Would an EJ20 2 liter be compatible in an 05’ Turbo?

[Stauer_power]

I recently purchased an 05’ Turbo and was told that there had been a new engine dropped in and that it needed an updated code for it to perform better. After taking it to a local mechanic they told me that it has a completely incompatible EJ20 and that codes won’t do much to fix the cars issues. How screwed am I?

[w.rohr]

That sounds fishy, I am not an expert but why would someone drop in a ej20 when there are plenty of available ej25. But even if they did what is this code it needs to run "better"? Do you have a check engine light on? is it running rough, or poorly?

[bobjr94]

The motor was probably $700 from ebay,vs $2500 for the same engine it had. The ej20 could likely be non-avcs and non-tvg so the codes for the missing parts can not be cleared, they will instantly come back. You can get a tatrix cable to plug your baja into a laptop, remove those codes from the ecu and flash the new file back to the ecu.

[w.rohr]

Wow didn't know you could get an ej20 that cheap on ebay but ej25 are a lot cheaper here, you can get a low mile or rebuilt here for well under 2k

[kamesama980]

easy and common:
1. buy car with blown motor.
2. buy the cheapest motor that'll halfway work.
3. sell to a sucker with a story that it isn't factory because it's a super duper better motor and just needs a simple fix to see it's full potential.
4. move and change phone number.

is it compatible? yes... somewhat. it did bolt in runs and drives(?). is it plug and play? no, as you're finding out. It can be made to work but take it as a lesson to ask these questions before buying.

[anarchy1024]

...But even if they did what is this code it needs to run "better"?

I think "code" in this context is ECU firmware (computer program), not an OBD code. Sounds like the previous owner thought (or claims to have thought) that it's trivial to just update the ECU's programming to work with the new engine. I've seen ECU hacking/reflash programs and kits available for the Turbo models, but it requires someone who really knows what they're doing to do it properly (i.e. there's no check for updates button).

Did you verify that it actually is an EJ20? There should be stamp on the top of the block (although I don't know how easy it is to see it with everything installed).