let's talk about 4.3 engines in Jeeps

after some real long/hard thinking, i'm leaning towards replacing the 360 that came in my jeep with a fuel injected 4.3 and the spare 465 tranny i have out in the shop.

Now, i know the 4.3 probably won't match the power of the 360, which is ok.....i'm after i mild mannered trail rig, not a powerhouse.

I've read a bunch of write ups on the swap, and all of them read really positive......

what i'd like to hear is from the guys/gals that have done this conversion, and what your impressions are of it.

Is there more work to the swap than what most of the articles are saying? Any problems you fellas ran into that were unexpected?

The thought had crossed my mind to run an auto tranny behind the 4.3 but i'd rather have the stick.....which one would be better trail wise?

Plans now are for finishing the bodywork/frame reapairs, and while doing this and getting everything back together work on finding a 4.3 donor vehicle. Figure that's about the best way to get just about everything i need (CPU, wiring, sensors, etc etc)

 

I have always liked a manual, but from what I have read and seen, auto is the way to go. You almost need a third foot or a hand throttle to drive a manual on hard trails. I would just take the engine, trans, and t case out of the donor vehicle and figure out how to use it all. Maybe not the transfer case.

I have always believed that real Jeeps are manual, but I'm beginning to change my mind........maybe

 

yeah, been thinking about that "3rd foot" thing.....i dunno, never really "trail rode" before, always been foot to the floor, break something if need be kinda wheeler.....

Just want to be able to go where i point her........with as little hassle as possible

 

thanx for the offer Mike.....what day/time works best for you?

Doubt i could make it till maybe this weekend at the earliest though

 

sounds good!

If you would, shoot me a PM or e-mail with your addy & phone number.....i'll shoot for saturday afternoon, but will definately call before i swing through that way.

Oh hey, what tranny you got behind the 4.3? Been reading through your website, and have seen everything but the trans listed

 

Nothing beats the low rpm torque of a big v8 engine. I like the later 4.3 motors but they are thirsty. If you put a mileage cam and a new carb on the 360 I bet the gas mileage would be close.

 

welcome aboard DJ

you may be right, but i'm thinking more along the lines of shaving a pound or 3 and the added comfort of fuel injection R)

 

I have a 4.3 vortec out of a 95 and a half although not running YET the hardest thing I ran into was getting the VSS sensor straighten out there was only two places at the time that carried a compatable Vss sensor for the computer to work with I think there are a few more now.If I do it again I would probally go with a throttle body a bit more simplistic.Pulling the harrness apart and having the computer reprogramed where no big.
The one thing I can say it was big learning experiance for me.
A great help to me was a manual I bought from Helms it was a great help to let me know where wires went codes for the computer and any thing you want to know about the electrical on your motor.

 

Can a preson take a throttle body and computer off a 4.3 and put it on a 258


Jerry

 

thanx for all the information fellas, keep the input coming !

I'll dig into this stuff a bit more during the week.....and if i can find anything else useful out, i'll be sure to let you guys know.