I’ve managed to make some really good progress over the last few weeks (to get back to where I was 2 months ago…)
The first order of business was to free the new engine from the donor truck. A few hours spent on a Friday after work:
I bought the truck knowing it had a 5.2L in it, but I was in for a surprise! Check out the casting number on the block!
From here on it was a straight forward deal that I didn’t take many pictures of – old motor out of the Jeep, swap the oil pump, intake and timing chain to the new motor, throw some paint on it and reinstall.
I got all that done last week, but did learn something in the process…
5.2s are internally balanced whereas the 5.9Ls are externally balanced via the harmonic balancer and the flex plate - or so I thought. The engine had the correct harmonic balancer but no weighted flywheel. Odd. After research I discovered that prior to 1996 Dodge balanced the 5.9L via the torque converter, not the flex plate. I knew this engine had been changed at some point, so I found the casting date on the block to figure out what year this engine is – survey says 3/1994. That means that I should have had a weighted torque converter but since the truck and transmission is a 1999 it wasn’t weighted. I swapped the flywheel over from the old 5.9 and all was good.
My wife was out of town last weekend, which left me and the dog to work on the Jeep. We’re going to the beach at the end of this month and I’m determined to drive the TJ there – that meant this weekend needed to go well. The new motor was dropped in Friday night after work and hooked up for a test fire by Saturday morning. As a recap, the Jeep had started with the Durango PCM but immediately shut down likely due to SKIM or the Security feature (I’ve learned that there’s a difference between the 2 as well). I swapped in the PCM from the donor Ram, turned the key…
And it runs!
(Without shutting off)
I was both ecstatic and relieved to hear it run, really for the first time. I still have to sort out a P0753, P1764 and P0176 trouble codes but I’m guessing that’s related to a wiring issue with the transmission relay circuit I added. The rest of the day Saturday and part of the day Sunday were spent doing the last 10% of a project that seems to take 90% of your time (and really isn’t that interesting to read about).
I went ahead and ordered a new driveshaft from Adams so I can drive the TJ around with the Dana 35 for now. From my research, the 8.8 with a 1350 adapter flange should allow me to re-use this shaft with the new axle. With the new driveshaft in, the TJ moved under its own power Saturday night.
I have 14 days to get this done (enough) to drive 4 hours to the beach. Game on!
The first order of business was to free the new engine from the donor truck. A few hours spent on a Friday after work:
I bought the truck knowing it had a 5.2L in it, but I was in for a surprise! Check out the casting number on the block!
From here on it was a straight forward deal that I didn’t take many pictures of – old motor out of the Jeep, swap the oil pump, intake and timing chain to the new motor, throw some paint on it and reinstall.
I got all that done last week, but did learn something in the process…
5.2s are internally balanced whereas the 5.9Ls are externally balanced via the harmonic balancer and the flex plate - or so I thought. The engine had the correct harmonic balancer but no weighted flywheel. Odd. After research I discovered that prior to 1996 Dodge balanced the 5.9L via the torque converter, not the flex plate. I knew this engine had been changed at some point, so I found the casting date on the block to figure out what year this engine is – survey says 3/1994. That means that I should have had a weighted torque converter but since the truck and transmission is a 1999 it wasn’t weighted. I swapped the flywheel over from the old 5.9 and all was good.
My wife was out of town last weekend, which left me and the dog to work on the Jeep. We’re going to the beach at the end of this month and I’m determined to drive the TJ there – that meant this weekend needed to go well. The new motor was dropped in Friday night after work and hooked up for a test fire by Saturday morning. As a recap, the Jeep had started with the Durango PCM but immediately shut down likely due to SKIM or the Security feature (I’ve learned that there’s a difference between the 2 as well). I swapped in the PCM from the donor Ram, turned the key…
And it runs!
(Without shutting off)
I was both ecstatic and relieved to hear it run, really for the first time. I still have to sort out a P0753, P1764 and P0176 trouble codes but I’m guessing that’s related to a wiring issue with the transmission relay circuit I added. The rest of the day Saturday and part of the day Sunday were spent doing the last 10% of a project that seems to take 90% of your time (and really isn’t that interesting to read about).
I went ahead and ordered a new driveshaft from Adams so I can drive the TJ around with the Dana 35 for now. From my research, the 8.8 with a 1350 adapter flange should allow me to re-use this shaft with the new axle. With the new driveshaft in, the TJ moved under its own power Saturday night.
I have 14 days to get this done (enough) to drive 4 hours to the beach. Game on!