impreza 1.6 engine problem

have my 97 impreza 1.6 in a garage the last while. sent it in with possibly head gasket problem. he dropped an engine into it from a 98 (engine in pwo) but car turning over but not starting. could it be possible ecu was damaged (been told wiring loom and manifold were slightly different)
any help?
anyone seen similar problem?

put your old manifold back on to the new engine

As above. Also double check the obvious. With wiring loom differences wat was done?

not sure of differences in wiring loom, old manifold was used

If your old manifold was used then your old manifold wiring was used too. If the car was starting before and all the original sensors/wiring where used and connected correctly then the car should start now.

Ask the mechanic what was not swapped over ie. crank or cam sensor etc.

Before blaming the ecu i'd check for spark and fuel, then maybe check the compression of the new engine. If you have fuel, spark and compression then it should start. If you don't have one of these then investigate that area first before blaming the ecu. It is very unlikely that the ecu is at fault.

Does your mechanic know subarus very well? If not then I'd speak to one of the traders on here who know subarus inside out

thanks for the tips, cam/crank sensors sound like the problem

if old manifold was used then so was old wiring i would think. Would find out exactly wat was and wasn't used and go through the obvious stuff first and eliminate.

97 and 98 model years are compatable but if yours is an earlier model 93 - 96 then they are diferent .
If your car has an air flow meter then it is an earlier model and not the same as a 98 MY . From 97 MY
the 1.6 changed from L Jetronic to D Jetronic . L Jetronic is air flow volume sensing D Jetronic is Negative intake pressure sensing.