Another RMW EJ22 Conversion... Questions

iliketowalk · Last edited by iliketowalk on Sun May 18, 2014 9:29 pm; edited 3 times in total

This is longgg overdue. We bought this 87 Weekender like 2 and a bit years ago, bought the RMW kit shortly after that as it was on sale, then life got in the way and we basically mothballed the whole mess until about two weeks ago.

Anyhow! Things are happening now:

Current state:
- The old WBX is out (broke a headstud two years ago, thus the reason for the conversion)
- RMW kit appears to be complete (no parts missing)
- Have EJ22 [Phase 1.5 Confused

] (from wrecker), harness, MAF, etc...
- Harness is basically done [need to solder a few wires, finish wrapping]
- Engine bay is clean
Update 5/18/14
- Carrier and mounting brackets installed
- Engine installed
- Coolant mount bracket installed
- Cooling hoses mostly installed
- Exhaust headers installed

Questions

Motor mount bracket bolts?

I know the three 3 bolt holes that you have to drill for the RMW mount brackets are "close" to the edge of the frame rail / impact beam, but mine are seriously close. The "lip" of the beam is two layers of steel, the upper piece is wider than the lower piece.

I haven't drilled the holes yet, but just dry fitting the bracket, all three holes appear to fall on the edge of the first layer of steel. In other words, when I drill the hole(s), i'm drilling through the edge of the first layer of steel (making a crescent moon shape) before going into the second layer... Is this typical? Anyone else have pictures of theirs?

Answer: I ground the corner of the brackets on both sides to allow a closer fit. Hit it with some paint and good to go.

Motor mount bracket installation order?

Did you guys follow the RMW directions to lift the motor into position BEFORE drilling the holes and bolting the mounts down? Seems like it would be easier to put the mounts in (using the two existing holes on either side), bolt in the carrier bar (sans engine), drill the holes - but I'm wondering if the bar needs "preload" weight of the engine to properly locate the motor mount brackets?

Answer: I ended up following the instructions, once you've got the engine and trans mated and supported, it's not really in the way.

Coolant temp sensor (Subaru) harness length?

I'm using the reverse coolant manifold, so the Subaru (Brown, 2 wire) coolant temp sensor is located on the opposite side end now, and the harness isn't long enough to reach. Did you guys extend those two wires?

Many more to come, I'm sure... Thanks!
_________________
1986 Weekender "Birch"

zipster48 · Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 3:54 pm Post subject:

It's great you are doing this, you will love the results and feel a sense of satisfaction at doing it yourself...but I would recommend just giving RMW a call with any questions, they are very helpful and supportive of their customers - they know their products better than anyone. Best of luck!

tschroeder0 · Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 4:09 pm Post subject:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=510581&highlight=rmw+conversion

here is a link to my RMW conversion, mine were tight too but maybe better than yours, you could always drill a couple new holes in the mount further into the interior of that lip, or grind a bit off the mount so it fits in tighter.

iliketowalk · Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 9:27 pm Post subject:

Engine is in! Well... It's attached to the transmission and hanging ready to install the carrier bar once I figure out what to do about the mounts and edge bolts.

Having a hoist would've been awesome, but it's definitely doable with just a floor jack, 2x4 and straps.

@tschroeder0 - Going to have a read through of your thread, many thanks!

@zipster48 - Yeah definitely will contact RMW, I really wanted to continue moving forward on stuff this weekend though. Very Happy

_________________
1986 Weekender "Birch"

AKWesty · Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 9:35 pm Post subject:

Sounds great. I finished up my EJ22 this winter. I used a small car kit. My holes were close to the edge of my flange also. I was able to get a full hole in each. With the steel plate that lays ontop of the flange, your weight is distributed. It does sound like your holes are to close to the edge with only getting a crescent of drilling surface. Do you have the steel to drill new holes? Short of a new cross bar I am not sure what else you can do.
_________________
84' Westy 2wd
EJ22 - 4spd - Peloquin TBD
GW +1.5 Springs
215/70-16's

www.CatchTheKraken.com

"Never go to Alaska as a young man because you'll never be satisfied with any other place as long as you live." -John Muir

AKWesty · Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 9:38 pm Post subject:

BTW If you haven't looked into it already you should think about having Tom Shiels test your harness on his engine stand. I had him wire in my check engine light and head off some trouble codes. Money well spent. I ended up having a knock sensor code when I started it up and replacing it made a big difference.
_________________
84' Westy 2wd
EJ22 - 4spd - Peloquin TBD
GW +1.5 Springs
215/70-16's

www.CatchTheKraken.com

"Never go to Alaska as a young man because you'll never be satisfied with any other place as long as you live." -John Muir

iliketowalk · Posted: Sun May 18, 2014 9:37 pm Post subject:

tschroeder0 · Posted: Sun May 18, 2014 10:10 pm Post subject:

-yes just lengthen the wires.

