4 cyl Jeep?

The 4cyl performance is adequate when you are alone in a stock rig. Bigger tires or more people will leave you crying on hills, being passed by VW busses.

Get the six.

Carl

If you have another vehicle, the 4 is fine. It's a bit slow but it's faster then walking or riding a bike! If you're top down on a nice day, who cares how fast you're going.

Dan I have had several 2.5l jeeps and they are great reliable engines. they have a lot more power than the f-head in my 57 cj-5. I live in Hawaii and it is slow going up the mountain but it carries bicycles and people through some rough stuff in ka'ena pt and goes like a champ through deep sand w/ 30X9.5 BFG AT's. 2.5l YJ's are dirt cheap too. You can wear out two of them for the price of one six. Jim

I don't know if you have seen my photo albums from wheeling here in Ontario, but I have wheeled with a bunch of 4 bangers and I never knew the difference until I was told about it by the owner. The for sure had no issues 'keeping up' or going any place the rest of us went.

There is one album link in my sig line and if you just go to the bottom of the view page, you will see links to a mess more albums.

Mike

Dan Hosk>

Very nice pics Mike, Thanks! Jim

On the trail, they are great (and often preferred by competition drivers) when geared properly. But if you also ride on the hard ball, they loose their luster.

That is the key.. Gearing.. Most people that have the 2.5L and put a lift on it with bigger tires complain about not going fast enough to get out its own way.. Until they regear it to like 4.88.. 4.88 with 33in tires works out to be a good combo...

Ben

I can't imagine anyone replacing the 2.5 gas four in a Jeep with another one. The six is a much better engine in terms of power. If I had one with a dead four, I would convert to something else. But not a piece of shit small block Chevy.

Dan, I have a '97 4 bangers and wouldn't trade it for the world. I was also concerned about power, but was surprisingly pleased with the performance of the 4 cyl. True that I won't win an Indy 500 race, but it holds its own on the street. Since I have a stick, I also have no problem going 4,000 - 4,500 rpm (redline is 5,000) although I don't do that often. obtw I live in Pittsburgh, PA, USA which I think means "god awful hills" in some obscure language. If a 4 cyl has enough power out here, it should handle most environments. Mild off roading showed that it has plenty of power. I upgraded 6 years ago to 31x10.50 BFG AT's and it really didn't lose much power at all.

Now, all that said, like someone inferred, it you're used to driving a

On caveat I'll add is that I test drove plenty of Jeeps both 4's and

Net - for '97's and up, you'll be happy with either. Good luck.

Ed

ok, ignoring the fact you are sniping at Bill, what's wrong with the small block Chevy ? I assume a big block anything in a Jeep would be too heavy. What would you put in ?

Dave

The simplest swap is the AMC six, I would depending on the exact vehicle and the puropse you want to use it for, look at several other gas engines but I think the smallblock Chevy is overrated in a lot of ways. Now that unfortunately fuel prices have dropped in the US a diesel is less attractive economically, but I like them anyway. Isuzu, Mitsubishi or Nissan are the main choices here. The A-series Cummins (the revamped six cylinder they got from Onan) is still not 100% reliable and the OM617 Benz- a super hell for stout engine and common in the States-has an oil pan right where the front axle needs to be- and the oil pump is in the bottom. Deutz is also a possibility if you don't mind the noise and no heating from coolant.

I saw another post about the 4 banger and regearing. I run 33's and 4.88s. The gears made all the difference. I can do 70 mph on the highway without any issues. Major winds or big hills still pose a challenge, but off-road I haven't seen a difference. Most folks assume I have the 6. I'm not sure why, though, it isn't like crawling would be that much different...

Eric

Deutz makes liquid cooled engines too. I figure since I looked on their web site once, I know at least as much about it as Ludwig. I drove a diesel ("dyayssel" en español) Golf from Vitoria-Gasteiz to Madrid, and I was very impressed. The accelerator response was almost as good as a gasoline engine, the torque curve appeared to be very wide, low rpm response was excellent, the noise of the dyayssel was hardly noticeable, and there was no detectable odor standing outside the vehicle with the engine running. Eighteen Euros worth of "gasoleo" to get from Vitoria to Madrid isn't bad either. If you want to put a dyayssel into a Jeep or any vehicle which will see road service, then use something which is designed for road service.

The small block Chevy is readily available in new, rebuild or recycled, for less than half the price of any of the alternatives you have mentioned. You put gasoline into it, and you get reliable horsepower and torque out, without breaking the bank. Complaining about its well known shortcomings is like looking a gift horse in the mouth.

I like the four cylinder Jeep engines, especially the late nineties pre overhead cam variety. The MPI gives decent throttle response, but with four adult passengers you may have some regrets. I get along with mine just fine. I could rip it out and maybe get slightly better fuel economy with a ten thousand dollar dyayssel from a Mercedes or Volkswagen, but why?

Earle

Well, I've done major repairs to them. There were on-road applications for Deutzes in the US and many more in Europe, but the US distributor has chosen to pretend there are not.

The latest Deutzes are liquid cooled because of increasingly Nazi-like emissions regulations world wide and because efficiency on liquid cooled engines is better. They will probably die out shortly because their separate crankcase and cylinder technology has higher build cost.

A Deutz in a Jeep has novelty value and you would, if you used the air-cooled one (which is still available new and will be for as long as Deutz remains in business, for specialized and non-regulated markets) never have to worry about radiator problems.

--snippy--

I have worked on and even owned air-cooled vehicles. Radiator problems aren't so bad. On the other hand, noise, air leaks, dirt and oil as a source of reduced cooling efficiency, and cab heating with contaminated air all come to mind. We found out with Volkswagen Beetles and Vans, that air cooling efficiency during road use is heavily, heavily dependent on vehicle aerodynamics and can even be affected by something as seemingly innocuous as opening a window. For crawling, your cooling needs would be a serious horsepower drain. This is because at low engine speed any deficiencies in the engine cooling system, such as cylinder or head "hot spots", become painfully apparent. You have to compensate, by grossly oversizing the fan and duct work. Liquid cooling concentrates the heat exchange area and thereby solves more problems than it creates.

Earle

not one with water in it though !

Dave Milne, Scotland