I4 reliability?

D

Dom

Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2017
Messages
55
Location
Visalia, CA, United States
Anyone of you with an i4 wanna chime in on the reliability of a i4 with 150k+ miles? If it were the i6 I'd say it's barley broken in but I'm new to the i4 engine and will being looking at a 97 tj i4 5 speed with 162k miles just curious how much more life I can expect out of this little i4 before having to swap another in.

TIA
 
@Rob5589, @TJ4Jim and @StG58 are just a few of the members here who have 4 bangers.

I don't own one, but I've been around long enough to know that they are just as reliable as the 4.0 engines.

You won't have any issues getting a 4 banger to 300k. It will be electronics, seals, etc. that fail long before the engine internals do.

Of course this assumes that the 4 cylinder in question has been responsibly owned and properly maintained (the same goes for any engine).
 
Thanks Chris that's about what I wanted to know :) I'm not big on taking pics but I found a pic of my mj a buddy took. I know you .mentioned wanting to see a pic

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The 4 banger is practically a 4.0 with two cylinders missing. Very reliable. Normal wear and tear items like water pumps, pulleys, hoses, etc. You can tell a lot by the sounds under the hood and the exhaust. Have a look at the interior. It tells you a lot how the previous owner took care of it.

For instance; I drove a long way (and $120 worth of ferry fares) to look at a 2000. The story had an older woman owning for 13 years and low mileage. When I got there, the interior was sh*t, seats torn, and it looked tired and beat everywhere. I didn't think you could trash a vehicle that badly in 16 years. The same day, I checked out a 2001 (same everything) and it was in far better condition. All original interior in great shape, no rust, and just needed some maintenance items. Sometimes you need to step back if your not sure.
 
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Well ill be driving about 150 miles if i decide to go look/get this one. Its a fair price and what im looking for. The interior is actually in bad shape from the looks of the pics but not TERRIBLE. Looks like it was just driven alot. The passenger seat/back seats look ok driver seat is worn and torn. No carpeting and it appears the passenger door is torn ill attack a pic and let you guys tell me what you see since im new to TJs XD

This is a cali jeep so im sure its seen alot of sun :p


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I have the 2.4 but have only had my TJ for a short time. Runs great, no smoke, no codes, idles smooth and quiet, 102xxx on it.

Just saw you are in Ca. I found several on Craigslist when I was looking. Many were rust buckets actually. Lots of people use them for commuting to Tahoe and such so be aware even Ca vehicles can have rust issues. Prices are high, too. Found several beaters for 8k +. I picked mine up off a mom n pop used car lot for 9k.
 
I have a 02 TJ with a 2.5 and it very reliable to me the only difference between the I4 and 4.0 (I've driven both) is Power. My 2.5l revs at nearly 3000rpm at 100kmh but it's never blown up yet so that's a bonus. Overall I agree with everybody else the I4 is a 4.0 that's missing 2 Pistons


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Oh man... Pass on that red one in the photos unless you want a project.

That thing looks beat to hell, and it will likely NOT be problem free.

If you have the money and the patience, I'd look for something that was taken care of.

A 4 cylinder TJ should also be much cheaper than a 6 cylinder, so you have that going for you!
 
I really don't mind a small project. All my other jeeps were pretty much total loses gonna be scrapped by previous owners. I like to save them :) From the pics the main damage I see is the interior. Which kinda gives me the chose to go any direction I want with it. Thinking like spice colored seats a deep maroon carpet
 
Can anyone tell me about that passenger door? I'm really not that familiar with the interior of tjs and am abit concerned about the way it's hanging.I was informed the soft top didn't leak at all durning this recent cali storm
 
Dom said:
I found this one for $5,999 at a car lot in thousand oaks. If it has no rust issues it seems to be a good platform
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Dom, I think 6K is a lot of money for that considering I paid a lot less for my SE which is a 99 and came with a hard and soft top, AC and the interior was in decent shape. 150K is not bad on the 2.5 but like anything else you do not know how it was treated. From the getgo it looks like you will be shopping for a new softtop so I would not worry about the soft uppers on the doors as they can be purchased with the top and are easily replaceable.
 
6k is way too much for that "project" though, honestly. I wouldn't pay more than 2-3k. 6k would be a rip off, trust me.

The for looks find to me, looks like they just need to be re-attached. Not even something to worry about at all.

Worry about the price... Anyone who pays 6k for that is a fool.
 
I'll keep looking around. It's pretty difficult to find a fair priced TJ here in the central valley area :/ some reason people think jeeps are gold here I miss Oregon lol. Although these cali jeeps are pretty rust free.
 
Chris said:
6k is way too much for that "project" though, honestly. I wouldn't pay more than 2-3k. 6k would be a rip off, trust me.

The for looks find to me, looks like they just need to be re-attached. Not even something to worry about at all.

Worry about the price... Anyone who pays 6k for that is a fool.
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People legit sell half a Tj here for 2-3k price range it's sad.
 
Keep in mind that once they're that old, there's not enough cost savings with an I4 over an I6 to make the I4 a good choice. Not to mention that in real-life driving situations the I4 doesn't really get significantly better fuel economy than the I6 does.
 
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Jerry Bransford said:
Keep in mind that once they're that old, there's not enough cost savings with an I4 over an I6 to make the I4 a good choice. Not to mention that in real-life driving situations the I4 doesn't really get significantly better fuel economy than the I6 does.
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I kind of want my first tj to be an I4 5 speed 97-03. If owned a few jeeps with various engines and have never owned a 2.5l. I plan in about 5 years to step up to a 03-05 rubi auto. But for now I wanna tinker with a. 2.5l and. see what I can make the under dog do :) I'm also a full time mechanic and can work on the tj when I have time :)
 
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