I am running both o2 sensors, they are the stock suby one's, I have subarupair nearby so I can get used stock parts very cheap.

I always run NGK's

coolant bottle sensor, again, just lengthen it to fit, you should not need to modify the fuel pump...stock vanagon, same wires, location.

I will get back to you on the purple line, not sure right now.

-In my original post, yes, I did zip tie those wires off near the MAF. The are actually for an ambient air pressure sensor (I think) I found one and hooked it up, not sure if it did much, but it turned off a code.

I am using the all digital speed sensor, I got it from enginewiring.com

another last fyi- one of my biggest issues was a strange loss of power at times after warm up, felt like a timing issue...after a lot of work it turned out to be the knock sensor, that simple little gizmo can cause a lot of headaches, carry a spare that is known to be good.

I hope this helps!
thanks
todd

16CVs · Posted: Mon May 19, 2014 9:01 am Post subject:

Todd

I to bought a VSS from Enginewiring.com all it did was make the engine surge in about 500 RPM swings. I ended using a GW VSS and it seemed to do the trick.
Interested in where you have yours mounted and if you've had any issues with it ?
I have tried to contact The guy and have had no reply. It was cheap enough ,but I was looking for better results .
I am running a 90 2.2 in a 87 Syncro Westy. Besides doing a Westy conversion to a Tin Top the Subaru is my second favorite mod .

Stacy
_________________
1987 Syncro Westfalia Triple knob (bastard)
1989 Syncro Tristar Triple knob "Swedish"
2013 Jetta Hybrid a true "Zwitter"
Samba member # 14980
Call anytime number 650 722 4914 .
Keep Your van running and upkept tastefully for the love of the hobby.
Don't let your van end up in an "abortions" thread.

tschroeder0 · Posted: Mon May 19, 2014 10:08 pm Post subject:

well, that is interesting. I have a mildly hunting idle too?

I have mine "mounted" in the engine compartment in the J box, it is just connected to the proper wires.

coclimber

coclimber · Posted: Wed May 21, 2014 4:31 pm Post subject:

iliketowalk · Posted: Thu May 29, 2014 10:11 pm Post subject:

Subaru coolant temp sensor (brown 2 pin - engine harness) wires lengthened.

I decided to hack up my VW harness to make the Subaru harness essentially plug and play... We'll see if that was a big mistake later...

Using the stock plastic coolant pipes as they're in good shape, found some 1.5" hoses at NAPA that have a slight bend and should work a treat.

Also found a 5/8" hose with a 90* bend from the coolant bottle to the nipple on the reversed coolant manifold instead of having to bend the 5/8" straight heater hose to the point where is slightly collapsing.

Now I have to find some oem(ish) Subaru O2 sensors that aren't going to cost a fortune...
_________________
1986 Weekender "Birch"

iliketowalk · Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2014 10:48 pm Post subject:

Found some O2 sensors at RockAuto...

Fired it up a few days ago, it runs! [After I had to pull and strip part of the harness because I wired to the wrong ignition + wire in the middle of the harness.] Sad

Can anyone tell me about how they wired the alternator?

The Subaru has the rectangle plug (2 terminals) one white wire, one black (small), and a post with two heavy white wires.

The van has the blue wire and the two red wires (joined). So do I splice the red (from van) with the two white (Subaru post), and the blue wire (from van) to the black wire (terminal)? What about the other white wire?
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1986 Weekender "Birch"

iliketowalk · Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2014 2:08 pm Post subject:

kalispell365 · Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2014 4:47 pm Post subject:

iliketowalk · Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2014 5:57 pm Post subject:

That makes sense. Laughing

Further confirming my lack of knowledge in charging systems, but: with that, do some recommend taking it to the ignition (key on) wire because it has a longer path to the battery and probably more closely represents the voltage at the battery? I.e. The stud on starter and the stud in the junction box (by way of starter) are connected to the alternator with less than 3 ft between them, there isn't going to be a huge voltage drop between the stud on the alternator and the stud on the starter is there?

I might go check later... It's 109f outside.

Edit: Picture from the excellent article that was posted

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

So I basically hooked it up like the first example. I'm curious about what I'm getting at the battery itself... Will report back.
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1986 Weekender "Birch"

kalispell365 · Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2014 2:18 pm Post subject:

The purpose of this SENSE wire is to provide the exact correct voltage to the battery, and I the Subaru originally it doesn't go far, just to the engine fuse panel where the charge wires dead end. I probably would run it to the jct. box in the engine compartment, as there are a bunch of 12v connections on that stud.

That being said...technically it should go to the battery positive, but I feel you will se an appropriate measure from the black box. either way you will be better off than the way it is wired now, as there is no adjust whatsoever. Idea

_________________
1983 Diesel Vanagon Westfalia chassis with Subaru 2.2l


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