subaru FB25 engine interchange

hey Dizz, I almost did the same thing and ordered a 2014 forester motor but I got lucky and thought to myself, I better do the same damn thing Patrick did and get the Legacy motor. Doesn't make a ton of sense though right!? One would think a newer motor from the same model would be easier to make fit then a newer model from a whole different car.. I wonder what made Patrick choose the Legacy motor over any other model when he ordered his

Car is still issue free by the way, no check lights, running great.. thanks again Patrick

In reply to dustin :

I did as much research as i could, it took me a couple months to cross reference everything and figure out that the 14 legacy had the absolute closest thing i could get to the ‘11 forester.

In reply to Patrick :

ah that makes more sense, sounds like you had way more work into this then just throwing a dart into the stack of FB25's.. if people keep trying to do this swap we could make a nice little cross reference chart as it sounds like nearly all the 2011 FB25's will be doomed eventually, should be the same swap for any 09-13 foresters?

In reply to Patrick :

Ok so I read the forum. I’ve read every forum, I’m not sure why there is so much misinformation about what engine will or won’t work into a 2011 forester. Six digit A, it’s the 2.5x it’s all a sad story just like the rest. Anyways dealship did a full inspection before purchase. Said they checked the compression. A few months later my pregnant fiancé is stranded on mother’s day. Got a letter from Subaru stating they couldn’t have known.

So I’m going to try the classic Patrick buy a newer legacy engine and try to switch all the peripherals and reinstall. Found a nice one on LKQ, gonna buy the lift and give it my best shot. 

First question... is the 2013 legacy engine the same as the 14 for swap purposes? 

Second question my forester is pzez, do I need to match pzez also or are all the new engines pzez? Does the previous transmission matter? I have a 4AT, can I use an engine from a CVT? 

I also see there are many YouTube videos. I’m sure I’ll watch one of those play by play also. Any suggestions? 

So I’m going to try the classic Patrick buy a newer legacy engine and try to switch all the peripherals and reinstall. Found a nice one on LKQ, gonna buy the lift and give it my best shot. 

First question... is the 2013 legacy engine the same as the 14 for swap purposes? 

I was wondering the same thing. Planning on doing the exact same swap in my car and wondering if 13-14 legacy engine makes a difference if it's the same vin. Patrick said he used a 2013, so at this point I'm planning on doing the same, but there's a 2014 motor on LKQ close to my location that I could pick up instead of having shipped, which would save a bit of money. 

Sorry I missed this.  It doesn’t matter which transmission the engine came in front of as long as you make sure you have the correct flywheel.  In my case the forester was auto and legacy was cvt and the flywheel was different, which I figured out the hard way and had to pull the engine back out.  

I’m not sure of the 13-14 differences, I just know that at the time i did my research there were a bunch of wrecked 14’s in the lkq yards.  

Doctor Karl’s son is still driving it, and it’s passed emissions since the swap.  

So I just picked up an 11' forester that has a "B" Vin, aka California emissions. I assume I need to find a 14' Legacy motor with the same "B" Vin, or do you think I can use a "C" Vin? 

Patrick said:

Sorry I missed this.  It doesn’t matter which transmission the engine came in front of as long as you make sure you have the correct flywheel.  In my case the forester was auto and legacy was cvt and the flywheel was different, which I figured out the hard way and had to pull the engine back out.  

I’m not sure of the 13-14 differences, I just know that at the time i did my research there were a bunch of wrecked 14’s in the lkq yards.  

Doctor Karl’s son is still driving it, and it’s passed emissions since the swap.  

Other than the things mentioned in this thread, would there be anything to look out for if swapping an FB25 from an Auto 2014 Legacy to a manual 2013 Forester?

I'm here with another success story. I just got done putting a 14' Legacy motor in my 11' forester. This thread was a life/money saver and saved me about $2k!

I will say that I didn't change the Throttle body over and the 14' one works just fine. Also, I included a picture of how I spaced the hybrid coils out with about $2 worth of stuff from Fleet farm. Thanks to. Every one in here! 

Awesome!  Good to know it's verified the throttle body works.  I erred on the safe side because of the difference in part numbers and my experience with GM electronic throttles 

looks like I've pioneered something else.  

Good Evening everyone on this board and to the people who have contributed to this thread. I am not a mechanic but am hoping you can help and give me and my mechanic some direction. 

I recently purchased a 2012 Subaru Forester and the motor recently blew up on a drive home. After looking for a motor swap it seems they are asking 2500-3000 for this specific motor (which has also been stated in this thread) Long story short heres what I have, i just want to make sure I can purchase a Legacy motor and make the conversion.

