EJ22/Legacy engine question

[news.uq.edu.au]

For 5 years I have an EJ22 from a Japanese import in my VW Vanagon. It is a
GREAT combination. (The engine was out of a 1993 automatic "Brighton"
model.)

There is something that has always puzzled me and someone on the list may be
able to help.

I have an automatic transmission in the VW too. When I accelerate in the
vehicle (when travelling at say 60kph) it appears there is a "boost" or
kickdown in the ENGINE that ocurs independently of anything the automatic
transmission may do.

Clearly, it is something the ECU does when it senses the accelerator is
depressed and the engine is lagging behind a bit!. Can anyone comment with
any certainly on what is happening here?

It seems to me that it COULD possibly be that one could maniupulate ECU
behaviour if they understood what is happening. There is no connection
between the VW auto transmission and the ECU.

Any comments greatly appreciated!

Dave

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

For 5 years I have an EJ22 from a Japanese import in my VW Vanagon. It is a
GREAT combination. (The engine was out of a 1993 automatic "Brighton"
model.)

There is something that has always puzzled me and someone on the list may be
able to help.

I have an automatic transmission in the VW too. When I accelerate in the
vehicle (when travelling at say 60kph) it appears there is a "boost" or
kickdown in the ENGINE that ocurs independently of anything the automatic
transmission may do.

Clearly, it is something the ECU does when it senses the accelerator is
depressed and the engine is lagging behind a bit!. Can anyone comment with
any certainly on what is happening here?

It seems to me that it COULD possibly be that one could maniupulate ECU
behaviour if they understood what is happening. There is no connection
between the VW auto transmission and the ECU.

Any comments greatly appreciated!

Dave

It may be that at a certain, commonly traveled speed in top gear you are
at or just below the engine's torque 'peak' and it just seems a little
more powerful there than at other RPMs.

Dunno about your engine, but my car (or WRX wagon) has a distinctly
sharp torque-y area around 3400 RPM.

Carl

 

[S]

Hi Dave!

For 5 years I have an EJ22 from a Japanese import in my VW Vanagon. It is a
GREAT combination. (The engine was out of a 1993 automatic "Brighton"
model.)

There is something that has always puzzled me and someone on the list may be
able to help.

I have an automatic transmission in the VW too. When I accelerate in the
vehicle (when travelling at say 60kph) it appears there is a "boost" or
kickdown in the ENGINE that ocurs independently of anything the automatic
transmission may do.

Clearly, it is something the ECU does when it senses the accelerator is
depressed and the engine is lagging behind a bit!. Can anyone comment with
any certainly on what is happening here?

It seems to me that it COULD possibly be that one could maniupulate ECU
behaviour if they understood what is happening. There is no connection
between the VW auto transmission and the ECU.

Any comments greatly appreciated!

Dave

Your conversion using the VW tranny, or a Subaru one? The mid 90's
(and others?) Soobie AT came with a locking torque converter that acts
as you describe; almost like having an extra gear. IIRC, you would get
about a 500RPM jump in engine speed when the TC "unlocked" in response
to accelerator input. Maybe the VW AT has a similar feature, you'd
have to ask on a VW forum.

Otherwise, I couldn't say; the EJ22s I've owned had a pretty flat
torque curve between ~2000-4000 RPM, with the output falling off
fairly rapidly above that. Outside of one '96ish Legacy that had an AT
(and I didn't own for very long), they've all been in MT cars. FWIW,
the EJ22 has to be one of the most bullet-proof engines ever made;
I've seen many still going strong at 300K+ miles. Great choice for a
conversion.

ByeBye! S.

Steve Jernigan KG0MB
Laboratory Manager
Microelectronics Research
University of Colorado
(719) 262-3101

 

[Dave]

Thanks Steve,

It is the VW transmission (which I rebuilt). I can assure you that the VW
doesn't have anything smart in it at all! It is a very solid unit though,
shared with one Fiat model and a number of other VWs and Audis.

I am very happy with the EJ22. It looks like it was built to fit the
Vanagon. As mine was an aircooled VW, I had a bit more work to do whenh I
put it in than would otherwise have been the case.

I enjoy driving my '82 van - it is a camper which I bought in '84.

Thanks again Steve.

Dave

 

[Dominic Richens]

I have an automatic transmission in the VW too. When I accelerate in the
vehicle (when travelling at say 60kph) it appears there is a "boost" or
kickdown in the ENGINE that ocurs independently of anything the automatic
transmission may do.

How is this different from normal? You push the pedal, the RPMs go up.
Since it is an AT with a torque converter the RPMs go up waay faster than
the van accelerates.

It could also be something messed up with the emmissions so that the engine
normally runs lean and when you stomp on the pedal the ECU goes open-loop
(slightly rich) and for once you're getting a normal amount of power.