jrhea

i just bought a cherokee 87 model has the v6 i have not ever been aroud one do they have the power the straights do or the dependablity.

bikerider

no you didn't. 87 was the first year that Jeep went with the 4.0 over the 2.8 V6. Yours must be an 86 or older. The 2.8 V6 isn't a good engine at all. It was bought from Chevy for the Cherokee for the first three years of production. From what I hear, the 2.5 4 cylinder is a pretty decent engine on par with the 4.0.

brutalxj

I have yet to hear any good out of any experiences with those motors. I have heard they are weak and not reliable but I have never owned one. If it were me I would swap in and I-6 because I love them and think Jeep died when they got rid of it. just my 2cents.

jrhea

i got one with the i6 but i could not pass this one up if it is a 86 thats ok it only cost 200 bucks and itruns just not very good can i swap the motors easy or will it be a big job

JeepCoMJ

firewalls, front crossmember, and radiator support are all different.

the firewall needs to be beat with a hammer on the passenger side around the bellhousing area, and then all the front end stuff needs to be swapped, hood needs to be swapped, and then of course every single ounce of wiring, plus the gas tank, need to be swapped.


not worth the effort on an xj...buy one with a 4.0. worth the effort on an MJ...good luck finding ANY MJ's much less one with the 4.0 in it.


and, nope. you don't have an '87 with a V6. not possible.

gmullin

if its a 2.8 chevy motor get a tbi v8 and just make motor mounts all youwould have to do is extend some wires and swap the prom chip in the computer to a v8 one

jrhea

this is going to be a rock crawler anyway so the wiring does not matter much if a sbc 350 will bolt in and the tranny is not electronic controlled i am set motor mount fab is no problem for me.

XxXJ99xX

I believe theres an engine swap for the 3.4 Camaro engine that swaps right in the place of the 2.8, except for the usual things that need to be changed such as wiring harness and some components need to be relocated ect. its better that you just get one with the 4.0 as stated above but if your stuck with it then i recomend the 3.4 swap. Also someone has a chevy 4.3 in there cherokee on here but that required a MAJOR overhaul.

jrhea

well i figure for 200 dollars the v6 model can't be that bad i know theres not much in spare parts for my 92 since everything works except the motor runs rough

xjmuddigger

i woulda bought it 4 $200 keep it as a donor then strip whats not needed and throw in a 3.4 and have it as a toy,but that just my opinion

jrhea

drove it home i think its just the fuel pump

xjmuddigger

throw in sum sea foam in it,i kno some ppl dont like sea foam but ive seen it work in my buddies stang gt,but itll help it run better and clean everything

JeepCoMJ

...


well, for you who think the trans can be hooked to a sbc...nope, you're flat out wrong. the 2.8 is a 60 degree gm v6. if automatic, the trans is either a mechanically operated TH or TF 904...can't remember. if manual, it is an ax4 or ax5 manual transmission...it WILL NOT hold up to any more power than the 2.8l v6, or the 2.5l I4.

your engine swap options for "bolt-in" (with upgrade in the same sentence) are a 3.4l gm v6 from a '91-'95 F-body style gm car (camaro, firebird). you may retain your factory fuel delivery system, but you're MUCH better off also getting the camaro wiring harness and "piggybacking" it to the factory jeep harness, after removing all of the camaro "nonessentials".

basically, strip the camaro/firebird wiring clear of the heater wiring, the lighting wiring, , etc.


you will swap over your stock 2.8 oil pickup and oil pan, timing cover, and exhaust manifolds. this eliminates oil pan to axle clearance issues.


to make up for the lack of external mounting points for the mechanical pump on the motor (which wouldn't supply enough PSI anyways for the MPFI system from the 3.4), you put in a 4.0 fuel tank and sender, and wire in a relay. ta-da. you now have slightly comparable hp and torque to a 4.0.

jrhea

thanks for your help sounds like a big job on a poor example of a jeep, ithink i will just drive it untill she dies and then use the transfer case and axles and body parts as spares for my other cherokee

xj8588

as much as i hat to admit it, i bought an 85 with the gm 2.8 a wile back. ( it got it for 52$ and the interior was pefrect.) i agree 100% that the engine is gutless and with 33s it takes forever to get up to 35mph up hill, and the highway is off limits lol. but reliability has never been a problem, except for the time i drove it into a lake upto the middle of the hood and sucked up a little water, lol maybe it was alot. but for the beating its taken i cant complain. i would do as you said, just run it till it dies (im at 293454) on the od and its just now starting to loose a little "power". if its going to be a rock crawler i would consider a heafty regear and some sort of mpfi or equivalent sawp to replace the rochester 2b (not good with extreme off roading angles) or just give it to your girlfriend as i did and buy a jeep with a 4.0. no matter what you do good luck