considered the noise, but was planning on rubber mounting the pump. The return fuel would still be travelling back to the main tank, just via the surge tank.

I can't think of a spot to fit a surge tank, high pressure pump etc in the rear of the vehicle, unless anyone has any suggestions? So, some more questions 😄

1. How essential is a surge tank with the original L series (carburettor model) fuel tank? Does anyone have any experience? What issues did you encounter if so?
2. What is the fuel line upgrade? Is it using lines from an injected L-series, or aftermarket line?

If I don't really need a surge tank (I assume its only a problem with lower fuel levels, and acceleration/cornering?) Then I could simply fit a high pressure pump in the position currently occupied by the low pressure lift pump, and scrap the surge tank idea.

Cheers

Charlie

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Re: EA to EJ Adapters & Leone/L Series Lift Kit Advice

Post by El_Freddo » Mon May 04, 2020 11:03 pm

charliemi16 wrote:
Mon May 04, 2020 4:01 pm
The return fuel would still be travelling back to the main tank, just via the surge tank.
Yes that is true, the overflow from the surge tank will go back to the main tank. But since that will be done by a Fawcett pump that probably pumps about 2L/min (well an aftermarket pump I purchased at sca is rated at 2L/min), there’s not as much fuel getting back to the tank as there would with the EFI pump. That said I haven’t looked at the fuel eating of one of these.

So the majority of the used fuel is circulated under the bonnet.
charliemi16 wrote:
Mon May 04, 2020 4:01 pm
I can't think of a spot to fit a surge tank, high pressure pump etc in the rear of the vehicle, unless anyone has any suggestions?
Have you looked under the back of the L series? There’s enough room to mount the two pumps and the surge tank under there. Obviously don’t go for a massive surge tank. 1L should do, 2L would be on the larger side I reckon!

Have a look at the aero flow surge tank setup, it’s like an L shape with the pumps mounted under the long part of the L when rotated 90 deg clockwise. You only need one pump so it could be half the size. Don’t buy the unit, make one that fits where you need it to. A small protection plate would be a top idea too ;)


charliemi16 wrote:
Mon May 04, 2020 4:01 pm
So, some more questions 😄

1. How essential is a surge tank with the original L series (carburettor model) fuel tank? Does anyone have any experience? What issues did you encounter if so?
2. What is the fuel line upgrade? Is it using lines from an injected L-series, or aftermarket line?


1. Probably not that essential. I ran several years on the carb tank with the EFI pump setup. I don’t recall any issues and I ran that tank very low on several long distance trips without issues (off the bottom of the “E”). I do recall the outlet on the carb tank is small and the inlet on the high pressure pump is large. I made an adapter pipe between the two, it was a bit like a cone so the pipe gradually got bigger.

2. I just used a second fuel in line as the return. It was mostly shaped as I needed it, but under the dash I routed it slightly different to its shape from the factory. I can’t remember why, but it works a treat! You “just” need a donor vehicle. Or find some appropriate metal tubing you can shape and lay out with the factory lines.
charliemi16 wrote:
Mon May 04, 2020 4:01 pm
If I don't really need a surge tank (I assume its only a problem with lower fuel levels, and acceleration/cornering?) Then I could simply fit a high pressure pump in the position currently occupied by the low pressure lift pump, and scrap the surge tank idea.
Yes. Or source and MPFI fuel tank and use that - grab the factory EFI pump mount plate too ;)

Cheers

Bennie
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Re: EA to EJ Adapters & Leone/L Series Lift Kit Advice

Post by charliemi16 » Fri May 08, 2020 6:24 pm

Thanks Bennie,

I guess it's been a while since I looked under the rear of it! I was thinking of anywhere near the current pump where I can protect it.

I'm pretty close to putting the EJ loom into the car. Would you mind sanity checking my plan in terms of what I'm connecting to where, splicing in etc? I'm pretty confident I've got it sorted, but a second pair of (expert) eyes could never hurt.

Cheers

Charlie

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Re: EA to EJ Adapters & Leone/L Series Lift Kit Advice

Post by El_Freddo » Fri May 08, 2020 6:31 pm

Hey Charlie,

Dunno about expert, but thanks for the compliment!

