I was in the junk yard today nosing around and came across an older Cherokee with this engine in it. The 2.8L V-6. How rare is this thing? I really don't recall seeing one before and I'm in junk yards constantly.

 

They are pretty rare now considering it is a 84 85 or 86 XJ Not many of the 2.8L powered ones are still on the road the 2.8L is a junk engine IMO

 

they are around. avoid them like the plague though.

 

I would rather have the plague than a 2.8 V6.

 

is the 2.8v6 thats in the jeep the same motor thats in the chevette and older s10 blazers? that old it was AMC not jeep? even my 87 is a AMC.

 

Didn't some of them come with 4:10 gearing?

 

2.8s are like the convict of the xj world they look the same on the out side but once you start looking whats inside them its all bad

 

I drive one and it hangs with the 4.0L guys on the trails. They are indeed a GM motor that AMC outsourced to fill the void while the 4.0L was being finished. Not a rare motor, but getting harder to find Cherokees powered by them because of their age (84-86). Poor power, fuel economy sucks (I get 12-14 mpg), but it's never not got the job done. The 2se carb is the biggest turd on it. A lot of S10 guys loved them, in the Jeep they got/get no love.

 

i bought a 86 cherokee chief for 450 it couldn't pull its own weight at 55 in fifth gear, horrible engine with a severly stripped out spark plug head you could move it around about a sixteenth of an inch.at least it was very trail worthy in 4wd being stock.i never got stuck and helped my friend in his lifted dodge 1500 out of the mud hole but didnt have long enough chains so his bumper went through my rear windshield

 

I saw an old Cherokee with a v6 on the road at Sams Club. It sounded like complete crap. Almost like it couldn't hold itself together.

You've seen the movies where a car dies right? PUT PUT PUT, yeah it sounded just like that.

 

Yes, it's a GM v6 with only 115 or so hp. Only came in 84-86 XJs and the ****tiest part is the engine bays on them are too small for the 4.0 to be swapped into. Only way it will have 4.10 gears is if it had the old OHV package. Should have 27 spline D30 and D35.

4 cyl XJs tend to have the 4.10 gears.

 

Eh.. Just seeing the text "2.8L" brought back bad memories lol.

 

I was glad the crank in mine was broke in half when I got it. It was a decent engine in a 4x4 S-10 I had.

 

yea i agree 100% with this...

 

Ah, the GM 2.8L. How I never saw this thread before, I don't understand. I've had so, so many cars with that engine... and so, so many of them that blew up with that engine. Awful, awful thing.

Actually... I've had it in... er... eight (?) vehicles. Five of them blew up horribly -- generally at a Garden State Parkway toll plaza -- due to bad bearings. Two more blew out head gaskets. The last was an S-10 with the only non-fuel-injected 2.8 I ever owned (it had that wonky throttle body setup). It was awful as well -- I have vivid memories of people flipping me off on the road for not going over 50, but that's all it could do! -- but it never crapped out. Dunno about that one. Some S-10 guys do stand by them, but I hated the thing.