Struggle with highway power on my 2.4 TJ

[NDSpeed]

i must have missed something in the auto vs Manual, granted my 2.4L was two years old when i lived in Logan. it handled the sardine pass with out issues. but those mormons do love driving 95mph down I-15.

do you have any other issues, the TPS sensor was a big issue with me when the jeep felt like it fell flat on its face at low rpms

 

[Matt B]

The best thing I done to make my 2.4 TJ more powerful was to swap in a 4.0L. It ended up costing right at $3k with the rebuild and AX15 but so much nicer to drive, on and off road. Still slow, but it at least can pull itself. When I had the 2.4 and 33's I was lucky to maintain 60mph on flat. I swapped to 4:56 and it basically gave me 5th gear back. 6th was still useless. So I would suggest selling the engine and swapping to a 4.0 or selling the jeep and finding a TJ with the 4.0.

 

[Wildman]

The best thing I done to make my 2.4 TJ more powerful was to swap in a 4.0L. It ended up costing right at $3k with the rebuild and AX15 but so much nicer to drive, on and off road. Still slow, but it at least can pull itself. When I had the 2.4 and 33's I was lucky to maintain 60mph on flat. I swapped to 4:56 and it basically gave me 5th gear back. 6th was still useless. So I would suggest selling the engine and swapping to a 4.0 or selling the jeep and finding a TJ with the 4.0.

For the amount of work to swap in a 4.0 you could of had a V-8....
Depending on vehicle year either a Dodge Magnum 5.2 or 5.9 or a Hemi 5.7 or 6.4... either allows you to keep your stock gauges.
If you're a Bowtie person you can also swap in a LS. You can have a manual or automatic transmission behind these engines.

 

[Matt B]

For the amount of work to swap in a 4.0 you could of had a V-8....
Depending on vehicle year either a Dodge Magnum 5.2 or 5.9 or a Hemi 5.7 or 6.4... either allows you to keep your stock gauges.
If you're a Bowtie person you can also swap in a LS. You can have a manual or automatic transmission behind these engines.

I have done a v8 swap before and you always have to fight overheating issues. I am older now and just want reliable. The 4.0 is great for offroad by being able to crawl at low rpms. Money is not always a deciding factor. And yes I could've gotten a 5.3l for about same money, but that is my choice, not yours.

 

[machoheadgames]

I have done a v8 swap before and you always have to fight overheating issues. I am older now and just want reliable. The 4.0 is great for offroad by being able to crawl at low rpms. Money is not always a deciding factor. And yes I could've gotten a 5.3l for about same money, but that is my choice, not yours.

I have a hard time believing anyone could swap in a V8 for the same amount of work and money as a stock engine anyways. Even if swapping between 2 stock engine options, at least OEM solutions exist to get you to the end result. With something like a V8, you are custom-jobbing it for most of the way, which both nickles and dimes you and robs all your time and then it often turns into a never ending project with little quirks to deal with that you never can get away from.

 

[Matt B]

I have a hard time believing anyone could swap in a V8 for the same amount of work and money as a stock engine anyways. Even if swapping between 2 stock engine options, at least OEM solutions exist to get you to the end result. With something like a V8, you are custom-jobbing it for most of the way, which both nickles and dimes you and robs all your time and then it often turns into a never ending project with little quirks to deal with that you never can get away from.

It seemed like every time I turned around something was different. I have an 05 and my donor engine was out of an 02. Here's the items I remember having to change.
Motor mounts from 4.0 frame
OPDA
Throttle body
all 4 O2 sensors
I swapped to a JK style coil pack
6speed from 2.4 bell housing is different, couldn't find that info on the net, (but the internals are all the same)
AX15 from a 97, ended up rebuilding that
05 Crank sensor is in the 9 o clock position so a $400 bell housing from Novak
Even the throttle cable was different
Engine Harness
Wrangler Fix reprogrammed the CPU to fire the extra 2 cylinders.

 

[Wildman]

I have done a v8 swap before and you always have to fight overheating issues. I am older now and just want reliable. The 4.0 is great for offroad by being able to crawl at low rpms. Money is not always a deciding factor. And yes I could've gotten a 5.3l for about same money, but that is my choice, not yours.

We all have different ideas of what we want. I never had overheating issues with my 5.2 Magnum.
So far I haven't had overheating issues with the Hemi I'm running now.

And I'm all for you building your rig how you want.

I have a hard time believing anyone could swap in a V8 for the same amount of work and money as a stock engine anyways. Even if swapping between 2 stock engine options, at least OEM solutions exist to get you to the end result. With something like a V8, you are custom-jobbing it for most of the way, which both nickles and dimes you and robs all your time and then it often turns into a never ending project with little quirks to deal with that you never can get away from.

I know guys who did a Magnum engine swap for under $2k once the sold off all the old parts.

It's a matter of to each their own. Build it how you see fit.

 

[NDSpeed]

i was going to do the Hemi swap as well. but decided to go with a different inline four and deleted the spark plugs

 

[Hacker412]

I'm not sure of my gear ratio in the back, but on 285/70/17's, I can do 75 easily, but not more than 85 or so tops. It's a 97 TJ 2.5 manual; I never use 5th gear though.

 

[lBasket]

I'm not sure of my gear ratio in the back, but on 17s, I can do 75 easily, but not more than 85 or so tops. It's a 97 TJ 2.5 manual; I never use 5th gear though.

17" tires

 

[NDSpeed]

grew up in Fayetteville NC, i’ve seen it before

17" tires

 

[Wildman]

I have a hard time believing anyone could swap in a V8 for the same amount of work and money as a stock engine anyways. Even if swapping between 2 stock engine options, at least OEM solutions exist to get you to the end result. With something like a V8, you are custom-jobbing it for most of the way, which both nickles and dimes you and robs all your time and then it often turns into a never ending project with little quirks to deal with that you never can get away from.

But swapping in a 4.0 isn't stock....
Yes you can buy a Jeep with it in it but if you've got a 4 cylinder TJ it's always going to be one.
Swapping in any engine other than what came in it originally is going to be a project.
My point is that if you use a Dodge product (Chrysler) it's technically using stock type parts. Jeep offered Grand Cherokee's with V-8 engines.
On older TJ's a 5.2 or 5.9 is the least expensive and easiest to swap. About 19 wires and your two wiring harnesses are blended together.
AA motor mounts and you're on the road.

The Hemi isn't as cheap as the Magnum V-8. But the 5.7 or 6.4 make more power....... period.

Doing either swap can cost $2k or less if you are lucky and frugal.
I've done my Hemi swap for about $8k but I got the engine cheap.

Doing a LS swap will cost you $5k or more and I'd budget $10k as a minimum. IMO a LS isn't the correct engine to swap in

 

[NDSpeed]

Prior to doing my Engine swap i read countless articles about the 4.0 swap wasn’t a great choice. if your going through all the work to modify. Might as well change to something else. which is why i was going for the 5.7l Hemi truck engine.

 

[NDSpeed]

here’s an article from motortrend

https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/154-1006-top-10-dumbest-jeep-engine-swaps-ever