Need Subaru 2.5 engine, Have Questions

Bought my first Outback with a blown engine. Its a 1997 Subaru Outback wagon. Trying to find an engine on the internet. Most engines I find have engine codes of EJ25 or EJ25E or EJ25D.
The sticker under the hood of my car says VFJ2.5VJGKEK and the vin is
4S3BG6856V7601029. I believe the 6th means the wagon has a 2.5 engine.
I've also noticed some of the 2.5 engines on the internet have the coil pack located on a different spot on the intake than what mine does. My coil pack sits directly on top of the intake manifold. I've been told 2.5 engines from '96-99 will fit my Outback. I can't find anywhere on the car that says the engine is a EJ25. I've also learned that JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) has low milage engines for sale, or so they say.

Where is the best place to buy a low mileage 2.5 engine?

How do I know which engine to buy based on codes? Is the EJ25 a Japanese code only?

hey there,

i dealt with a similar situation about 1.5 years ago when the head gaskets failed in my '97 outback with the 2.5L EJ engine. From what I can recall the other engine code suffixes (E or D) do not matter unless they have to do with whether the engine attaches to an auto versus maunual tranny. too far abck for me to recall now, but you can try and find a used engine here: http://www.uneedapart.com/

i used the website to order a used engine from a salvage yard in TX and had it shipped to AK, only to find they had shipped me the wrong engine. after battling with them for 2 months, they finally agreed to pay the shipping back to TX and refund my money. i ended up pulling my engine and replacing the gaskets and have been good to go ever since.

best of luck with your project.