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compatiable engines for a 2000 xj

0

00xj

NAXJA Forum User
Location
West Michigan
Hi all,

I might be needing to swap out my 2000 engine soon.
Can you tell me what engines from other year XJ's will fit?
Do you have to swap out computers too?

Any good reference web sites?

as always, thanks

Tom
 
IIRC any Jeep vehicle (XJ,WJ and TJ) with a 4.0L and distributorless ignition should work other than you will probably need to swap the belt driven accessories including the water pump.
 
00xj said:
Thanks,

what is IIRC?
and "should" sounds good but "will" sounds better :)
Click to expand...

If I Recall Correctly = IIRC.

And to expand on his point, it will work. Just make sure you are getting a block with the coil pack and not the distributor. You might have to do some searching to find out what years those come out of from other jeeps. The only XJ year that is interchangeable with the 2000 is the 2001.
 
Super Thanks...

Here's another thought....my 2000xj might have a cracked head and an oil pan with an oil coolant mix..
So given the fact the 2000-01 is prone to cracking, how about I buy a new remanufactured head from napa for 550 and have it put on my engine, and have my engine rebuilt.

Would that be easier? The shop that rebuilds engines could also put it in for me.

Thanks.
 
Last edited:
CharlesS said:
IIRC any Jeep vehicle (XJ,WJ and TJ) with a 4.0L and distributorless ignition should work other than you will probably need to swap the belt driven accessories including the water pump.
Click to expand...

A 4.0L TJ/WJ engine will NOT bolt in directly. I'm actually in the process of doing an in-depth write up of the minor differences between the XJ and TJ/WJ 4.0L engines. If you want to just drop the engine in and bolt it up without doing anything, the only engines that will work are from a '00 and '01XJ. Ideally, you don't want either of those engines because of the cylinder head (casting #0331) deficiencies, but if you go with any other XJ engine, you'll need to do some custom work with the intake/exhaust.
 
00xj said:
Super Thanks...

Here's another thought....my 2000xj might have a cracked head and an oil pan with an oil coolant mix..
So given the fact the 2000-01 is prone to cracking, how about I buy a new remanufactured head from napa for 550 and have it put on my engine, and have my engine rebuilt.

Would that be easier? The shop that rebuilds engines could also put it in for me.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I was faced with this decision at one time, too. My solution was to get a complete '98XJ engine for $500 and I then had an adapter plate made so that the '00-'01 exhaust headers would work with the older style head. I got the adapter plate from a member on these forums for about $125, but I'm not sure if he's still making them anymore. His username is wilsmick, but he doesn't frequent the boards too much.
 
Just to give you an idea of some of the differences in the two blocks...

These are the only two photographs I have completed for my write-up. There are also subtle differences on each side of the blocks, too. Note: The difference in the water pump mounting pattern doesn't matter. You can bolt an XJ water pump to a TJ block with no issues.

TJFront.jpg


XJFront.jpg
 
I'm not the OP but the photos are useful to me and wanted to say thanks. The WJ and TJ have different accessory setup so the mounting patterns are different. Primary issue is that they moved the A/C to the void below the power steering (the new far-out mounting boss). In order for the water pump to avoid hitting it, they changed the rotation of the pump so the inlet goes another direction. The good news is that they were able to move the alternator to the top passenger spot where our A/C is located, since that was now out of the way. If you are willing to do the custom A/C hose work, its actually a better setup.

Otherwise just drill the holes for the alternator mount by the timing chain and be done with it. The other differences don't affect any of the XJ setup.
 
ehall said:
I'm not the OP but the photos are useful to me and wanted to say thanks. The WJ and TJ have different accessory setup so the mounting patterns are different. Primary issue is that they moved the A/C to the void below the power steering (the new far-out mounting boss). In order for the water pump to avoid hitting it, they changed the rotation of the pump so the inlet goes another direction. The good news is that they were able to move the alternator to the top passenger spot where our A/C is located, since that was now out of the way. If you are willing to do the custom A/C hose work, its actually a better setup.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that information. I will include that in my write-up.

ehall said:
Otherwise just drill the holes for the alternator mount by the timing chain and be done with it. The other differences don't affect any of the XJ setup.
Click to expand...

