I have a 1987 Cherokee and the motor went south on it. I found one out of a 2000 will it bolt in? Were there any changes made to the engine mounts or the transmission bolt patterns?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

it will bolt in

It will bolt in. Might be a few small changes (sensors) but it will bolt in just fine.

It will bolt in....but....yours has a distributor, 2000 and up has coil packs...lot's of things have to change.

Make sure you grab the coil pack, ECU, sensors, wiring harness, etc...

Your basically tossing a 2000 OBD II 4.0 into a Renix XJ... not just a cakewalk lol

Forgot about that> I have a 2000xj so I just take that stuff for granted

It looks like the mounting point is still there to stab the distributor. I might have to change the camshafts out but it looks doable

You should do a write up on your swap, Im sure many of us would like to see how you change over a newer engine to an older cherokee.

yes it will swap in. i put a 2001 engine in my 91 xj.

yes i know its not a renix, but a 4.0 is a 4.0 as far as bolting up....i have been told tj blocks have different mounting holes for the motor mounts. i have never looked to confirm.

you just stab the distributor in the coil pickup hole(its the same hole as a distributor). just use all the brkts and accessories off of your 87. only use the block, head, and valve cover and it works like a charm.....no need to change cams.


EDIT-there was one difference. the 01 engine did not have a hole on the back head for the temp sensor. i made an adapter to put the sensor in my heater core feed line. its not hard to do.



pm me with any questions.

Arent 2000 models notorius for head issues?

Yes they are. If your going to get something from a newer xj then get something 97-99 they dont have head issues because they have a different casting. If you want the best go for a 99 if you can get the intake/head with it because it flows better then other years.

yep. i didnt really think of that.....use the 87 head.

IIRC it is both the 2000 and the 2001 that can have issues.

Thanks for all the info guys. I am going to pick up the motor. I will let you knoe how it goes...

All you really need to do is swap all your renix onto the ho block and head. You might have to check if the older intake will bolt up to the 0331 head or if the newer intake will work out ok. Make sure the 0331 is the newer casting also. It will be worth haveing the better head.(bad head casting mid 1999 thru early 2001)