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1999 and newer Jeep Wrangler question...

Hey all,

Merry Christmas first of all! Secondly, used Jeep dealers keep telling me the '99 year model and newer Wranglers are better!? They keep mentioning that Chrysler made some "significant" improvements to the engine, but nobody can tell me what the "improvements" were. I have a '94 wrangler with a 2.5 and have been debating the cost of upgrade to a 4.0 v.s. just buying a '97/'98 model and selling mine outright. The older models run around $9K or less from private sellers. The '99 and up models are a couple grand more with comperable or more mileage but nobody has been able to justify why.

As always, thanks for your expertise!!

Marty

Reply to
Marty
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In 97 they revised the dash, and introduced quadra-coil, which replaced your leaf springs with coil springs, front and rear. Some say it's an upgrade, some say it isn't. I had a 99 TJ and the ride was too bouncy for me. I upgraded the springs to Rubicon springs and it was better, but still bouncy.

HTH

Carl

Reply to
Carl

I think it was around then that they moved from the AX-15 to the NV3550

- at least > In 97 they revised the dash, and introduced quadra-coil, which replaced your

Reply to
Micah

Others here would be more informed than I, but I didn't feel like lurking and waiting for someone else to answer you ;-)

I *THINK* there were improvements to the intake manifold, or the head design or something in the '99 and newer 4.0L engines, which account for a few extra points in HP and TQ...

So the question comes down to $4000 to $6000 (Or less) to do a QUALITY engine swap VS finding a low mileage 97 Wrangler for the KBB value of $8000 or so...

I guess if you're happy with the rest of your current vehicle then the engine swap might be the better choice, considering you are familiar with it's quirks and such, but then again, if you bide your time, you might find a "well equipt" TJ with hardware that's "better than stock" ;-)

Either way, good luck, and:

Merry F'ing Christmas!

...

Reply to
noneofyourbusiness

One improvement to the 4.0 that I know of around that time was the revision of the oil filter boss housing; it used to be a 2-piece assembly with a problematic O-ring between the boss and the engine block. They finally changed the block casting and machined into it, an oil filter boss that is one integral piece eliminating the O-ring and associated leakage problems. Also, I *believe* that in 99 they went to the coil-on-plug assembly, eliminating secondary ignition wiring. Small stuff, but a good deal for buyers.

Reply to
Outatime

The year for the coil on plug was 2000. My 99 had a distributor, my 00 does not.

Carl

Reply to
Carl

Two inevitable problems of the 97 TJ were the exhaust manifold cracking and the air conditioning evaporator leaking. Design flaws took a few years to correct, not sure if it was 1999.

Reply to
Richard J Kinch

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