Is an engine swap inevitable?
- Thread starter The4bangertj
- Start date
Dammit! Ryan has hacked my account again!
I figured it was something like that.... That or the Invasion of the Body Snatchers...
Not really, they all have plenty of support. The main differences are the generations. Gen 3 is 97 to 06/early 07, Gen 4 is late 05 to 20 I believe and Gen 5 2013 to present.
Gen 3 and 4 are generally pretty easy to swap and everyone and their brother makes a stand alone harness for them. I haven’t really looked into Gen 5.
Personally I went with Gen 3 for a few reasons. 1st being I got a complete running 6.0L truck for $1,000. Next, I wanted to stay DBC and I wanted to keep the factory cruise steering wheel controls working. Novak’s tach emulator adapts the cruise buttons to GM language but it only works on Gen 3. You can get aftermarket systems such as the Rosta to work with Gen 4, I just didn’t want to go that route.
A lot can come down to what transmission you want to run if going with a GM automatic. Gen 3 is either 4L60 or 4L80 while Gen 4 is 6L80 which is arguably better than the Gen 3 options.
Either way, a ton of support no matter which way you go.
Have you looked at swapping a tdi in? Not sure how the rest of your drive train would handle it, but theyre lighter than the 4.0, rev to 5k, put out more torque and sip fuel... the price of the swap is obviously going to be a bit higher, but you'd save that in fuel before long at all. Theres a couple companies that make the swap kit depending on which engine code you want to go for.
People running em are getting 25-30 mpg on a built tj, all while keeping the stock trans and gauges. The nice thing with the rpm too is it's about the same as the 4l
People running em are getting 25-30 mpg on a built tj, all while keeping the stock trans and gauges. The nice thing with the rpm too is it's about the same as the 4l
Not enough. I just figured they had less support. I do like the idea of a little diesel since I’ve loved my little 4cyl getting 17-22 mpg but I’m not familiar with diesel at all and at the point of having it be a fun toy I won’t really care about the mpg.
If you were to go Dodge you can run a Magnum 5.2 or 5.9 with either of them capable of being stroked to larger displacement too. With these your PCM talks to the stock dash which is a nice feature and the blending of the wiring harness is easy enough that it's DIY.
Now the other nice thing is that you can run either a AX15 manual or if you want an auto your choices range from a 46RE 4 speed to the NEW 8HP70. The really cool feature of the 8HP70 is the 4.7:1 1st gear.
If you go Hemi you want a 05-08 truck engine as they work the best for this swap. You can use newer engines but they require frame modifications to make the accessory drive to fit. Then your options are again a AX15 manual or either a 545RFE or 8HP70 auto. For the wiring harness you'd have to send it out to Hotwire. Or the other option is to run a Holley Terminator Max for a standalone harness.
Nothing against LS engines but I just prefer to stick with MoPar.
And as TJuser there is the option of a TDI swap...
With the Magnum V-8 you can keep the stock kegger intake & it FI but it's MPI not TBI. There is a dual plane intake you can get for them also. And then TB that are bored out to 52mm or 53mm unless you're running a stroker and then you go to a 58mm.
Now the other nice thing is that you can run either a AX15 manual or if you want an auto your choices range from a 46RE 4 speed to the NEW 8HP70. The really cool feature of the 8HP70 is the 4.7:1 1st gear.
If you go Hemi you want a 05-08 truck engine as they work the best for this swap. You can use newer engines but they require frame modifications to make the accessory drive to fit. Then your options are again a AX15 manual or either a 545RFE or 8HP70 auto. For the wiring harness you'd have to send it out to Hotwire. Or the other option is to run a Holley Terminator Max for a standalone harness.
Nothing against LS engines but I just prefer to stick with MoPar.
And as TJuser there is the option of a TDI swap...
With the Magnum V-8 you can keep the stock kegger intake & it FI but it's MPI not TBI. There is a dual plane intake you can get for them also. And then TB that are bored out to 52mm or 53mm unless you're running a stroker and then you go to a 58mm.
