97 TJ with a manual heart of a 5.9L Magnum

The 5.9L is back in the TJ and hopefully its final resting place. Engine is at 4.5 degrees tilted back, AA motor mounts are bolted on (I torqued to 40 ft-lbs and put blue loctite on them). I can already see that my barnes 4wd skid plate will need an adapter/extender in order for it to secure my transmission. I either need to get the Novak universal tranny mount adapter or try to drill holes in my ax5 tranny mount, or get a tranny mount from an ax15 (one did not come with the transmission that I bought) and see if that works. The AX5 tranny mount that I have has the cushion bracket that has the same bolt pattern that fits the AX15 transmission. It looks like I may be able to just detach the cushion bracket from the other piece, attach the cushion bracket to the AX15 and use 2 of the 4 holes on the other end to attach to the skid plate.

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Since you are still gathering parts I would suggest you get a 1985-1998 Grand Cherokee power steering bracket and not use the Dodge brackets.
You reuse your stock PS pump & reservoir so no chasing down new lines. I have a GC bracket in all my parts some where. But you can but it on Ebay also.

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Here is how wide it is with the Dodge PS brackets.

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Here is a really good thread on doing the engine swap.

https://tinyurl.com/dtky5rhu

I'm still looking for a picture of the shifter.
@Wildman do you have a part number for your heater core hoses?
 
Once I secure my tranny on the new skid plate I would like to work on the essentials to see if I can get the engine running before I start putting everything back together. What should I focus on? Get starter wired up, put throttle body on, hook up
Battery, oil in and filter on, injectors and spark plugs in, distributor cap on, wire ignition coil, install wiring harness essentials (CPS and injector drivers?), hook up fuel line. Do I need to hook up clutch slave? Vacuum lines? Serpentine belt?
 
Well, I think except for the clutch slave - all of the above to get it to run. Just don’t start it in gear….
 
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@Wildman do you have a part number for your heater core hoses?

I don't have a part number but I just ran 5/8" hose. You need the metal tube coming out of the water pump and then just run regular hose.

Once I secure my tranny on the new skid plate I would like to work on the essentials to see if I can get the engine running before I start putting everything back together. What should I focus on? Get starter wired up, put throttle body on, hook up
Battery, oil in and filter on, injectors and spark plugs in, distributor cap on, wire ignition coil, install wiring harness essentials (CPS and injector drivers?), hook up fuel line. Do I need to hook up clutch slave? Vacuum lines? Serpentine belt?

Pretty much everything you listed needs to be done. The serpentine belt doesn't have to be installed but your water pump won't turn without it. If just starting for 10-30 seconds you're good.
 
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See the black tube coming out of the water pump? It's either 5/8" or 3/4" heater hose that you use.

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The other heater hose come off the intake manifold.

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Got it. Top heater hose looks like its 3/4" and connects to intake beside thermostat housing. Bottom heater hose looks 5/8" and connects to my water pump tube that I haven't put on yet.
 
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Got it. Top heater hose looks like its 3/4" and connects to intake beside thermostat housing. Bottom heater hose looks 5/8" and connects to my water pump tube that I haven't put on yet.

YES,
But I think they are both the same size but would have to dig thru all my stuff to verify. I'm not to that point yet. I've still got to pull my engine at least once more before I'm done with everything I'm doing to my frame.

Let me know if I can answer any other questions. I can't help you on the transmission mount since I've always been running an auto. But I think I would get the AX15 mount and modify it.
 
I dont have a 100% grasp of the vacuum line hookups. If I start on the battery side I know the line ties into the reservoir under the battery. Moving away from reservoir there is a T, one line to firewall and the other continues to another T. Pic below. One line heads forward and one backward. The one going forward I have hooked up to intake manifold and will cap the y next to it because it was used for cruise control. The other T that goes rearward I do not know where it is supposed to go, nor do I have the line for it. Anybody know? Also where does the vac line coming from throttle body front (pic) go?

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I dont have a 100% grasp of the vacuum line hookups. If I start on the battery side I know the line ties into the reservoir under the battery. Moving away from reservoir there is a T, one line to firewall and the other continues to another T. Pic below. One line heads forward and one backward. The one going forward I have hooked up to intake manifold and will cap the y next to it because it was used for cruise control. The other T that goes rearward I do not know where it is supposed to go, nor do I have the line for it. Anybody know? Also where does the vac line coming from throttle body front (pic) go?

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I have the vacuum schematic on my laptop at home. I will be back Sunday I think and can post it then.
 
Perfect. Thats simple enough. I've got the vac hooked up properly now. I went to turn the engine over without spark and nothing. Checked a few things and realized that I should depress clutch. I hooked up slave cylinder and the clutch pedal would not depress. I pressed too hard and broke the slave with half of the slave falling in the bellhousing. I ordered a new slave and am still questioning what went wrong with the clutch. 10 steps back this weekend. I confirmed that I did put clutch disc on correctly and clutch fork/throwout bearing seems to move fine. Maybe I didn't have the slave aligned exactly? Once I get the clutch figured out and tranny back in I will try and get the 5.9 turned over.
 
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Perfect. Thats simple enough. I've got the vac hooked up properly now. I went to turn the engine over without spark and nothing. Checked a few things and realized that I should depress clutch. I hooked up slave cylinder and the clutch pedal would not depress. I pressed too hard and broke the slave with half of the slave falling in the bellhousing. I ordered a new slave and am still questioning what went wrong with the clutch. 10 steps back this weekend. I confirmed that I did put clutch disc on correctly and clutch fork/throwout bearing seems to move fine. Maybe I didn't have the slave aligned exactly? Once I get the clutch figured out and tranny back in I will try and get the 5.9 turned over.


BY-PASS PROCEDURE
(1) Disengage wire connector from clutch interlock
safety switch, located under the instrument panel
next to the 100-way connector (Fig. 1).
(2) Locate open by-pass connector, located next to
the 100-way connector.
(3) Engage clutch interlock switch harness connector
into by-pass connector (Fig. 1).
Reverse the preceding procedure to activate the
Clutch Interlock Safety Switch.

Fig. 1 Clutch Interlock Safety Switch By-Pass

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This is from the service manual on how to bypass the clutch interlock but I thought I remembered that you could install a fuse or remove it to bypass the interlock. I need to find my owners manual to verify one way or the other. I'll let you know once I find it.


EDIT: Here is a better picture.

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You can watch the whole video if you want or got the the 3 minute mark and then he starts to show how to bypass the clutch interlock.

 
I installed a new pressure plate and clutch disc. Still not disengaging my transmission when I press clutch pedal in. Im scratching my head. It still feels squishy when I press clutch pedal in.. The master and slave that I'm using are intended for my wrangler with a 2.5L. Is it possible that I need a master and slave intended for the 5.9L?
 
I installed a new pressure plate and clutch disc. Still not disengaging my transmission when I press clutch pedal in. Im scratching my head. It still feels squishy when I press clutch pedal in.. The master and slave that I'm using are intended for my wrangler with a 2.5L. Is it possible that I need a master and slave intended for the 5.9L?

Since I've never done a manual swap I honestly can't answer this. But Is there a chance you need a longer rod for the slave cylinder?
I'd done a manual linkage to hyd clutch setup on my ex's CJ5 and once I was done the rod that came in the kit was too short. So I got a 5" long bolt that was the same diameter as the rod and cut the threads and head of bolt off rounded the ends and made a rod the length I needed.

This is one of the BEST threads on the Magnum V-8 swap.

https://tinyurl.com/zdfaap5h