XJwonders

I replied to your pm three times. It appear it didn't go through, as there's no copies in my outbox. Let me know if you got my responses.

OverlandZJ

The OPDA (oil pump drive assembly) has a design flaw, an unlubricated bushing that seizes on the pump shaft. This can and has taken out oil pumps and camshafts.

Theres a very long thread on JeepForum, where someone came up with a kit to replace the bushing (SD mod iirc) and Crown or someone has started producing improved OPDA assemblies.

We became aware of this after buying a 25K mile LJ Rubicon and having it shipped cross country. I did the SD mod, then replaced the OPDA altogether with a replacement.

I'll dig up the link.. it's a very long read TBH.

KevinC506

Okay I googled and found a thread on it and an installation video for a new OPDA. I'll more than likely go ahead and grab one then. It only makes sense. We have an 05 TJ motor we just grabbed as well, so I'm sure that one may be just as susceptible to the issue. When I grabbed this motor the PO said it drove fine and no noise. His word seemed credible.

Better to be safe than sorry.

On a sort of related note, the wiring for it, I still don't know if it will work with the XJ harness. Are those wires just for the Cam sensor part of it? If so I'm think it might be a simple splice job.

KevinC506

Engine brackets are finalized. Here's the final product. Will be dropping the motor in within a week or so.

Still have to swap the other accessories and things from our 05 donor motor. If we are gonna have issues its gonna be with this part. We took mouniting locations into affect when making these brackets, but we all know what happens next in any build right??

Passenger Side




Driver Side

KevinC506

Alrighty time for some more updates.

I swapped over all the accessories from the '05 TJ donor motor to my '06. I even powder coated the valve cover our signature blue. This thing looks mean.





Since I'm not running A/C I made a custom block where the lines go to the compressor. Of course..powder coat..If you have it why not use it.



I ran into my first potential issue or at least a concern. The Mechanical fan. On the XJ the fan appears to be about 15" in diameter, on the TJ it seems to be about 18". Not only that but the TJ doesn't have an Electric fan like we do. Hence the larger fan I guess. This I didn't quite know since I've been dealing with XJ's all my life. My hope is that it will still clear. I don't have an A/C condenser attached to my Radiator, so that frees up some room.

XJ Fan



TJ Fan



The only thing I see happening is two issues.

First one being that the fan is too big in diameter to fit properly. If that's the case the solution will be to somehow swap the XJ fan onto it. Not sure how that looks.

Second potential issue I see is the fan being to far forward. I don't think this will be that big of deal, but I'm expecting surprises. If this is the case then we can either A) see if we can scoot the motor back a hair by make custom mounts to offset it (not the brackets on the block). or B) somehow make the XJ fan work. It would require removing the pully bearing and pressing the XJ stuff in or whatever black magic it entails.

One thing that sorta important is a fan shroud, if the TJ fan works I might have to acquire a TJ fan shroud and make it fit.

If the TJ fan does not work what so ever, I can easily go full electric fans and eliminate this issue entirely. Not a big fan of full electric, so if I can the mechanical to work I will. I already run an extra Efan as a pusher that is spliced into the stock XJ Efan wiring harness as well as an override switch. One way or another I'll make it work.

All I need to do now before I drop it in is get a new radiator, transmission lines, put in a new kickdown cable (they cut the cable on my new to me AW4..idiots..) Wire in new Crankshaft Position Sensor Connector to accept the TJ 4.0 Oil Pump Drive Assembly AKA our CPS, and get some new breather hoses thrown on the tranny and tcase.

I'm optimistic yet cautious

KevinC506

A little bit of an Update for this week.

I was contacted by a user on here XJWonders. I had been wanting to upgrade my battery and starter cables for quite sometime now. He makes just that thing, for stock replacements in thicker gauge or custom jobs. Much like Kelleyswhip that some of us may know. I just got my cables in Monday. They look stout and well put together. They will do nicely I have no doubt. Got inline fuses and terminal connectors in the package as well I'll take pictures when its time to install them.

XJWonders 4Awg Cables



Most newer TJs to my knowledge are manual 6 speeds I believe. Whatever the case, you may have a pilot bearing at the output of the motor. If you're still gonna rock the AW4, you must remove the bearing and its a pain in the butt. The best way to remove it is to jam stuff in there and press it out. How? Well..a Peanut butter and grease sandwich of course!



No seriously, Youtube the solution. Bread or any thick material with high viscosity is the answer to create the back pressure to press the bearing out. I ended up only having to use bread, grease didn't work because it kept seeping out around my punch thingy I made on the lathe.



Yummy!



