My 97 Cherokee needs a new engine.
I'm thinking of getting a used engine, because a new one is $1800
I can find whole Cherokee's for under $1,000
So my question is;
What years should I be considering ?
From what year to what year

 

If I read your post right you want to buy a donor and use the engine,if so I would stay with 97-99,reason are that in 97 the xj received another new intake and some wiring changes to the connectors,it would make for an easier swap,however you could get away with a bare block from 91 on. The other thing to consider is that in 1996 the engine was tweak again to produce power at lower rpm ranges.
I would recommend going online and searching jeep cherokee history,I think it will help.

 

I just replaced my 96 4.0 with a 98 4.0.was told 96,97,98 are the only 3 years that are interchangeable. For your year anyhow without changing the computer and other things.

 

is this last post true?

 

I have desided to have mine Rebuilt

 

Came across this post and Im in the same situation - I have a 97 auto that needs new cylinder head but has the cylinder 1 tap tap tap-- I just scored a 96 XJ 4.0 auto with a burnt out tranny -- What's my best options here --

96 is avaialble for parts but I want to start on this asap

thanks