That's not entirely accurate. On the backside of those holes on the XJ engine, the block is milled down about 1/8". I test fitted the A/C mounting bracket on the TJ engine and it does not fit because of this small difference. You could always modify the A/C bracket to fit or, if you're daring, take a grinder to the TJ block. Take a look at the photos for a little more clarification. I need to retake those photos in Macro mode as they didn't come out very well, but these will do for now.

Note: You can also see two other holes on the TJ engine that are not drilled and tapped like they are on the XJ engine. Judging by how "clean" they look on the XJ engine, they may be needed for something. I will verify that when I write my report.

TJTimingChainArea.jpg


XJTimingChainArea.jpg
 
Alabama Cylinder Head call them. Cheaper to order from them than to order from Quadratec. I may be wrong but I do believe they have the improved casting. Change the oil right away, you don't want that water in the crank case. Change the head drive it for a little and change the oil again. Cheaper than a swap.
 
Well this kinda stinks. I've got a friend holding a 2000 WJ motor for me with a spun bearing. He swapped it out with a rebuild long block and offered me the motor. I was planning on rebuilding it and swapping it into my 2001 XJ as a 150K mile preemptive fix.

Guess it's back to the drawing board.
 
It would still be a stock head but you could always just use the head from your buddies motor. It would be your easiest option.
 
The earlier XJ motors will swap in with a few minor mods too.
Make a bracket for the coils and put your cam sensor in where the distributor was on the older motor.
That is what I have found out while I am selling a 97 motor and had inquiries for putting it into a later XJ.

Martin
 
I still have one lingering question that I don't have a definitive answer for. Are TJ and WJ/ZJ 4.0L blocks identical? Anyone know this for a fact?
 
I smell a stroker.
quick bust out the kids college money !
I say get your self whatever cylinder head tickles your fancy for the new fangled distibutorless igniton get a good solid motor for 3-500 from an XJ to save the headache, sell that cylinder head to recoup from the fancy one build up the motor with a cam or whatever wets your whistle , and throw her in remember that little zoom zoom in your head is gonna kick your ass when you go mang I shoulda done (insert mod here) when the motor is out . trust me if your into that the time is now !

and to answer your question early tj 97-00 and xj 91 UP and zj will fit your heep , not sure on the tj but im dead on for the xj an zj .Personelly I dropped a 01 4.0 in my 91 skipped a decade! haha have fun man !
 
Boneless-Jeeper said:
and to answer your question early tj 97-00 and xj 91 UP and zj will fit your heep , not sure on the tj but im dead on for the xj an zj .Personelly I dropped a 01 4.0 in my 91 skipped a decade! haha have fun man !
Click to expand...

Thought the same was true, but while the blocks are almost identical physically TerraWombat has shown in the pictures he posted earlier in this thread that there are variations in what bolt hole bosses are drilled and threaded by the factory and there are several differences in the timing chain cover bolt holes for alternator mounting brackets.
 
Last edited:
Talyn said:
ZJ block is different. Its the WJ and 00+ TJ block that are the same.

Also, besides the differences you pointed out earlier the bosses for the engine mount brackets are different.

See here:
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1015349
http://www.jeepstrokers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1047
Click to expand...

Thanks for the clarification. I went to the JY on Saturday and was able to confirm what you said about. They had a '99WJ in the yard that had a ton of components missing from the engine bay so it was pretty easy to see that it was very similar to the '00TJ block that I have.

They also had several ZJs in the yard with 4.0L and from that I could tell, they looked similar to XJ blocks, but I cannot confirm that they're 100% compatible. I just noticed that the ZJ blocks had the holes drilled in the timing chain cover area like the XJ blocks do.
 
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