2012 Subaru Forester PZEV

6th digit of the VIN is an "A"

FB25 Motor with DOHC non turbo

CVT Transmission

Everything I've read in this thread and other similar threads lead me to believe this will work if I swap with a 2013-2014 Subaru Legacy FB25 motor. I only have the funds for one chance to do this so I'm just looking for a little advice. I'm sorry if i'm being redundant

Patrick said:

Awesome!  Good to know it's verified the throttle body works.  I erred on the safe side because of the difference in part numbers and my experience with GM electronic throttles 

looks like I've pioneered something else.  

Any insight Patrick?

Okay Guys, So wi went ahead and swapped my 2012 Forester FB25 Motor with an FB25 motor from a 2013 Legacy. The motor came from the same setup with same trans etc.

The car starts, runs, and drives great but it is throwing a plethora of codes. 

P2088- A Camshaft Position Actuator Control Circuit Low Bank 1

P2092 - A Camshaft POsition Actuator Control Circuit Low Bank 2

U0073 - Control Module Communication Bus "A" Off

After speaking with my mechanic it appears he swapped the coil packs, but DID NOT swap any of the original sensors into the new motor (which i asked him to do). Could this be causing these kinds of errors? I know that one of the original posters said that everything must remain the same because the CANBUS systems don't play well together.  I know no one has responded to my previous posts but I am going to keep posting my findings here in hopes to help someone else in the future. 

I am not sure with that one.  With both cam actuator banks being off i am wondering if they missed a ground or a plug, or if they did not change the wiring harness over from the original engine.

i cannot tell you what was different, but the pinout in the main plug from engine harness to chassis harness was different from the forester to the legacy.  I know the actuators themselves are the same as my junkyard engine came with a broken one and i had to change it out and the one from the forester was fine.

In reply to Patrick :

​​​thanks for getting back to me Patrick.

We DID change the wiring harness over from the original motor to the 2013 motor but did not change over any of the sensors over. I am dropping the car back off today and he is going to swap over all the sensors from the old motor into the new.

Aren't the 2013 and 2014 legacy motors the same? Everything I've read leads me to believe so. 

In reply to jackmonte1987 :

I did this engine swap recently 2013 Legacy engine into a 2011 Forester.  Everything is working normally with harness and periferal swap.  There is a crank sensor behind the flex plate that must be swapped over from the Forester IF the one on the new engine is different.  I don't know which or why dif. models/years had different sensors, but its easy (with engine out) to look and see if they are the same and if not swap the original sensor over. 

Just a quick update. We found a plug not fully connected in the harness. The motor is running perfectly fine now with no codes

Excellent.  I'm on the look out for more bad engine 2011's that i can fix with the newer legacy engine.  So far the only one i have found besides the one I did was beat up and not worth it 

hey everyone. Did this swap, 2013 legacy into a 2011 forester. Swapped everything over, all electrical components. I can start it and it idles for a few min the runs rough and quits also there is no throttle response at all. No idea what to do. Any thoughts ? 

In reply to jackmonte1987 :

I'm having the same issue. What plug did you have to plug in ? I've checked them all and still no luck. Did you have throttle response when you had this issue? Mine will rev a little then bog down. 

In reply to Sfors :

Hi Sfors, I'm in a very similar situation to what it sounds like you're dealing with. Have you had any breakthroughs? It idles rough and bogs down as soon as I touch the gas. Exhaust smells like it's running rich. Here's the codes I'm getting

P2088 (Camshaft Position Actuator, Bank 1)

P2092 (Camshaft Position Actuator, Bank 2)

P0016 (Camshaft/Crankshaft Position Correlation)

Also getting a cylinder 4 misfire

Greetings all, I am in the same boat as everyone here with the engine problem. My 2011 Forester has the same "great" engine as you all(it is a vin "A").  I have the old engine out & purchased the parts that I think I will need to complete the job minus the new engine. I am at the engine purchase time and don't know if I can use a vin "b or g" engine or must I use a vin "a c h" engine. Any positive  advice would be appreciated.

Thank you and Best Regards:)

In reply to vandervl :

Greetings, without looking at the vehicle, and just using the information that you gave, it sounds like the timing chain may have jumped timing. I hope that I am wrong. Just my two cents as I have encountered this on other vehicles with timing chains. Good luck and Best Regards.

In reply to krosno99 :

Thanks krosno. That was my instinct as well, but re-doing the timing didn't seem to fix anything. Doing a fair bit of head scratching over here..