Have a read in here:

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=15084

I think I detailed the wires that need to be spliced into the EA loom. You need to find where in the loom that is the best place for you.

I hope that helps.

Cheers

Bennie
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Re: EA to EJ Adapters & Leone/L Series Lift Kit Advice

Post by charliemi16 » Fri May 08, 2020 7:44 pm

Seems like deserving tithe to me.

Very helpful write up, and not one I'd found before, despite countless hours of research.

One question that I didn't see the answer to. Did you run a new main power from the battery to ignition relay or tap into the power going to the ignition switch? I was planning a new cable, fused at the battery to power everything off?

At the moment I'm planning to wire in based off a diagram (attached) from Numbchux. https://photos.app.goo.gl/MG5dhQsSu8oeTpCKA

The only difference I have spotted between his diagram and my EJ loom is that my fuel pump relay is spliced into the main 12v battery feed that goes to the ignition relay. This is what I'd expect, so maybe the diagram isn't correct. I assume the relay has: constant 12v in, coil energised by ECU when pulled to ground when the ECU tells it to, fuel pump feed, 12v feed to the rest of the EJ harness, that goes down to the squared multiplug by the battery. It doesn't appear to have it's own ground. I've beeped it out, and this seems to make sense to me.

Thanks again

Charlie

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Re: EA to EJ Adapters & Leone/L Series Lift Kit Advice

Post by charliemi16 » Sat May 23, 2020 4:19 pm

Hi guys,

Hope you're all good over there.

So, I'm still waiting for my adapter plate and a few other bits arrive, but I've completed wiring, and have one question:

Should my ign on voltage (acc and on positions) drop to 0 volts when you move the switch to the crank position?

Cheers

Charlie

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Re: EA to EJ Adapters & Leone/L Series Lift Kit Advice

Post by El_Freddo » Sat May 23, 2020 5:40 pm

G’day Charlie.

Sorry, I thought I replied to your message about the power wire - I honestly can’t remember how I did mine with the main power wire. I think I tapped into a permanent 12v supply wire that I put a fuse in to protect each loom from each other.

With your ignition switching situation - accessories should be off in the start/crank position. And I’m pretty sure ON should have 12v but would have to look at a manual to confirm.

I bet you’re getting excited!

Cheers

Bennie
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Re: EA to EJ Adapters & Leone/L Series Lift Kit Advice

Post by charliemi16 » Sat May 23, 2020 9:21 pm

No problem Bennie,

Thanks for the response now.

Since posting that, I figured out the ignition switch issue, and beeped it all out with the multimeter. I was happy with everything, so took the plunge and plugged in the ECU. The only concerning thing I found was on the pin on the ECU that is meant to see battery voltage at crank, I had battery voltage coming OUT of that pin with ignition on. Is this right? I've checked numerous wiring diagrams, and they all seem to show that pin (B56 Pin 10, also called C10) is connected directly to the starter/crank wire off the ignition switch. I'm a little concerned about that one.

Cheers

Charlie

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Re: EA to EJ Adapters & Leone/L Series Lift Kit Advice

Post by El_Freddo » Sat May 23, 2020 10:14 pm

Hey Charlie,

Looking at a wiring diagram, the only thing I can think of is that you have the starter wire C10 wired in with the ignition wire D12.

Might be time to get in there and check out that part of your wiring.

Cheers

Bennie
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Re: EA to EJ Adapters & Leone/L Series Lift Kit Advice

Post by charliemi16 » Sun May 24, 2020 8:21 am

Hi Bennie,

Maybe I didn't explain the situation very well.

When I disconnect the connector (B56/C) from the ECU and have the ignition switch set to ON, pin C10 (also known as B56 pin 10) has 12v at the pin on the ECU side. In other words 12v coming out of the ECU on that pin.

I thought the whole point of that pin was to detect 12v IN on cranking for cold start fuel enrichenent?

I'm very confident that pin c10 (B56 pin 10) is wired directly to the starter wire and nothing else. I've wired it in myself and tested it. There is 0v on that line at all ignition switch positions apart from start/crank. Until you plug it into the ECU that is.

Bennie, I have D12 as a fuel injector wire according to my wiring diagrams?

