subaru FB25 engine interchange

Great info!

Did you use factory of aftermarket gaskets/O-rings and what sealant(s) where?

I bought a good quality gasket set from RockAuto.  It included all gaskets, O rings, and Felpro head gaskets.  I replaced all O rings - coolant crossover pipe, upper oil pan, front timing cover.  I used Permatex black on upper oil pan, oil pan, cam carriers, front timing cover.

The coolant pipe from water pump to heater hose was rusty so I put rusty metal primer and rustoleum black on it.  After running for a while, the pipe got a pin hole leak.  $65 from Subaru for a new pipe and somewhat of a pain to put on after engine is in the car.  I just took the car for another drive and all seems good.

It will take a few shakedown runs to get all the bugs out of this.  I have no history on either engine or the car itself - so I am sure there are gremlins waiting to make themselves known.

Thanks to all the folks here on GRM that have pioneered and contributed to this swap! I'm planning to do this myself shortly on my wife's 2011 Forester with 130k miles. It burns a quart every 500 miles so I feel it's about time to do this.

I'm, going to summarize what I've understood from the whole thread, please comment and correct me if I'm wrong here. Hoping to reduce the number of times me or future readers has to scan the entire thread to double check information:

Swap checklist for 2011/2012/2013 Forester

2013-2014 Legacy and 2014-2015 Forester engine swap:

1. Swap Valve Cover to 2011 spec
2. Swap coils to 2011 spec
3. Swap coolant crossover pipe to 2011 spec
4. Swap EGR tube to 2011 spec
5. Swap torque converter  and flex plate to 2011 spec (try to leave torque converter on transmission)
6. Swap sensors to 2011 spec
7. Swap engine mounts to 2011 spec

2015-2019 Legacy and 2016-2018 Forester engine swap:

1. Swap Valve Cover to 2011 spec
2. Swap front cover to 2011 spec
3. Swap cam tone wheel to 2011 spec
4. Swap coils to 2011 spec
5. Swap coolant crossover pipe to 2011 spec
6. Swap EGR tube to 2011 spec
7. Swap torque converter  and flex plate to 2011 spec (try to leave torque converter on transmission)
8. Swap sensors to 2011 spec
9. Swap engine mounts to 2011 spec
10. Plug lower oil pan coolant hose or swap to 2011 spec upper and lower oil pan
11. Use newer 2015+ intake along with 2011 TGV magnets and activators along with 2015+ gears and 3mm spacers, with pins 4 and 5 flipped on the connector.
    1. See CHayNZ thread for clocking specifics

* Swap out as many gaskets and hoses as you can while you are here like throttle body hoses, spark plug tube gasket, rear main seal, front cover o-rings etc. Get injectors cleaned and tested.

** For the 2015+ swap, if purchasing the idler bracket and intake adapter from Creative CNC (Joe?) you can forego using the 2011 timing cover and the 2015+ intake and TGV changes as mentioned in step 11 but need to extend your EGR tube by 15mm. (Didn't see the intake adapter on the site so maybe they are not selling those anymore?)

*** VVT should be the same across all FB25B engines due to AVCS (someone please correct me here if I'm wrong).

My first post here. The detailed information you all have provided to make this thread inspired me to try and save a 2013 Forester whose motor blew at 160K. So I’m in the process of dropping in a donor 2017 Legacy FB25 with 64K, having done the recommended mods:  timing cover and cam reluctor plate swap, wire harness and sensors, water crossover, flex plate and crankshaft reluctor plate and sensor, shimming coils. (I decided to keep the 2017 intake manifold, and modified the tgv valves leaning heavily on the work of Skenton, Sodapopdave, and ChayNZ. The tgv mods tested successfully on the bench per multimeter. I’ll contribute a few pics of my process if things turn out right, and folks want more visual input on the subject.)

The work has gone well, and I’ve been having fun, but think I have hit a wall.

When I bolted up (with a little more difficulty then seemed reasonable) the engine to the transmission, I was unable to turn over the engine by hand to line up flex plate and torque converter. The bolt on the balancer wheel just got tighter. Figured the torque converter must have moved when I pulled the old engine causing things to seize, so I took out the donor engine to fix things. Torque converter started to come out too, but I separated it from engine before fluid spilled. With engine out, I reseated the torque converter per instructions reposted in this thread and reinstalled engine. Still seized. Now I’ve removed engine a second time, this time torque converter stayed in place by a fastener tie.

Going over things carefully, I noticed the alignment bushing on the crankshaft didn’t seem right — too shallow, and not concave at the bottom like on the 2013. The donor 2017 measured ~7/16” from top of bushing to bottom. The 2013 measured ~1-1/6”, top to bottom. It almost seems like the alignment stud on the old torque converter broke off in the donor engine? But before I start drilling EZ Out holes, was hoping someone could confirm the proper depth of the pilot hole on the 2017 crankshaft flywheel.

Appreciate your help.

2017 Legacy donor

The bottom of the bushing is not concave, but flat. Broken guide stud?

2013 Forester "old engine"

Looks for all the world like the end of a torque converter is still in the engine.  I've never seen that happen, but there is always a first time.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Thanks for responding.

Me and unique problems. Seems the only explanation though, doesn't it.. I'll try extracting today, time allowing. If I understand the torque converter / flywheel bushing relationship correctly, the bushing is there to align TC to engine, and the bushing depth (now restricted by a broken stud) allows some expansion/contraction space for movement between components caused by temp changes, vibration, etc. 

First post... this thread has been very helpful in my 2015 Legacy engine swap into my daughter in law's 2012 Forester.  Thanks for all contributors!

Question - I've read through most of the content but couldn't find anything related to swapping out the fuel injectors.  Can I leave the 2015 injectors in place?  Thanks!