Crate engine sourcing

kincaid.0678

kincaid.0678

Creates new curse words when working on my Jeep
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Jun 17, 2021
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Location
Martinsburg, WV
I’ve been looking into replacing my 2.5l engine for a remanufactured engine. Found a few different online stores that sell them with decent warranties. I was wondering if anyone had any input as to good companies to buy from. A couple grand is a big investment and I don’t want it to be money wasted.

Thanks in advance,
Fred
 
kincaid.0678 said:
I’ve been looking into replacing my 2.5l engine for a remanufactured engine. Found a few different online stores that sell them with decent warranties. I was wondering if anyone had any input as to good companies to buy from. A couple grand is a big investment and I don’t want it to be money wasted.

Thanks in advance,
Fred
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I think there was a member here a while back that got his 2.5 from NAPA and if I remember correctly, he had good luck with it.
Are you just wanting to replace your current engine? Have you thought about doing an engine swap to something larger instead?
Since you have a 97 it's a great candidate for a V-8 swap. IMO if you're going to swap to a larger engine for the amount of work to put a 4.0 in you might as well swap in a V-8. If you can get a Jeep Grand Cherokee or Dodge with a running engine a lot of people are able to do their swap for under $1K.
The Dodge 5.2 or 5.9 or Jeep 5.2 or 5.9 are fairly easy swaps into your Jeep.
 
Wildman said:
IMO if you're going to swap to a larger engine for the amount of work to put a 4.0 in you might as well swap in a V-8.
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Unless I'm mistaken, a 4.0 swap takes welding on new body mounts, bolting it up to his trans, and a few other small plug and play changes. Under $500 and a weekend or two to do it right. A V8 swap takes big bucks and hundreds of hours of work to do right.
 
toximus said:
Unless I'm mistaken, a 4.0 swap takes welding on new body mounts, bolting it up to his trans, and a few other small plug and play changes. Under $500 and a weekend or two to do it right. A V8 swap takes big bucks and hundreds of hours of work to do right.
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No not totally correct.
New motor mounts, new transmission, new input gear for the t-case or new t-case, swap wiring harness and then a bunch of odds and ends. You'd be better to have a wrecked 4.0 TJ there to grab parts off of.

I'm not talking about the kind of engine swap you are doing. There are more than a few people over on JeepForum who did the magnum V-8 swap into their TJ's for under $1K because they sold off the donor rig after they were done with the swap. There is around 14 wires that have to be connected to make the Dodge and Jeep wiring harnesses work together. The Dodge PCM talks to the Jeep dash.
And for the added power as I said IMO for the amount of work it takes to swap in a 4.0 you could of had a V-8.

Magnum V-8 swap
New motor mounts, new transmission, new input gear for t-case or new t-case, blend wiring harnesses & new radiator. So not much different.
 
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Wildman said:
I think there was a member here a while back that got his 2.5 from NAPA and if I remember correctly, he had good luck with it.
Are you just wanting to replace your current engine? Have you thought about doing an engine swap to something larger instead?
Since you have a 97 it's a great candidate for a V-8 swap. IMO if you're going to swap to a larger engine for the amount of work to put a 4.0 in you might as well swap in a V-8. If you can get a Jeep Grand Cherokee or Dodge with a running engine a lot of people are able to do their swap for under $1K.
The Dodge 5.2 or 5.9 or Jeep 5.2 or 5.9 are fairly easy swaps into your Jeep.
Click to expand...

I have a buddy with a couple Chevy V8s he said he would part with but no transmissions. Wouldn’t that also require new axles? I really have no clue just from what I’ve read the 30 and 35 axles probably aren’t strong enough to handle the power from a 305 or a 327 V8
 
Wildman said:
I think there was a member here a while back that got his 2.5 from NAPA and if I remember correctly, he had good luck with it.
Are you just wanting to replace your current engine? Have you thought about doing an engine swap to something larger instead?
Since you have a 97 it's a great candidate for a V-8 swap. IMO if you're going to swap to a larger engine for the amount of work to put a 4.0 in you might as well swap in a V-8. If you can get a Jeep Grand Cherokee or Dodge with a running engine a lot of people are able to do their swap for under $1K.
The Dodge 5.2 or 5.9 or Jeep 5.2 or 5.9 are fairly easy swaps into your Jeep.
Click to expand...

