Help with 2011 forester?

[G-ZUS]

Hey fellas. I swapped a jdm engine into my 2011 forester. Now it's running rough, low on power and throwing a code for vvt control solenoid. Tried swapping over the solenoid from the old engine and same thing. Any subaru wizards on here?

[Xamim]

Are you running the original USDM ECU or did you swap to a JDM one?

[G-ZUS]

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Are you running the original USDM ECU or did you swap to a JDM one?

Original usdm ecu. Also swapped over intake and exhaust manifolds from the old motor as they're different

[Flexray]

What code is it setting?

[firebane]

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Original usdm ecu. Also swapped over intake and exhaust manifolds from the old motor as they're different

The VVT solenoids are on the cylinder heads not the intake or exhaust manifolds. There can be enough of difference between the USDM and JDM that you may end up needing the ECU.

[G-ZUS]

I was just going off what jdmsource said to replace from the old motor. They said they've sold many of them and no ecu required. My friend had the exact swap done last year at a shop with no issues. Hoping i missed something

[Xamim]

The AVCS solenoids are on the heads and I believe are different from JDM to USDM. I remember reading that guys would have to swap the cams, the AVCS solenoids and the cam position sensors from the USDM engines to their JDM ones in order to run them with the USDM ECU.

One more thing to check is is that some years the EJ had tiny little filters in the lines running to the AVCS solenoids. I had one of them disintegrate and pieces of it were stuck in the solenoid, preventing it from moving. Idle and anything under 3k rpm was super rough.


Edit: what engine did you put in and what's the exact code?

[ShermanEF9]

Did it ever run correctly, or was it busted from day one?

[G-ZUS]

Thanks for the replies guys. Finally figured it out. Had to swap over the harness from the usdm engine to the jdm one. It's an fb25. Old engine was run low on oil and threw a rod.