Need engine swap experts!

Okay so I have a 1989 cherokee with a 4.0L HO swapped in. I bought it like that. I assume the transmission is the same era as the engine which is a 1994.


My mom has a 1995 grand cherokee with a 4.0L and she blew the engine.

I thought oh well we can just swap my 4.0L with your 4.0L, 1995 and 1994 are the same.

Wrong....


I get the transmission in and I cannot turn the ring gear with the starter, or with a breaker bar on the crank.


So I need to know a few things..

The engine from the grand cherokee, it is a 4.0HO it look identical to the 1994 out of my XJ BUT the there is no fuel return on the rail.

The transmission does not look the same as my AW4 in my XJ, the fluid lines are on the drivers side whereas mine are on the passenger side, what else could it be?

I have checked and triple checked that the torque converter was pushed in far enough but I may be doing it wrong so how far in should the torque converter be inside the transmission bellhousing(if I put a straight edge across and measure what should it be roughly)?


I have been at this for a week and a day plus my usual 45-50 hours a week at work. I really need to get this solved or I am going to have to rebuild her blown engine(cracked head and bad rod knock). I really do not want to spend another few weeks on this.]

I have tommorrow off of work and I need to get some progress before I go mad.

Not sure on the tranny, but as for the fuel rail, swap the complete exhaust, intake, and throttle body from the blown engine. All you want is the core of the engine, not the accessories. You should also use the flex plate from the old engine, as well as its starter. Did you swap the CPS? Maybe they are different and the CPS is against the torque converter flex plate.

The transmission in her grand is not an AW4. It is the pos that they put behind all 4.0 ZJs after mid 1993 the 42re or something along those lines. They used the AW4 in ZJs for about 6 months and then quit for some stupid reason. My bro has a 95 ZJ with that same combination. I'm sorry I don't have much more to contribute but yes, make sure you're using the right combination of parts. My bro's 95 ZJ 4.0 is returnless also, I believe that was the first year. Good luck!

I have swapped ring gears and the block is stripped(just the cylinder head and the oilpan remain and everything in between)

so what I gather is the transmission should fit fine and maybe I have a problem with the torque converter? feels like its all the way (dropped in twice as I spin it) but isnt?

Another problem is I cannot get the torque converter off of the ZJ tranny. I havent tried a slide hammer but tommorrow I may be using my remington 870 *evil grin*

Is there any chance that the crank protrudes more out of the XJ 4.0? Even though it is not possible to swap them (ZJ one is no good) I'm wondering if it's a possibility.

Steev said:

I have swapped ring gears and the block is stripped(just the cylinder head and the oilpan remain and everything in between)

so what I gather is the transmission should fit fine and maybe I have a problem with the torque converter? feels like its all the way (dropped in twice as I spin it) but isnt?

Another problem is I cannot get the torque converter off of the ZJ tranny. I havent tried a slide hammer but tommorrow I may be using my remington 870 *evil grin*

Is there any chance that the crank protrudes more out of the XJ 4.0? Even though it is not possible to swap them (ZJ one is no good) I'm wondering if it's a possibility.

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I'm 99.9% sure there is no way the crank protrudes out of one more than the other.

Well first thing in the morning I am going to measure the block to flexplate and torque converter to bellhousing on both sets of engines and trannies and then go from there.

I really hope this is something simple and I can get this over and done with.


This is definately the last time I say "oh it will be no problem I'll just modify/swap/make fit..." on anything thats a daily driver.

Steev said:

This is definately the last time I say "oh it will be no problem I'll just modify/swap/make fit..." on anything thats a daily driver.

Click to expand...

Hahaha now you know what I deal with everyday. It took me almost three months to put a new engine into my 1990 because I swapped to a new intake and had to wait for internet parts to get here. It was my DD at the time and well still is kind of so yeah it's no fun. I know where you're coming from. Let us know how it goes and if you have more questions.
-Collin

Alright, I dont know what I did this time (kicked, punched, threw parts at) but its all in there now.

BUT....


I can only get one torque converter bolt in at once. The other 3 will not go in. The one that does go (any of them) goes in great. I left it loose and rocked the flexplate back and forth to get the next bolt in but it is off by maybe an 1/8th of an inch. This is the same flexplate that was bolted to the torque converter originally.

The only I can think of now is the flexplate being off on the crank. I'm not sure if thats possible though, It centers itself on the crank.


I will continue to try different rotations of the flexplate and torque converter tommorrow after work.