Skyman207

Hey All, I have recently Acquired a 1999 2.5L 2wd XJ with a nearly mint body, the issues is the engine and transmission are basically shot, I was going to use this simpler engine to ease myself into fortifying engine and transmission rebuilding procedures but i just came across a '93 4.0L 4x4 XJ with a good strong drive train but a body that is rusted to hell. What I am wondering is how difficult would it be to gut the '93 and drop it into the '99 so id end up with a nearly mint 4.0 4x4 cherokee? have any of y'all played with this idea or even done it before? what kind of unexpected problems should I consider? obviously im very skeptical on it being an easy replace but would everything from the donor car fit on the 2.5L and make it essentially a 4.0 4x4? im new to this forum so im not sure if i am posting this correctly, if i can do anything to fix that please let me know!

Red1992XJ

It sounds like you are lucky to come across these two Jeeps. As far as I know, to swap the 93 engine into the 99, it is possible, but will require a lot of work and patience.

You may need to source a lot of electronics from a 99 that is a 4.0.

It would probably just be easier to look for a 99 4.0 that is 4wd that you can scavenge for parts. Being that everything is the same year, parts will work better together. The 93 is an obd1 computer system, while the 99 is an obd2. It may cost more, but there will be less hassle with unexplained problems of getting two different systems to work together.

Dmoney32

I just did a swap but both vehicles were the same year and both 4.0 liter. It was plug and play pretty much. Everything bilted right up and it worked as it should. But with that difference in years and engine size, I'd say that itll be a bit more complicated and pricey. But where theres a will theres a way!

DON TX

I'm wondering if you went thru with the change out? I'm considering a drive train swap (engne, tranny, transfer case, rear end) from a '99 to '04..