4.3 vortec in a 97 TJ = Good?

O

O.D.

Well-known member
Club Member
I just about have the TJ completely torn apart and am now sitting here thinking..... Is this a good time to swap to a larger motor? I told myself i wouldn't do this, however the temptations are just getting too strong :finger:

I came across a 2000 4.3 vortec for sale and was wondering if this would be a good fit on a 97 TJ with the 2.5L?

Realistically, what would be involved? Is it worth the hassle? I thought i recall reading on a few other boards that a 4.3 is a great motor for a jeep...
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K

kbrousseau

Guest
If you want to swap out the 2.5l for more power why not just swap in a 4.0l.
They make decent power and I would think the swap would be much easier since TJ's came with that engine anyway. Just pick up a donor motor and the harness and it should be pretty straight forward, easier that a 4.3l I would think anyway.

Just my .02
 
R

Root Moose

Guest
I agree with Keith, if you are going with a 6 cylinder stick in an old Rmbler tractor engine and call it done. The 4.0 is a great engine for what it is.

The 4.3 is a great little engine. It's an SBC with two cylinders removed. But...

Personally, if I was going to bother with doing a non-OEM engine swap I'd make sure that it was worth the time given the amount of effort required. To me that means at least going to a V8 of some flavour.

The obvious/easy setup is a SBC. If I was starting with a blank peice of paper I wouldn't settle for less than a Gen IV SBC, but that is just me... My YJ will end up with a Gen I SBC (L03 w/ < 10k kms - yay!) because that is what I have lying around.

Other options are Dodge 5.2/5.9, ChryCo 4.7, Ford of some flavour although these don't seem to be that popular. Part of it might be that Ford auto transmissions and transfer cases don't seem to be that popular. I dunno why really...

An intriguing swap is a Toyota 1UZ to AW4 out of a XJ. I've seen some pages talking about it and one guy started it but didn't finish it.

One thing to keep in mind, if you don't want to have to redo the instrument cluster that means sticking with an OEM setup (4.0). I'm not 100% certain but IIRC there is no way to stick in a Dodge or ChryCo V8 without redoing the cluster because they all use the ChryCo data bus vs the Jeep data bus that is used with the 2.5 and 4.0. I may be incorrect on that so research it if it is something that you are concerned about.

With all the stuff you want to do maybe keeping an engine swap simple makes sense? That means a 4.0. If at some point in the future you find you could use more power you could consider building a stroker out of the 4.0 or adding a blower. I've been debating this myself the last few weeks with the YJ.

HTH
 
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chunkytrunks

chunkytrunks

That's MR.EX Pres to you!
Club Member
PLus it is easy to get more power out of a 4.0L by doing a stroker kit. Cheap and very effective.
 
Richard

Richard

Commoner
Club Member
To answer your question, you'd either need to buy a tranny adapter or a matching tranny and t-case, maybe custom connections to the PS pump and fuel system, a wiring harness to splice into your existing harness...and likely many more things you'd discover as you go along eating up more time and money than you expected.

Or, if you think you'll want the V8 later stick to the 2.5 for now so you can hit the trails sooner and spend the time and money later. :smokin:
 
Farm Boy

Farm Boy

Bought the Farm
You'd be likely looking at atleast couple thousand bucks to do the motor swap. It's exactly the same amout of work (and cost other than the motor)to swap a V6 as it is a V8. I thought long and hard about this and eventually settled on the V8 (if you can call a LQ9 settling :D). No one ever says I wish I had a 6 instead of the 8, but you hear all the time people saying I wish I had more power. The only reason I'd go with a V6 over a V8 is there physically isn't enough room for the 8.

Easiest is the 4.0 (other than keeping the 4 bannger)

Just about any V8 is a good option (SBC, 5.0 Ford, Hemi, etc) but you need to fully research the swap,what else needs to be upgraded to handle the power -- D30/35 won't handle a V8 for example and what your budget is.

There is a guy on ZookPower that wanted to do a 203/205 combo in his Zook because he had them. Not a good option for him even concidering he had them already.
 
O

O.D.

Well-known member
Club Member
Thanks everyone for the great info.... I think at this time, it is just wishful thinking and should just focus on getting it all back together and out on the trails this summer... I tend to spend too much time attempting to foresee what will be and then attempt to address it all at once rather than possibly replicate work in the future.. In this case though, i think i will just stick with the 2.5L and D30/35's for now.

One of the reasons that was driving this is that i am quite certain that there are multiple seal leaks on the 2.5 / tranny and if i am going through all this effort to clean the mess up, i just don't want to get it all back together and have the mess re-appear soon thereafter. With that said, being the newB motor guy i am, is there a way to determine where the leaks are without starting an engine? As it stands now, the engine is just sitting on the frame so i have no way to start it up easily. I thought of simply replacing all the various gaskets however that just does not sound logical...

Again, thanks to all for the great info!
 
R

Root Moose

Guest
Hey, stop thinking!*.

Worry about getting it back together before messing with anything engine related.


* Full disclosure: I suffer from this malady (in spades) as well.
 
chunkytrunks

chunkytrunks

That's MR.EX Pres to you!
Club Member
What location is your oil leak? If your oil leak is near your tranny bell housing and the back of the engine then it is the rear main seal. Very common on the jeeps.
 
O

O.D.

Well-known member
Club Member
After i gave the engine/underside a quick degrease spray, i then started tearing it apart so never really had a chance to really see where the leak was. For all i know (As i did notice this), all the mess could have come from one of the PS pump lines to the reservoir as it was leaking......

Not sure though and that's what's eating me up
 
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