programmer/chip
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 107
Likes: 0
From: scranton, pa
Year: 1996
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0 HO
is it worth the money what are the positivites and the neg....i pull my snowmobiles and my bass boat with my xj..33's 5.5 lift how can i make the pulling easier other than goin back to stock it has no prob pulling but i think i can make it easier
Everyone says that its a wast of money and no gain. I have yet to try it but most company's say that it changes shift points. That would do just what you need. They also say they flirt with the computer and get her all twitter-painted. All of the people that trash this up grade have yet to tell me why chips do wonders for any other vehicle and not jeeps. To me that just dose not make seance. Call me crazy but as far as I know with any motor more air and more fuel = more power. Maybe I'm dumb!
Get a set of 4 hole injectors, do a good tune up, new plugs wires ect. The get your self a set of 4:56 gears those will make the biggest difference in driving and towing with your XJ
Senior Member
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 530
Likes: 0
From: Nevada City, California
Year: 2K
Model: Cherokee
Engine: I6 with Mustang fuel injectors; 60mm Throttle Body;
I had the MSD - 6 Off-Road Ignition Control on my 99 Cherokee and it did increase the seat of the pants power and it did have more low end power. Nice to have a big capacitor discharge to give the plugs full power at low speeds.
If I get one for my 2k Cherokee I will get the Hypertech so I can get the shifts changed and the speedometer calibrated to compensate for the 32's and 4:56 gears.
If I get one for my 2k Cherokee I will get the Hypertech so I can get the shifts changed and the speedometer calibrated to compensate for the 32's and 4:56 gears.
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Depends what you have already done to the motor. The more mods you have the more it will affect. Someone telling you a chip did nothing for their hemi probably isn't the most reliable source of info.
If you were to get 4 hole injectors out of a neon (depending on your year), upgrade the ignition system to open up the plug gaps, go to a 2.5" exhaust and a bigger intake setup (cold air will help if its a nice one with heat sheild, or you could do a cowl air induction for true cold air). After you do all that then yeah, your going to see a very nice power increase for towing with that computer chip. Stock though, with a stock flowing intake/exhaust/spark/fuel system, you will see very little increase, just **** points and maybe 1-2 mpg increase. The ECU stock is already set to run just about perfect with factory perameters.
Gears are also another thing to look at. The cheaper option is finding an 8.8 with 4.10's and a d30 with 4.10's out of a 4 banger cherokee or YJ (Yj will require more work though). Second option is just re-gearing which I would go to 4.56 for 33's.
Good luck... your going to get a bunch of people telling you that they dont work which is basically because nobody can afford them and need to justify the fact that they dont have them.. I have ran 2 XJ's with them and the modded one (all the mods I listed, current XJ) has easily way more power. Im not sure how much because my @ss isnt a dyno but Its enough to chirp the tires with the auto tranny hits 2nd gear at WOT (31s, 4.10 gears)
If you were to get 4 hole injectors out of a neon (depending on your year), upgrade the ignition system to open up the plug gaps, go to a 2.5" exhaust and a bigger intake setup (cold air will help if its a nice one with heat sheild, or you could do a cowl air induction for true cold air). After you do all that then yeah, your going to see a very nice power increase for towing with that computer chip. Stock though, with a stock flowing intake/exhaust/spark/fuel system, you will see very little increase, just **** points and maybe 1-2 mpg increase. The ECU stock is already set to run just about perfect with factory perameters.
Gears are also another thing to look at. The cheaper option is finding an 8.8 with 4.10's and a d30 with 4.10's out of a 4 banger cherokee or YJ (Yj will require more work though). Second option is just re-gearing which I would go to 4.56 for 33's.
Good luck... your going to get a bunch of people telling you that they dont work which is basically because nobody can afford them and need to justify the fact that they dont have them.. I have ran 2 XJ's with them and the modded one (all the mods I listed, current XJ) has easily way more power. Im not sure how much because my @ss isnt a dyno but Its enough to chirp the tires with the auto tranny hits 2nd gear at WOT (31s, 4.10 gears)
CF Veteran
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 3,379
Likes: 0
From: Forest, VA
Year: 1999
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0 I6
had it in my '99. APN headers, stratus injectors, 63mm tb, flowmaster muffler, high flow cat.
it would do great for about 30 seconds and then get worse. by the end of 5 minutes, my xj would be acting up. there's no function to change the shift points for the XJ AW4. that's just the general function of the programmer for other vehicles that it works on.
and if you try to change the rev limiter, the CEL comes on.
i sent it back. definitely waste of money.
it would do great for about 30 seconds and then get worse. by the end of 5 minutes, my xj would be acting up. there's no function to change the shift points for the XJ AW4. that's just the general function of the programmer for other vehicles that it works on.
and if you try to change the rev limiter, the CEL comes on.
i sent it back. definitely waste of money.
MJ>XJ
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 17,836
Likes: 7
From: Griffin, G.A.
Year: 1990
Model: Comanche
Engine: 4.0 I6
i got the JET chip for my old 97 ZJ for christmas one year and i didnt notice a thing on 33's... if any of the "chip" companies would have done some good it would have been JET...
I had the Jet chip in my 02 tj (33's 4" lift ) and it was very noticable, i towed two jetskis all summer with it. Helped out mainly getting things moving from a stop. Thinking about putting it on my "new to me" cherokee
MJ>XJ
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 17,836
Likes: 7
From: Griffin, G.A.
Year: 1990
Model: Comanche
Engine: 4.0 I6
welcome to the forum! now you gotta ditch the pricey TJ... lol


