Turbocharching my 89 xj

I think you'll find more help in the Street Performance section.

Very few have gone down this path, on anyway. if you search you'll find two or three big threads, one by a guy fabing a manifold who lost interest, one by a guy who has a manifold, made by the guy who lost interest, but not much progress, and one guy who managed it and eventually took it off due to reliability on an old non-built motor and underhood heat issues. There are definitely a few Turbo'ed XJ's out there just not much in the way of info or real world experience, or write ups here.

Turboing the 4.0 gets brought up on the Junk Yard turbo yahoo group once in a blue moon and there's no real consensus here or there on the best setup to shoot for. T3/04E hybrid seems like a safe bet for quick scroll up .. And I've seen numerous people recommending a Turbo off a GN due to the similar displacement. Just as many recommendations lean towards larger slower scrolling units. I've even seen large cube diesel holsets recommended because of the low RPM range and large displacement of the 4.0.

In short you're in mostly uncharted waters along with a handful of us (me too).

I think you'd be better off ebaying the turbo and look at supercharging instead.

jeeperjohn said:

I think you'd be better off ebaying the turbo and look at supercharging instead.

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X2 There is a supercharged Wrangler around town somewhere here. Never met the guy but I saw it at a car show one weekend.

speaking from personal experiance..I have a big trubo VW. Turo cars are VERY sensative. Unless you have experiance with turbos, or the systems needed to run them, I wouldnt do it. Not that its impossible, but when adding a turbo to a nontubro motor, there a LOT to look out for. Some guys attempt this, and end up blowing the motor. not enough fuel,not enough air, too much boost, wrong exhaust setups...things like that. If I were you, Ide sell that turbo and look into a bolt on SuperCharger.

avenger super chargers. there is a bolt on turbo kit for the xj you might wanna check into that.

Anyone know the name of the guy with the manifold, or a way to get in touch with him. I like to check it out mabye get some ideas.

First off there's no issue with a Turbo that isn't also an issue with a supercharger, assuming it's putting out more then a couple pounds of boost, either one will need more fuel, less timing. To run well and reliably either one wants a lower engine compression ratio, charge cooling, boost control and an engine built to take high compression.

In fact because the belt driven blower is putting a load on your engine it's arguably more likely to cause problems. If an AC compressor can cause ping on a hot day imagine the much higher drag SC...

There are plenty of good reasons to use either depending on your situation and goals. But good luck home fabricating your own supercharger setup

Personally the available bolt on, belt driven blower kits for the 4.0 are all seriously lacking in boost potential, charge cooling, fitment (at least one of them requires cutting a hole in your hood to clearance the belt pully!). And most off all, they are ridiculously expensive.

try this place for some help http://shop.505performance.com/displayProductDocument.hg?productId=54&categoryId=3

Leonard at Leonard's Off Road out here in Hillsboro OR has a turbo on his 4.0 XJ. Been running it for a while now.