Looking to start on a winter project for me and all of my other layed off buddys while waiting for the snow to fall.

Here is what we are planning. I have a 1997 Jeep Wrangler with a 4 cylinder gas jeep motor in it and a 3 speed auto. It was bought last febuary as cheap toy with a price tag on it of $2800. The body is clean with no rust. Last winter we put a lift and 31" mud countrys on it. The jeep 4 cylinder motor is very weak and works it's self to death trying to keep the automaitc transmission in overdrive at 60mph. My wife and I enjoy it as a booze cruiser on nice days and other than that just an in town grocery getter, I tend to use our extra trucks as normal drivers in the winter as when my truck is set up to push snow, I hate driving it around town as trying to get in and out of places and park with a truck that is as long as it is and as loaded down the fuel economy goes by the wayside.

What the plan is if I can find one for a reasnonable price is to put a 4 cylinder cummins mated with a TH400???


Is that a possible combo?

Does anyone have any creative input on this topic?

Where can I find a 4 cylinder cummins?

Is there a better diesel to mate with the jeep?



Any input will be great.
Thanks, Phil

Try out www.4btswaps.com They do stuff like that all the time and there is a whole boatload of information to take on.

A 4bt can be found in one of those frito lay trucks. Try searching ebay for a 4bt as well. Sometimes you have good results.

I would go with the 1.9 litre TDI. You can pick a used one up for about 2K. Stock 90hp, 155lbft torque. Easily modified to 170hp and 260lbft. It would be light enough for that application and there is tons of aftermarket support for it. Smooth even torque curve that will pull that jeep up any hill. The cherry on the cake is 40+ mpg even after modifications. I have thought of this build also but do not have the tools to pull it off. I used to have a golf with this engine and miss it like crazy. Easily the best engine I ever had in any vehicle I ever owned. I had an 87' wrangler with the inline six and the TDI blows it away.
Go to tdiclub.com for tons of info and quit possibly the best vehicle forum on the net. Mucho info for modifying this engine.

I have a few 4BTs and am a member over on 4BTswaps.com. They have Chevy bell adapters on them for the turbo 400. I put a 4BT in my Suburban. PM me if you want more info. I would be willing to sell one.

weird i was planning on doing this swap but into a little 86 s-10 blazer 4x4 of course and btw i found out that some of them have allisons on them and a th350 and th400 should bolt right up to them

That would be really hard on an S10. The 4BT is 100 lbs heavier than a big block. A better choice may be the Cummins 3.3L. They are 200 lbs lighter than a 4BT and will make nearly as much power.

My buddy is putting a 4bt in his 96 Jeep Cherokee with the Allison LCT1000 behind it.

I've seen 6.5s in the Jeep Wrangler before.

If anybody is interested, I started modeling the jeep wrangler (YJ) with the educational version of autodesk inventor. Once I finish that, I will model the 4bt motor.

wow! I was away for a couple of days and can't believe all the responce. I will be sending out PM's to those with motors for sale in the next couple of days.

I believe I have also heard of guys putting the 5.9 cummins in jeeps....

you could contact http://www.jeffdanielsjeeps.com/about-us/

they do 4bt swap, they have put them in CJ's,YJ's,TJ's, and XJ's. I though tI saw they have a kit that includes motor mounts, give'em a call or drop an an email.

So I am a member on the 4BTSWAPS fourm now, and I have been doing a ton of reading trying to figure out how I want to tackle this little project.

I am just having trouble figuring out.... what I want.... to find.

I am torn about taking a perfectly good motor out of my Jeep. I am half tempted to if I can find a Jeep with a blown motor, buying that and selling my jeep that runs fine.

I am not sure that the 4BT and TH400 combo is the right thing to do now also.

Anyone else with any insite???:confused: :confuzeld

What is the purpose of the project? A crawler or something to wheel occasionally but street-driven most of the time?

If you plan to do a major build the 4BT is great. Look forward to a D44 up front since that 30 won't handle 750lb motor plus accessories on top of it. The VW TDI is really popular in Samis and, as stated, can make plenty of power for a Jeep. If you want to go super cheap and simple, pull a 6.2/400. What auto is in the Jeep now?

It is a street driver. The only rock crawling that it is going to do is on the gravel road on the way out to the shop. I got all that mudding, and crawling stuff out of my system years ago.

The main thing this is used for is when me and the Mrs. go on a booze cruise. I drive the jeep a lot in the summer as I don't have a need for my pickup and enjoy the open air driving.

I am not truly crazy about swaping axles. If I have to then I will, but I just want to change the motor over and have a little fun in somthing that is a topic of conversation when you meet people who understand jeeps and who understand diesels.

The trans that is in the jeep right now is a 3 speed auto. According to all the info I have come across, it is not possible to mate any of Jeeps transmissions to a 4BT. If this is wrong and I can keep the 3 speed auto that is in the jeep currently it would be great news to my ears! :D

As for the TDI, I had a chance to pick one of those up out of a rear ended Jetta at the local junk yard, and just couldn't pull the trigger. I just couldn't bring myself to truly want a TDI. I want to use a cummins in the project. I really don't want the computers that come with TDI's. If I am going to go through all the work of doing the swap, I am going to put the motor that I really would like in it.

put a dmax in it

Looks like a little T904 tranny in there. If you don't want to go through so much of the hassle you may be able to mate the VW to it with an adapter. I don't see any other options unless you want to change a lot of hard parts.

Good reference:
http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/tj_swap.htm

EDIT: I just saw you are not crazy about the VW. The 4BT will be a real project. The weight is going to require some serious parts scrounging. Replacing your coils may be difficult.

If you don't want to swap your front axle, think about a 6.2 from a chevy/GMC. Adapters for GM trannies to your t-case are readily available. Some people say they are crap, I don't think so. I just sold my truck with a 6.2, I would have LOVED to have kept it and put the drivetrain in my '73 CJ-6 or my '81 CJ-8, but situations prevented that from happening:(

so where does a person ge the adapter to go from a tdi to a th350 gm auto trans?