There she blows!



As of right now I have the motor all put together minus the exhaust manifolds that are on order. I also have new 784 Fuel Injectors inbound as well. Intake is spit shine clean and awaiting install with exhaust manifolds. Engine mounts are bolted up ready to roll. Transmission kickdown cable is also on the way. I'm just waiting on these parts now and then its officially go time.

bad_idea

There is an attachment for a slide hammer that fits inside a pilot bearing. Couple yanks on a slide hammer got the one out of my Camaro. Can rent one at an auto parts store, or buy a slide hammer kit for ~$80.

KevinC506

That makes total sense. Didn't think of that, but I guess I had stuff in the shop to use.

bad_idea

I'm not knocking what you do, rather ingenious. Didn't say it before, excellent work so far. I haven't messed with 4WDs much, mostly muscle cars. So it surprises me that you prefer a mechanical fan over electric. Why is that?

KevinC506

I've been told you should just go full electric by the people I work with, I've just always had the stock setup with an additional pusher and done just fine. I'm not opposed to the idea, its just currently cheaper to use what I have if its gonna work than add another item to the list.

The only disputable difference that some may or may not agree with, which is fine, is that a properly maintained cooling system will work. However, bigger tires and weight etc adds strain on the trail so I opt for an extra efan and have everything wired to kick on with stock efan or override stock fan whenever i want. Worked for me at least.

More than likely I will end up with an efan setup at some point lol. The TJ fan is a lot bigger and we are cramming it behind a different radiator with different dimensions.

Lowrange2

Kevin:

We talked about this on FB so I'll forget my original overall feelings on the topic but something else is bugging me now. I could kinda see where you were coming from if you were swapping all of the XJ components onto the TJ block but by leaving all the TJ accessories you're leaving out the option of AC. Seems to me that 90% of people would rather have custom brackets made to hold the XJ parts on the TJ block. Since you're developing a swap kit, I would think you'd want to build the complete kit.

If I were swapping this engine into an XJ I'd be much more likely to buy a complete kit to swap accessories vs. running 40 ft of new wire and AC lines from god knows what.

It just seems like you're missing out on a good opportunity to complete the kit. Instead the swap is going to be far more difficult for your average guy.

Because the mechanical fan pushes far more CFM than any electric fan available on the market. People go all electric and wonder why their Jeeps overheat.

KevinC506

When did we talk about this on Facebook? But you're right it would be more beneficial to have a complete kit like that. We have the engine brackets made and they work. We still technically can make accessory brackets if we wanted. We have a few motors on stands from a TJ WJ and XJ. The idea isn't dead and can still be done. Valid point you have though.

As far as A/C goes I was looking at a 02 TJ the other day and the A/C lines cross over the motor and go into around the same are that the XJ lines go in. So I would just try and run TJ lines. Unless of course there's some other detail I haven't noticed yet. Such is life.

I've heard that about the mechanical fan too more so than that I need to switch to electric lol. If it ain't broke don't fix it and my non electric ways have been working for years now

Lowrange2

On one of your posts about making these brackets. I'm friends with you on FB.

KevinC506

Ah right, Andy, sorry.

Everything you've said in regards to this is true and I most certainly do not dismiss anything you say.

So far this isn't difficult thing to do, but that can change.

I'm meticulously sharing every detail about this purely for documentation purposes.

If a "Swap Kit" comes out of it, so be it. This thread still holds value.

KevinC506

Time for an update.

Motor is in and fits just fine. Everything is plugged in and ready to rock motor wise. Still have to put my transmission in and a new radiator then we are ready for first start.



There are of course a couple minor issues that I was worried about and ran into as expected.

The Mechanical Fan

I made this a bigger deal than it was, here I thought I was gonna have to go full electric. Then it hit me right in the face. You just unbolt the fan from the fan clutch and bolt the XJ blades onto the TJ fan clutch and you're done Here I am making up new curse words. No biggy after all. Just my ignorance.

A new issue arose.

Radiator Hose

Since the TJ water pump spits out the lower radiator hose at a different angle to clear the A/C compressor your XJ hose won't work. It will however work for the upper hose since the thermostat is exactly the same. I will have to cut some hose and make some sort of home remedy. Not that big of a deal, just something worth mentioning (In the picture it might be on backwards because I was experimenting angles).

Lower XJ Hose



Upper XJ Hose




Although we have yet to hear it run to confirm that everything works, I am drawing the conclusion that this swap is pretty damn easy to do. All you need thus far is brackets to mount the thing and the rest you can do on your own easily. I'll do a more comprehensive review of the project when it's all said and done.