I'm finalizing a 4.8L stroker to replace the 4.0L and I assure you it is not going to end up much cheaper than an LS swap when I'm done. I have my reasons. None of them are especially good. 4.0Ls go for a decent amount rebuilt - and then you're rolling the dice on flat tappet cam failures. I wouldn't do it if swapping from 2.5L, personally.
Today's issue (part shared with 2.5L) - my throttle cable has been dragging a bit. Not always, but every once in a while I have been getting a runaway high idle as I pulled up to light. I confirmed in HP Tuners VCM scanner that the throttle position was only getting down to 3-4% when this happened.
I went to replace it today with the only aftermarket one available currently from Crown and... it was made incorrectly. A little too short plus one other fitment issue. Resulted in a nice 3000rpm idle any time you put the clutch in. So now I'm looking at plan B and C options.
They've got pretty decent support. You can get an adapter for the trans from tdconversions, or cotybuilt sells everything for the conversion, harness adapter and all.
The diesels are nice with the simplicity, and the low down torque is great for offroad. TDI's are readily available and reliable, and it doesnt take much to hop up their power.
Look at some YouTube vids on em. They get pretty peppy, make great little rigs.
Are you building the stroker? Details?
I’m surprised the TDIs are findable. I thought VW bought most of them back after dieselgate in 2015?
an EV swap kit may be available by the time you need it
I think it was the 2l and 3l tdi's that were part of the buyback? The 1.9 TDI ALH, BEW and BRM engines are easy enough to find on marketplace.
I would've thought those engines were too small, but what they can manage is actually pretty impressive. They sound pretty darn good too.
+1 on the magnum swap, but @The4bangertj, make no mistake, if you do it's to satisfy your inner desire to do it. There will be odd-and-end things you will need to figure out, and finding parts will get a bit more complicated.
For example, I didn't know the ID of the 4cyl vs 6cyl TJ was different on the power steering hose(6cyl and Dodge Ram ID are the same); that little detail kept me from having to wait on new parts, and when searching for parts, I have four cars I need to cross-reference to make sure I get the right stuff:
--01 Ram(donor car)
-01 TJ 4cyl (Original motor)
-01 TJ 6 cyl (misc parts that fit the 5.9 magnum, like power steering lines with no sensor)
-05 LJ(Rear axle)
Love my 5.9 swap, but it's in no way easier to find parts than my old 4cyl.
I think that speaks volumes as to why the LS swaps are so popular. There is good interchangeability between many versions of the engine all the way up to current. Better parts availability for everything from accessories, to ECUs and every performance component. Aftermarket "blueprint" crate motor options. And every mount and adapter under the sun.
I'm glad aftermarket support is coming around for the 4.0L and the TJ in general, but it can be hit and miss with low quality clones. It doesn't seem like Chrysler has been especially good about parts support over the long term.
I'm glad aftermarket support is coming around for the 4.0L and the TJ in general, but it can be hit and miss with low quality clones. It doesn't seem like Chrysler has been especially good about parts support over the long term.
None. My point is more that it’s going to be easier to find parts for a factory setup then it will be for any swap, magnum or otherwise.
In just about any swap you usually need to piece together parts from different
to make it come together. My examples are radiator hoses, shift linkage, pcm, power steering hoses, power steering pump and probably a few others I can’t remember at the moment. I would still do it again, but not because I thought it would be easier to find parts for my swap than it was for my 4cyl.
None. My point is more that it’s going to be easier to find parts for a factory setup then it will be for any swap, magnum or otherwise.
In just about any swap you usually need to piece together parts from different
I would still do it again, but not because I thought it would be easier to find parts for my swap than it was for my 4cyl.
As long as the parts you're using are factory and aren't unique to a short build time I'd guess most things will be available.
I have a book with all my different part numbers.
Example is my front axle. It's Ford but has some Chevy parts.
Or brakes.. I'm using a Hummvee master cylinder.
So long as you keep track of the parts IMO it's no different than having the stock engine.
Only better cause it's a V-8........
And again the more simple you can make it IMO the better. So that's why I'm for using a MoPar engine.
But I understand people's desire to use other platforms
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