I would just be happy to get my Jeep up and running again. The 2.5 would be the fastest and easiest way to get it back on the road since it was my daily driver until my piston blew up.
 
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kincaid.0678 said:
I have a buddy with a couple Chevy V8s he said he would part with but no transmissions. Wouldn’t that also require new axles? I really have no clue just from what I’ve read the 30 and 35 axles probably aren’t strong enough to handle the power from a 305 or a 327 V8
Click to expand...

A 305 or 327 couldn't legally be swapped into your TJ. Even if you don't have smog checks or other types of emission testing in your area federal EPA rules state you have to use the same year or newer engine when swapping into your vehicle. If you were to decide to anyhow you'd have to figure out your transmission first. And then get a kit to adapt the transmission to your transfer case.

kincaid.0678 said:
I would just be happy to get my Jeep up and running again. The 2.5 would be the fastest and easiest way to get it back on the road since it was my daily driver until my piston blew up.
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I would check out your local NAPA and see what they offer. Sorry I really don't know of other options for crate engines. There are also crate engines available thru many vendors Like Quadrtec or 4Wheel Parts but I don't know who they use to get them from.
 
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Not a crate but this guy has a decent reputation (I’ve not used personally) and usually has a good selection of rust free parts. Looks about 8hrs from you. ‘97 2.5.

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Stay away from Fraser engines, out of Fraser, MI. I don't know if they rebuild Mopar, but I bought a reman Ford 5.4L from them, and it was a complete disaster. Long story, but after spending thousands dealing with their "warranty," I pulled that POS engine yesterday and have a Ford reman crate engine going in soon.

Here's some advice from my experience - read the warranty terms. Many rebuilders pay squat for labor on warranty work, so if something goes wrong, you'll end up significantly out of pocket to get up and running.
 
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Wildman said:
A 305 or 327 couldn't legally be swapped into your TJ. Even if you don't have smog checks or other types of emission testing in your area federal EPA rules state you have to use the same year or newer engine when swapping into your vehicle. If you were to decide to anyhow you'd have to figure out your transmission first. And then get a kit to adapt the transmission to your transfer case.



I would check out your local NAPA and see what they offer. Sorry I really don't know of other options for crate engines. There are also crate engines available thru many vendors Like Quadrtec or 4Wheel Parts but I don't know who they use to get them from.
Click to expand...

Yea a lot of unknown variables with those types of swaps. For me it would just be a lot of banging my head against a wall to figure that shit out. Lol I’ve found a few companies like quadratech and jegs and used.remanns.com. All of them are in the same $2k-$3k range with freight shipping and core charge.
 
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sab said:
Stay away from Fraser engines, out of Fraser, MI. I don't know if they rebuild Mopar, but I bought a reman Ford 5.4L from them, and it was a complete disaster. Long story, but after spending thousands dealing with their "warranty," I pulled that POS engine yesterday and have a Ford reman crate engine going in soon.

Here's some advice from my experience - read the warranty terms. Many rebuilders pay squat for labor on warranty work, so if something goes wrong, you'll end up significantly out of pocket to get up and running.
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I had seen their website and they do have some 2.5s and 4.0s so thank you for the heads up.
 
I just recently replace my motor with a reman from powertrain company. Looks like they only do 4.0L engines though. When I was shopping around I read a lot of people really liked their experience with S&J engines, though. I would have gone with them but their lead times were pretty crazy at the time. If they've cooled down it might be worth checking out. They've got a great reputation https://www.sandjengines.com/product/2000~Jeep~Wrangler~1537
 
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Had to go to advanced auto for the hoist because harbor freight was out and had no clue when they would get one in. Advanced said they had switched suppliers so the hoist I got had two different boxes for the different parts. I figured they’d be the same but I was wrong. Had to do some fab work to get the outriggers into the base but other than that it’s pretty solid. $374 before tax so it ended up being more expensive than the used engine.

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kincaid.0678 said:
I would just be happy to get my Jeep up and running again. The 2.5 would be the fastest and easiest way to get it back on the road since it was my daily driver until my piston blew up.
Click to expand...

Something to consider if you found the 2.5 adequate. After the swap Is to see if yours is rebuildable? .30 over pistons, shave the head down, any other head/valve work that can be done and it would be more adequate. A little zippier and if you have the machine work done and assemble your self may not be to spendy then a simple swap back in springtime.
 
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