new 3.8 engine in 2007 wrangler

The October 16, 2006 issue of the Tech Center News covers the introduction of the 4.0 liter V6 engine production at Trenton Engine (off I-75 south of Detroit). This is a legacy post WW2 Chrysler plant. The article also mentions that the 3.8L V6 minvan engine is built there also. 3.3L V6 production was transferred to Kenosha, a legacy AMC plant.With excess production capacity, productivity comparisons may govern which engine plants survive.

Cumm> Real Jeep are not limited to the 401 CID V8 AMC put in them. They

motor:

just my five> hundred: God Bless America, Bill O|||||||O> mailto: snipped-for-privacy@aol.com

But why wouldn't they use the 3.7 from the Liberty? That engine is derived from the 4.7 V8, a purpose designed truck engine.

The minivan engine is reportedly on it's way to being replaced in a few years.

The 3.7 from the Liberty is a 90 degree V6 (a 90 degree V8 with two cylinders chopped out). It is too wide to fit in the Wrangler's engine bay. The 3.8 engine in the 2007 actually is several years old and was designed for Chrysler's front-wheel-drive minivans. Like most V6 engines designed for front-wheel-drive vehicles, it is a 60 degree V6 in order to be narrower than the V8-derived engines. They had to make the new Wrangler 6 inches wider even to fit that narrow V6 into it, so you can see why they did not put the 3.7 from the Liberty in there.

The 3.8 is an old-timey pushrod engine tho so while power is unexceptional, at least it's not a whiney high-strung engine like the

3.7 in the Liberty.

-Elron

Normal rule is that angle x no of cylinders / 360 should be an integer for any engine to get it well balanced, so v6s should be 60 degrees regardless of whether it is for a front wheel drive or a rear wheel drive application.

Dave Milne, Scotland '91 Grand Wagoneer, '99 TJ

I do realize that a 60 degree is best for the V6. Buick demonstrated how to make a 90 degree setup work with 6 cylinders, tho. After they bought back the V6 from Jeep. The original setup for that engine was rough. After they offset the crank pins it became smooth. I owned a 62 Buick special with the rough version and an 87 Park Avenue with the smooth version.

It is hard to credit that the wrangler does not have room for a 90 degree engine tho. While a Chevy v8 is said to be narrow, can it be THAT much narrower than the 4.7? The wrangler engine bay seems plenty big to me. Never done an engine swap, I must say.