Cheers

Charlie

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Re: EA to EJ Adapters & Leone/L Series Lift Kit Advice

Post by El_Freddo » Sun May 24, 2020 8:45 am

Hey Charlie,

Interesting.

What year and EJ size are you using? Eg 1991 EJ22.

I’ve got D12 (yellow wire) in my diagram as a power wire from the ignition switch to the fuel pump relay and the ignition coil. It has the diode in between it and B5 (light green colour and the main power relay on/off wire).

The other thing that I can’t remember off the top of my head is which way around you look at the wiring plugs from - wire in or the ECU side. This is where I use the wiring colours to work it out.

Or there could be something wrong with your ECU, but I’ve not heard of that issue before.

Cheers

Bennie
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Re: EA to EJ Adapters & Leone/L Series Lift Kit Advice

Post by charliemi16 » Sun May 24, 2020 4:55 pm

Hi Bennie,

Firstly, thanks so much for taking the time to help out. I've spent most of the day on it, and I'm pretty worried now. I believe the weird voltages may be down to a short to the chassis somewhere, and nothing to do with my wiring, but I'm concerned it may have put power where it wasn't wanted. I'm also feeling a bit dumb, and doubting my fault finding skills right now.

The donor is a 1991 legacy EJ22 MPFI, japanese import onto New Zealand. I don't have the workshop manual for it, so have pieced together what I can from various sources on the internet. If you have one that has wire colours on it I would really appreciate it.

I believe pin 1 is top right of the ecu plug when looking at the ECU with the connector release catch on the top. If that is correct, F47 (D) Pin 12 on my ECU is a teal colour with a silver dot.

A correct wiring diagram would be really nice

Thanks

Charlie

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Re: EA to EJ Adapters & Leone/L Series Lift Kit Advice

Post by charliemi16 » Mon May 25, 2020 7:45 pm

Hi all,

Bennie, I think I'm talking to you only now :) but if anyone else has any useful tips, I'm all ears.

I think I've found the cause of the confusion regarding the D12 thing. Depending on which FSM you have, will dictate what is called B & what is called D. They change! How stupid. I've created the attached https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipO ... MafzWVMwFK to show what I mean. A & C always stay labelled as that, but B & D change depending on what manual you are looking at! The boxes highlighted yellow are the ones I have wired up, according to the instructions (https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipO ... YtVZ0Qo8-f_) from Numbchux, which states:

Here’s a simple diagram of how to power the harness:
The three ECU pins shown are:
a15: ECU memory (should always have power)
d23: fuel pump activation (the ECU connects this wire to ground when the fuel pump should
come on)
c10: Starter switch (should get 10-14 volts while cranking. This changes the fuel mixtures for
easier cold starts)


I believe I have everything wired correctly, but could someone please check. I'm usually pretty confident, and I spent a lot of time double checking (using the wiring diagrams in Numbchux' pdf)and beeping out with a multimeter before I did anything, but this has me doubting myself.

The parts from Aus have cleared customs so I should actually be able to drop the engine in soon. I'm reluctant to plug the loom into the engine again until I know it's right, but I assume the harness needs to be connected to sensors, injectors etc etc to get correct readings at ECU? The manual I now have gives me all the voltage and ground checks, but I'm releuctant to plug them in unless I know it's safe to do so.

Cheers

Charlie

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Re: EA to EJ Adapters & Leone/L Series Lift Kit Advice

Post by charliemi16 » Fri Jun 12, 2020 5:21 pm

Hi all,

It's finallytime to drop the engine in this weekend! So excited.

Before I connect the loom up to the ECU I'd really like to do one final check of the wiring. So, does anyone have a definitive guide, diagram, pin out checks etc for me to make sure I've got it right?

Thanks

Charlie

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Re: EA to EJ Adapters & Leone/L Series Lift Kit Advice

Post by El_Freddo » Fri Jun 12, 2020 9:29 pm

G’day Charlie,

Download the Factory Service Manual (FSM) for the model of vehicle your loom came from. There will be a number of pages in there that show all the ECU pin outs.

I’ve used this page successfully several times now: https://workshop-manuals.com/subaru/

A FSM would be the best way to go I reckon.

Cheers

Bennie
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