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Engine swap vs shop

The auto trans engine swaps that I have done have all been V-8 GM stuff, but I expect the XJ to be pretty similar. Probably 3 bolts out toward the perimeter of the flexplate. With the inspection cover removed you will be able to access one of the three.


4-bolts in this case, but yes remove the inspection cover on the front lower portion of the bellhousing and you'll see the bolts. Good advice on the string or strap to keep the t/c in place. Before you go to mate things up, make sure the t/c is fully engaged and seated in the transmission or you will damage the pump in the front of the transmission. When you put it in, keep rotating it as there are two sets of splines that need to engage. Per the FSM, the front face of the bolt lugs on the converter should be at least 1/2" below the front face of the bellhousing - mine was closer to 3/4". After everything is bolted back up, there should still be a little forward-back movement of the t/c - mine is about 3/16". If you can't get the bellhousing to pull up tight, stop and check the t/c isn't bound up by not being seated, or that you pinched the breather tube in there like I did.
 
As you pull the engine make sure the torque converter is staying behind, and after the engine is out run a piece of rope/paracord/wire through a couple of bellhousing bolts just to make sure the torque converter doesn't get any ideas of its own while you are later working in the engine bay trying to improve something you see you have easy access to at the moment.

On reinstallation it will be easy to rotate the torque converter to line up the first of the three bolts, and then again you will need to rotate the engine in order to access the other two, one at time.
I take you mean kinda seatbelt the tc in?


4-bolts in this case, but yes remove the inspection cover on the front lower portion of the bellhousing and you'll see the bolts. Good advice on the string or strap to keep the t/c in place. Before you go to mate things up, make sure the t/c is fully engaged and seated in the transmission or you will damage the pump in the front of the transmission. When you put it in, keep rotating it as there are two sets of splines that need to engage. Per the FSM, the front face of the bolt lugs on the converter should be at least 1/2" below the front face of the bellhousing - mine was closer to 3/4". After everything is bolted back up, there should still be a little forward-back movement of the t/c - mine is about 3/16". If you can't get the bellhousing to pull up tight, stop and check the t/c isn't bound up by not being seated, or that you pinched the breather tube in there like I did.

Lawsoncl,

-Does the Tc simply push in/ slip/ slide?
I need to find more pictures of this because I don't fully understand how all this is joined together.

- will I be able to feel this engage or am I just turning until it measures 1/2" below the bellhousing mating surface?

-how should I be able to tell this forward/ back 3/16th movement after everything is bolted up?

To update I have disassembled everything other than:

.NSS
.transfer case plug & breather
Trans breather
. Whichever wire isn't the tc plug or nss, I'm uncertain what this goes to- driver side trans
maybe?
Do these need to be unpluged to lower the trans to pull the engine? Is lowering the trans(auto)mandatory to get accesd to e12, is this standard procedure?

. Transfer case and trans shift linkages( i hope these are easy remove/install)
FlYb0yj.jpg


Please ask and double check if you think I might be missing anything, I'm going off what I can see.


Lastly I do not have a Fsm obviously, currently no computer, nor room on my phone to download, however

Does the FSM clearly walk you through removal & Install?

Thanks all I'm sure I'll have more ?s,


Today I've picked up a replacement from another member. Just need to get the old one out and some helpers.
 
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The torque converter just slides into the transmission and has a couple of notches on it which need to engage inside the transmission. It is the sort of thing where you slide it in, give it a quarter turn or so and it will slide in another inch or so. The difference between engaged/not engaged is substantial. It is not as if there where only 1/8" or so of difference between the two positions.

After you remove the four bolts connection the TC to the flexplate, but before you separate the bell housing from the engine block simply take the time to note where the torque converter is relative to the rest of the bell housing. Note how far back you can push it (odds are once you unbolt the TC you will be able to slide it back a fraction of an inch). That is where you want it to be before you try to drop in the new engine.

And yes, the idea of a strap/rope/whatever is just to keep the TC from coming off the transmission while you are working in the engine bay. If it comes off it is likely to do so in a most un-graceful fashion and inspire you to curse its provenance. And you will probably have a mess of ATF to clean up too. Just remember to remove the strap/rope/whatever before you attempt to drop in the new motor.
 
The torque converter just slides into the transmission and has a couple of notches on it which need to engage inside the transmission. It is the sort of thing where you slide it in, give it a quarter turn or so and it will slide in another inch or so. The difference between engaged/not engaged is substantial. It is not as if there where only 1/8" or so of difference between the two positions.

After you remove the four bolts connection the TC to the flexplate, but before you separate the bell housing from the engine block simply take the time to note where the torque converter is relative to the rest of the bell housing. Note how far back you can push it (odds are once you unbolt the TC you will be able to slide it back a fraction of an inch). That is where you want it to be before you try to drop in the new engine.

And yes, the idea of a strap/rope/whatever is just to keep the TC from coming off the transmission while you are working in the engine bay. If it comes off it is likely to do so in a most un-graceful fashion and inspire you to curse its provenance. And you will probably have a mess of ATF to clean up too. Just remember to remove the strap/rope/whatever before you attempt to drop in the new motor.
Clockwise or counter clockwise? And I should be able to get hands on this with the flexplate there?
 
I doubt it would matter which direction. It is just notches, not threads. Kind of like how a distributor engages with an oil pump. It is a very simple connection. Imagine taking a piece of 2" diameter pipe and cutting a pair of square sections out of the end, 180 degrees apart. When those square voids align with the pump then the pipe can slide the rest of the way home.

All my swaps involving automatics have been GM. I am not sure what sort of access the AW4 will give you, but I expect that from one angle or another you will be able to get a sense of how far back the TC needs to be relative to the bell housing or some other fixed point.
 
Too bad you're in colorado, I have a good 4.0 motor and trans in boston I'm trying to get rid of. attatched to the car and everything
 
..................................Does the FSM clearly walk you through removal & Install?.........................




You can find Haynes paperback manual (ISBN 1563924005) for about $10 at Amazon (or any local auto parts shop).


It covers Jeep Cherokee 1984 - 2000, or I can email you FSM pdf "engine removal" file if you send me a private message. It's only 45 KB file.
 
One way is to have a helper to hold back the engine with a socket & breaker bar by the harmonic balancer bolt.

I was thinking of that, but I was thinking it might break the h.b. bolt loose to.

I'll definitely keep that engine tilting trick in mind, I haven't seen that yet!

Thank you very much, there's all kinds of odd questions I keep running into that I hadn't thought of.
 
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Are all aw4 flexplates the same, any reason use need to swap my old one?

How do you torque these without the engine spinning?

No they are not the same — use the one you take out if it’s good — if you must replace then be sure the hole pattern on the edge matches — these holes are how the crank position sensor knows where it is

I do believe there are differences between the years


Don’t sweat the torque converter — it may sound difficult but once you have hands on it’s really not hard to figure out — the torque converter should spin freely when the bolts are removed connecting it to the flex plate
 
I bought all new fel-pro gaskets. Manifold, oil pan, valve cover.
It's a rebuilt engine, are there any other particular parts that I should consider replacing?

So far I have the listed gaskets:
Need:
Harmonic balancer
- bolt broken off in one removal hole so I need to figure out that issue.

A new manifold or header may be on the list. My 99 manifold is toast, thge donor 93 has been repaired, but everything I read says it'll crack again.
-The front exhaust stud is broke off in the valve head, I need to fix this as well.

Thank you to everyone on the help and suggestions so far. There are a good amount of threads on engineswap topics that leave A Lot to be desired for questions answered. I didn't expect so many little unknowns to become need to know things, during this endeavor.

Any thoughts on fixing the broken bolts are much appreciated! I'm sure I'll have more ?s as this project continues.
 
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Access to broken bolts is certainly easier when the engine is out of the vehicle.

Do you have a welder? Or do you know someone who does?

When you pick up the engine I would take it wherever the welder is before I unloaded it.

The best method I have found for removing broken bolts is to place a nut over the broken off end of the bolt and weld the nut to the broken off bolt. The heat from the welding seems to be just the ticket for breaking the bond between bolt and part, and the nut gives you something to get ahold of.

Whatever you do, do not waste your time with "Easy-Outs". Those are a worse misnomer than MREs or the Federal Reserve. They are anything but easy, and most likely will not bring the bolt out but will rather break off in the bolt. Then you end up with an extremely hard piece of metal embedded in the broken bolt. That leaves you looking for an EDM capable machine shop and a several hundred dollar invoice for bolt removal.

As to other things to do on the new engine before it goes in, now would be a great time to replace the oil filter adapter O-rings. You won't have the access problem for that monster torx bit while the engine is out, and you will have the ability to position yourself so you can apply some strength to the job. The Mopar O-ring set is available off Amazon, I think it is still less than $15. You can do a search for "Oil filter adapter" and read about everyone's battles and alternative plans of attack to see what you are avoiding by doing this job now.
 
Freeze out plugs -- If they are not new change them now while you can get at them -- all of them

I'd even go so far to say that even if they are new and steel to change them to brass -- steel will rust eventually

and yes as Anak said -- do those O-rings while its easy

How about rear main seal? -- once again much easier to do now
 
In theory, it shouldn't be a problem. The HB balancer bolt torque is 80 ft-lbs, and the t/c to flexplate is 40-ft/lbs. Locktite the t/c bolts so they don't come loose, btw.

Not the torque converter bolts, I need the flex plate removed from the engine and need to torque on my other one.
 
Access to broken bolts is certainly easier when the engine is out of the vehicle.

Do you have a welder? Or do you know someone who does?

When you pick up the engine I would take it wherever the welder is before I unloaded it.

The best method I have found for removing broken bolts is to place a nut over the broken off end of the bolt and weld the nut to the broken off bolt. The heat from the welding seems to be just the ticket for breaking the bond between bolt and part, and the nut gives you something to get ahold of.

Whatever you do, do not waste your time with "Easy-Outs". Those are a worse misnomer than MREs or the Federal Reserve. They are anything but easy, and most likely will not bring the bolt out but will rather break off in the bolt. Then you end up with an extremely hard piece of metal embedded in the broken bolt. That leaves you looking for an EDM capable machine shop and a several hundred dollar invoice for bolt removal.

As to other things to do on the new engine before it goes in, now would be a great time to replace the oil filter adapter O-rings. You won't have the access problem for that monster torx bit while the engine is out, and you will have the ability to position yourself so you can apply some strength to the job. The Mopar O-ring set is available off Amazon, I think it is still less than $15. You can do a search for "Oil filter adapter" and read about everyone's battles and alternative plans of attack to see what you are avoiding by doing this job now.
Yes I have a welder, but the block bolt is broken inside the block, the harmonic balancer is broken flush
 
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