4.0 Motor Installed

[geo78]

What should I expect to pay to have a shop install a new or rebuilt 4.0 motor into my 1990 Cherokee?

Thanks

[ZmOz]

Alot more than the Cherokee is worth.

[geo78]

I didn't ask whether it was the smartest or best thing to do. I asked what it would cost. Can anyone give me an estimate?

Thanks

Geoff

[ZmOz]

Probably around $1200-1500 for the engine, and at least $500 for labor...

[JJacobs]

11.3 hrs to swap out a long block, which is what a reman engine is going to be. Around here labor's at least $80/ hr.

[geo78]

If I were going to do this, should I have them put in a post renix motor? Should I trust that a shop would be able to make a different motor work in my jeep or should I just keep it simple?

My jeep is my daily driver right now, and I would like to keep it that way for another year. It has 165,000 on the clock so I am trying to figure out what to do in case something happens over the next year. Ultimately I would like to tackle this project myself, after I have another vehicle, but sometimes things don't happen as planned.

Thanks for the advice.


Geoff

[juicexj24]

If it only has 165k on the motor, what is wrong with it? Mine went 250k with just reg. oil changes and water/ps pumps, hoses, belts...simple stuff. Is there something wrong with it, pision slap is common. A heavier grade of oil will help with that. Juice

[geo78]

Great news. I understand that these things run forever. It has been very well maintained, but it is getting tired and I was just curious what I would be looking at in terms of cost. $3K doesn't seem that bad for a remanufactured motor installed.

Thanks for the advice.

Geoff

[ZmOz]

$3K doesn't seem that bad for a remanufactured motor installed.

In a vehicle worth less than $1500? Why would you want to do that? For 3 grand you could go out and buy a newer running XJ, plus sell the engineless one...

[juicexj24]

Well I paid for about $1400 last year for my reman engine. Put it in myself over the weekend. So I saved the cost of labor right there. My friends shop was going to do it for $400 as a when they had time if things were slow job, so they would have taken all week. I didn't have that kind of time.
But someplace between $2500 and $3000 is a good place to be. Juice

[Geepfreak]

Strassburg racing here in Ut. quoted me 2250.00 for R&R on my 89, and that also included kicking it to what a new H.O 4.0 would produce.

[Mike in NJ]

In a vehicle worth less than $1500? Why would you want to do that? For 3 grand you could go out and buy a newer running XJ, plus sell the engineless one...

Actually, I just went through that thought process for my '92. The "new" engine (long block) AND clutch (and slave) AND a bunch other stuff will set me back about $2400. With a good friend doing most of the work, and me filling in the rest of the blanks, at least I have no labor charge.

It certainly was tempting to spend the $2500 on a "newer" XJ and save the hassle. But, then you get an unknown situation (history and internal condition) with the replacement. Plus, all the rest of the stuff (gears, lift, other mods, etc.) would have to be swapped over to the replacement to get back to even.

By just replacing the powerplant and clutch, I get to start over for the next 215,000 miles with an XJ already set up and already known what it can do.

The key is if you can avoid a shop labor charge - if another $1000-1500 was added to the top of this, then I might have looked harder at a replacement truck and used the current one (gulp) for parts.

Actually, so far I'm surprised how "simple" and straightforward it is to just pull out the old engine and swap stuff over onto the new one (headers, intake, pan, high flow water pump, etc.) Granted, I splurged a bit and decided that, as long as the main block is new, I might as well treat it to other new stuff as well (like distributor, wires, coil, fan clutch, hoses, injectors, engine mounts, etc.).

For the record, the reason I "needed" replacement is that after 215K and 12 years, #2 cylinder compression was low and I was starting to use some oil which probably wouldn't have gotten me through NJ inspection this time around - and the slave started to leak a bit. I can't complain about getting my money's worth though - I look forward to the next 12 years with the "new" one.

It's damn difficult to kill a 4.0

Mike in NJ :patriot:

[ZmOz]

By just replacing the powerplant and clutch, I get to start over for the next 215,000 miles with an XJ already set up and already known what it can do.

I guess it depends on whether or not you ever plan on selling it. If you do, it would be a bad move to spend that much on it, because as far as the buyer is concerned, it didn't happen. I've been wanting to put a stroker in my XJ, but I probably won't be keeping it much more than a year, so it would be a big waste of cash.