Hello all

[chiefbill]

New to this forum but veteran of a few. I'm a Jeep guy with an 86 Cherokee 4x4 that was produced with a 2.8 and a 904 auto. I am presently in middle of a 3.4 swap because the old 2.8 is on its last leg and throwing oil all over the engine compartment. I'm going with the carb setup for now because its my DD and don't want it to be down to long. My brother inlaw and I did this same swap about 2 months ago after he spun a bearing in his 2.8. Made pretty good progress today on it. Got the 2.8 out, the fuelie intake off, rear main renewed, oil filter adapter changed and most the gasket surfaces cleaned up. I can't wait to get it going!! My bro inlaws is apples and oranges different. There are some roads here going up a hill he used to have to downshift to second that he can now make in fourth. Only thing slowing me up is the machine shop taking 2 days to balance the flexplate. I hope the folks here will respond when I have questions. I was going to one forum and had a question. I had 25 views and not one responce. I look forward to learning a few things reading some of the post. Thanks for help up front, you will be hearing from me.

[bszopi]

Welcome!

Going the carb route, you won't get responses right away, but there are still several members on here that are carb'd. So feel free to ask the questions, and they will get answered within a couple days.

[chiefbill]

Thanks. I will be busy for the next couple of days gotting the 3.4 up and running. I will not hesitate to ask a question if I run into a problem. Thanks again.

[bob442]

welcome! and come on ahead with any questions! i'm happy to heard you seem to like the idea of FI but dont have the downtime of the vehicle...

[chiefbill]

As much as I would like to go with the fuel injection, time won't allow it right now. The 3.4 goes in this morning. I know I won't be setting any land speed records with this swap, I am looking forward to an increase in power. I am getting tired of using a calender to check my 0 to 60 times. While checking the crank case out I noticed what I feel is to much play in the crank. I'm not sure what the thrust limits are on the crank but I'm thinking I may need to pop in some new main bearings. The engine is supposed to have about 70000 miles on it. And it is clean as a pin inside. But I am still having some doubts about the mains. I know, when in doubt, renew the questionable parts. Does anyone know the thrust specs off the top of their head? I am limited time wise but I don;t want to have to yank the block out and deal with that headache. Thanks in advance for your answers.

[bszopi]

Here you go: http://60degreev6.com/forum/content....Specifications

[chiefbill]

Thanks for the quick reply. End play is a bit more than I expected. I may be OK with such a large amount of thrust allowed in the crank. Can't wait to get her in and fired up!!

[chiefbill]

Well, the 3.4 now resides in a 1986 Jeep XJ. Would have it running except for the fact that I got in a hurry and failed to notice the broke off bolt in the timing chain cover and that a couple of water pump bolts were stripped out in the same cover. So I had to pull the front off the engine and replace them. I am going crazy wanting to get this thing going. Should be running by the end of the day though. I may go with the fuel injection when I have the extra coin for a wiring harness. I think I read on here that someone makes a plug and play harness for this setup. If so, does anyone have the info on it? I suppose I could go with one of the Holley setups. If I'm not mistaken they are called Projection. Again, if anyone has any thoughts on this I would welcome them. Also, I think I read somewhere that if I went with 1.6 ratio rockers I would see a small increase in low end torque. True or not and if true, what else would I expect to see with this swap? Thanks everone for your thoughts on this. I'm just trying to feel my way through this thing and have a little fun gettin there.

[pocket-rocket]

ForcedFirebird makes a plug and play harness I believe. As for the end play, it came out of a manual transmission car, right? That's the only place I see end play coming from- from people standing on the clutch at stop lights. That's what makes me a little leery when I look at a manual car. Betterthanyou should be the one to hit up (or chime in on this thread) as far as the carbed performance truck stuff should go. That man knows his stuff when it comes to these engines. Also, welcome to the site!

[chiefbill]

No, it came out of an automatic Camaro. I think its OK though after looking at the specs. I almost thought I was gonna have to renew the mains because of the thrust bearing. But it wasn't as much as I thought. I've been turning wrenches on it this morning and should have it running this afternoon. Just got to plumb my electric fuel pump and drop the radiator in and bolt up the exhaust to the manifolds. Then flip a switch for my fuel pump and turn the key. I am putting a switch in as aanti theft device. My brother inlaw forgot to turn his on once and it only went about 30 feet before it quit on him. I figure if I only have to walk 30 feet to recover a stolen XJ, I got it made!! Well, gotta go get it runnin!

[chiefbill]

SUCCESS!!!! The 3.4 is in and it runs like a...... well, an XJ with a 3.4 in it. It really does run great. I am very pleased with it. It has more power going up some of the hills around here and dosen't labor like the 2.8 did. I was so used to the 2.8 marking its spot in any driveway I happened to be in that I carried concrete cleaner with me. Not anymore I'm happy to report. Timing may be just a smidge on the on the high side but I'll deal with that tomorrow. Over all I could only be happier if I dropped in a SBC using a Novak adapter. I think I'll stick with the 3.4 for now. If I went with the fuel injection I don't think I would see a noticeable difference in performance for the amount of work and money involved. I could be wrong and welcome any and all comments.

[chiefbill]

What a forum! I want to thank everyone for posting up and answering my questions. There are some forums out there where people will read your post but you never get any help. I'm happy I stumbled across this particular forum. There are some Jeep forums where I'm treated like crap because of the XJ I have. They feel I should pour gas over my Jeep and strike a match to it because of the drive train in it. I happen to like my little XJ with my Chevy engine in it. Some think that if it ain't a 4.0, it ain't a Jeep. Well, thanks again everybody. But now I'm going to go play with my new toy!! I'm sure I will have more questions as my Jeep is a work in progress. Like the 1.6 rockers I'm thinking of putting in. I would like to hear the advantages of running these rockers as opposed to the 1.5's. Look forward to hearing back from everyone.

[pocket-rocket]

I can't answer on the rockers (except say they can only help), but I'm glad you like these forums. I've been a part of them for a long time, and it's always an awesome source for information. Yeah, those 4.0l are stout, but from what I've heard, they have their share of problems as well, and besides, it's about what you, the owner want, not a bunch of lug nuts on a forum

[chiefbill]

How true!! The 4.0 does have its fair share of problems. Like the 0331 head on the 2000 models. If they overheat, you already know that you have a cracked head due to a design flaw. There are other things that Jeeps have going on with them that are almost specific to what year you have. Like with mine, being a 86 model, I don't get the "death wobble" as most later models do after being lifted. Then you have to throw a bunch of money at that slip yoke eliminator and a transfercase drop kit. I like my little XJ. And I like the 60 V6 in it. Right now I'm having an issue with the fan clutch, I think. At low speeds I have no problem. But at highway speed the temp shoots up and scares the bejesus out of me. Of course everything BUT the radiator and fan clutch has been changed. This was an issue with the 2.8 as well. My radiator looks pretty clean looking into the cap opening yet it is getting hot. By process of elimination I'm down to one of the two. Many thanks for the info. I'm going to look into the 1.6 rockers. I'm not hauling a houseboat nor am I climbing trees. But any increase in torque would be helpful.