Outsourced engine swap

[Getoffmycloud]

Recently purchased an 88 MJ Pioneer w 315k. Body is sweet, very unique color. My bud owns a Shell station and far handier than I on big stuff. Want to swap motor for junkyard 4.0 w less miles. What should i be budgeting for this? Really have no idea.

[Crash]

I would say no more than a thousand should be good.

[Pete M]

is there something wrong with the current motor?

[MeanLemons]

If there's nothing wrong with the current motor, then keep it and do regular maintenance stuff

[Green Mesa XJ]

For a used 4.0 HO motor it's between $200 to 500, ranging from a upull it or Craig's list to junk yards, usually 140k on the engine at a minimum. Just on average.

Not sure what the renix era go for I assume about the same. Although you can use a HO engine too.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[DirtyComanche]

I'd budget about a thousand, and then somehow spend three times that.

[texasjack]

Go to Craigs and purchase a running Cherokee, use the engine and sell the remaining parts.

 

I see them for 500-900 complete jeeps.

 

Texasjack

[Getoffmycloud]

hes saying that he can't locate exact engine. I mentioned that ,per some of the stuff i read , that we could use a 4.0 from almost any similar year Cherokee. He says there are 4 or more versions of the engine and that we have to locate exact one.....am I getting bad advice?

 

Current engine needs valve cover, oil pan and rear main seal gaskets replaced. he quoted me $2200.

[Gene]

http://cruiser54.com/?p=100

 

should be helpful.

 

That repair estimate sounds WAY high.

 

Gene

[Pete M]

that's it?  3 seals?  you can do all of them yourself with basic tools.  no matter what anyone says, you do not need to remove the trans to do the rear main seal on a 4.0.  I'm sure youtube will have videos of all of them.

 

and any 4.0 block from 87-01 can be made to work.  but if the compression is good enough, there's no reason to change that out.  

[Getoffmycloud]

thanks all for your guidance....guessing hes not done one and therefore trying to take safest route....think its time to learn to do myself.

[Gene]

Plus, you may not actually have a rear main seal leak. There are many threads on this, here's a link to one

 

http://comancheclub.com/topic/53135-oil-leak-after-new-rear-main-install/?hl=rear+main

 

Basically leaks almost anywhere on the engine will settle to the back of the oil pan and look like a rear main seal leaking. You may want to change the valve cover and any other easy ones first.

 

Gene

[DirtyComanche]

I changed my valve cover gasket, did the Cruiser mod to the valve cover breather towers, cleaned the orifice out in the back breather, and put a new grommet/elbow in the front one, and amazingly my rear main seal leak seems to have gone away...  Any excess of pressure in the crank case (breathers being clogged) will want to force oil past the rear main seal.  The valve cover often leaks because normally they have the factory gasket maker gasket on them still, and it just wasn't meant to last that long, that leaking oil tends to run down the back of the block and looks like a rear main leak.

 

I would do that first.  You need very basic hand tools (a socket set, a couple scrapers, screwdrivers, a drill/bits, hacksaw, and some files) to change the valve cover seal and do the Cruiser mod on the breather towers.  It takes a couple hours to do because of the fiddlefarting and cleaning up the old sealant.  You will want some good shop towels, some scotchbrite, and brake clean to clean everything.

 

To do the oil pan gasket isn't very hard either.  Same tools.  Again, takes a while just to clean it up.  Buy a good pan gasket set and it will go a lot better.

[DirtyComanche]

And buy a good valve cover gasket too.  Don't be like me with my 10 cork gaskets I bought for $1 each when a NAPA closed.  Eventually I'll use them up, but even for $1 they aren't a good deal because they're a pain in the @$$.

[cruiser54]

Agree. Fix the leaks. See the link below.

 

http://cruiser54.com/?p=96

 

As for engines, see this link:

 

http://cruiser54.com/?p=100

[Rockfrog]

That there is a 97 TJ Wrangler engine, attached to a 93 XJ Cherokee AX15, with a 97 TJ bellhousing, 93 XJ clutch and pressure plate, 1988 MJ flywheel and finally a 92 NP 242 transfer case.

It also has a multitude of 1988,1992,1993,1995,1997,2000 XJ/TJ/ZJ parts Mish mashed in the 4.0 was a basicly unchanged design until 1999 when the TJ and ZJ got a completely different block design (well just different enough to make swapping impractical).

 

All the stock 1988 Renix bits mounted up fine to the block (water pump, alternator and brackets, distributor, . The only issue was the knock sensor, the hole was there and already tapped, just needed chasing before mounting the sensor. Had to cut the lower most alternator bracket bolt (on timing cover) short a bit as the earlier holes were pass through, but the later blocks were blind holes (easy fix, or other option was to drill hole through like the earlier blocks). Other than that, I relocated the CBS and temp guage sender to the thermostat housing (from a 90 something) the hole was there, and a plug installed, but I wanted it all more reachable.

 

Just to confirm, the blocks will swap.

 

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk