2.5 Engine swap

[jimoshel]

I have a 1987 MJ with 287K on the clock. Still runs great but is starting to show it's age.

I also have a 1994XJ with 68K, been rolled. Both 2.5, 5speed. The MJ is 2WD. The XJ is 4WD.

When I swap engines, and 4WD conversion, Should I just swap over all the sensors, sending units, etc, betwwen the 2 engines keeping it Renix, or should I go thru the trouble of swapping all the wiring, ECM and making the MJ a HO rig? Wondering if the benefits would be worth the trouble or not.

Already think I got my made up what I'm going to do. Just looking for other opinions and a discussion on it.

[mvusse]

With the difference between Wilbur when it was still stock (87) and Sparkles (96), the seat of the pants difference between the Renix 4.0 and 4.0 HO is much bigger than the number lead on, and I would go with HO in a heartbeat. Don't know if the difference with the 2.5 is the same or not.

[86FUBAR]

I vote for the HO swap simple because of how hard it will most likely be to get replacement parts for the renix system in the future . For instance I couldn't even get a diverter valve for a 1987 chevy 1/2 4x4 with a 350 and that's not an old truck (in Comanche years) especially for how many of those trucks were produced. But that's just my opinion.

[Zenobian_84]

On the fence with this one really.

 

Never seen a Chry-Co 2.5 in anything other than a YJ, so I really can't comment on it. I'm all for keeping the Renix system going, but I agree with 86FUBAR. Sometimes you just have to upgrade, instead of staying the same. I think if I could find a decent HO 2.5, I might be tempted to swap it in.

 

That won't be for a while though. My Renix just hit 174k and is still going strong; plenty of pep left in that old AMC block.