Palani
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Kailua Kona, Hawaii
Hi all,
New to the forum but not to the XJ. Iʻve got a 1997 2-door 4.0 with the AX-15 5-speed. Iʻve owned it for 12 years and have done a lot of suspension modifications over that time period as well as engine and drivetrain work.
Recently the old I-6 developed a bad knock which I suspect is a bad crank bearing or piston slap. In any case, itʻs no longer my daily driver and Iʻm planning to swap the engine out for the new Cummins R2.8 turbo-diesel crate engine. Iʻve done a lot of research to date and am pretty excited about it. The dimensions look work-able and the torque and power specs should be handled by the stock drivetrain. Iʻm surprised, though that in all of my research I have yet to find anyone that is attempting this. There is a lot of info on TJ swaps with the same powertrain, Landrovers, Land Cruisers, and even an old Toyota pickup conversion has been done. Has anyone heard of a current build like the one Iʻm planning?
The engine weighs about the same as the 4.0 so please spare me the "itʻs a uniframe vehicle and canʻt handle the weight" argument. The only issue I foresee is that the dieselʻs engine mount point sits a couple inches lower on the block so Iʻll have to weld up some brackets to get it to fit under the hood and line up with the tranny. I was assuming Iʻd have to do this anyway though.
Thanks in advance for your input
New to the forum but not to the XJ. Iʻve got a 1997 2-door 4.0 with the AX-15 5-speed. Iʻve owned it for 12 years and have done a lot of suspension modifications over that time period as well as engine and drivetrain work.
Recently the old I-6 developed a bad knock which I suspect is a bad crank bearing or piston slap. In any case, itʻs no longer my daily driver and Iʻm planning to swap the engine out for the new Cummins R2.8 turbo-diesel crate engine. Iʻve done a lot of research to date and am pretty excited about it. The dimensions look work-able and the torque and power specs should be handled by the stock drivetrain. Iʻm surprised, though that in all of my research I have yet to find anyone that is attempting this. There is a lot of info on TJ swaps with the same powertrain, Landrovers, Land Cruisers, and even an old Toyota pickup conversion has been done. Has anyone heard of a current build like the one Iʻm planning?
The engine weighs about the same as the 4.0 so please spare me the "itʻs a uniframe vehicle and canʻt handle the weight" argument. The only issue I foresee is that the dieselʻs engine mount point sits a couple inches lower on the block so Iʻll have to weld up some brackets to get it to fit under the hood and line up with the tranny. I was assuming Iʻd have to do this anyway though.
Thanks in advance for your input