'00 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 4.7 /287 V8 (RECOMMENDED ENGINE SWAP)

[Guest BUDNIK]

Bought Jeep with No history ,,,, #8 rod bearing spun ,,,,, Who has been there & done that.... Looking for suggestions on possible swaps , ( 5.2 V8 Chrysler, 4.0 L6 Jeep )? Please advise ....

[NTX5467]

I was thinking the 4.7L was in the 5.7L "HEMI" family? If that's the case, there are MANY possibilities. Going to a 5.2 or 5.9L "LA" family engine, as good as they might have been, would be a step backward in my orientation, as the 4.7L runs better (in the Durangos I rented back then) than the 5.2L V-8 it replaced.

You might find some information on the 4.7L V-8's heritage in the www.allpar.com website. It would be easier to stay "in family" with any replacements. Not that the other engines mentioned would not work, as they are all production-based situations, but the "changes" needed to fit them would be significant, even with the donor vehicle sitting beside your vehicle to swap everything over from one to the other.

By the same token, there have been enough Dodge Ram pickups out that there should be a good supply of salvage yard engines to choose from, for the 4.7L or 5.7L HEMI. You might pose this question on some of the Jeep forums or the Dodge Ram pickup forums. Possibly search through the allpar.com forums, too.

Enjoy!

NTX5467

Edited December 15, 2012 by NTX5467 (see edit history)

[Steve Braverman]

I have a 2001 Dakota with the 4.7 and 190k miles. I understand the early 4.7s had lubrication issues that were fixed for the 2001 model year. Mine runs great and burns very little oil. I would look for a later 4.7 and be done with it.

[joe_padavano]

I was thinking the 4.7L was in the 5.7L "HEMI" family?

Not even close. The 4.7 is it's own engine family unrelated to any other Chrysler engine.

More to the point, the vehicle electronics are HIGHLY integrated. You CANNOT swap the engine (other than a direct replacement) without wiring and programming changes. You can install another available engine by also swapping all the wiring and electronics.

I won't even begin to point out that if you live in an area subject to emissions testing, you can only swap in an engine from the same or newer model year (in other words, one that has the same or lower emissions output). Otherwise, it will not pass the visual part of the inspection. (This is where Dave Moon jumps in and tells us that any disabling of emissions equipment is against federal law... )

[misterc9]

Call the salvage yards and look for the correct exact engine. They know which ones are right. Save yourself a lot of aggravation.

Edited December 16, 2012 by misterc9 (see edit history)

[Friartuck]

Post this question on the Jeep Forums, specific to your model. You'll likely get more detailed response:

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/