1999 Jeep Wrangler V2203 Build Overview
 

I get a lot of questions about my Wrangler build, so I decided to start a build thread to provide a point of reference and hopefully help some folks out.

Attachment 31857

Jeep OEM Information
General Swap Overview InformationOil SystemSensorsAdapterCooling

• Stock Radiator
• Radiator Inlet Upper 1.25” or 31.75mm
• Radiator Outlet Lower 1.5” or 38mm
• Kubota Outlet Upper 35mm
• Kubota Inlet Lower 34mm
• Frozen boost stainless steel flexible radiator hoses with silicone adapter couplers

Heater

• Heater core is pass-through.
• Bypass hose routed from water neck through heater core then to water pump.
• Jeep uses one ⅝ hose and one 11/16 hose. 11/16 hose is not readily available, but ⅝ hose fits both without any problems.
• Hoses adapted using Gates 268610 ⅝ to ½” hose adapters

ElectricalFuel SystemBrakes Vacuum

My original configuration was with a TD04L-13G turbo from an '04 WRX and a small FMIC.

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For the fuel system I removed the fuel pump and check valve, then installed Vulcan DrawStraws. They're pricey, and I used them mostly to save the time of having to do the research and piece something together myself. If I were to do it again I'd probably get stuff from the hardware store.

I also ran a full separate return line so the vent line would remain free, but knowing what I do now I'd just use a filter head with the return built in if I did it again.

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A friend machined the adapter plate and flywheel adapter for me. I used the stock Jeep flywheel, clutch, and AX-15 transmission, which allowed me to keep the original crank sensor to keep the PCM happy.

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It's pretty amazing to me looking back through these and seeing how crude it was and everything I've changed.

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The WRX turbo ended up being too large. That combined with inexperience and lack of sleep spelled disaster on the first run. I had an exhaust appointment with a shop I've dealt with in the past 100 miles away on the other side of a mountain pass, I didn't get it completely buttoned up until after 2AM and was on the road before 5AM. It melted down right at the 50 mile mark while pulling the pass. I still think something on the reman was out of spec. I ran the exact same setup on another engine for thousands of miles after this without any catastrophic failure.

OUCH
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More to come

Part II

I picked up a nice lower hours engine from Rangmar and made a few refinements to the configuration as I got it buttoned back up with the new engine.

Attachment 31831


The after a while I got tired of the belt driven vacuum pump for the power brakes, which had issues shaking the bracket to pieces, so I converted to Hydroboost.

Attachment 31832


I finally decided that I wanted a turbo that was more efficient at lower RPM, the WRX turbo would build boost under 2000RPM, but wasn't really happy until it was over 2500. Being a masochist, I decided to try a compound turbo setup with a TD03-08 from a Volvo twin turbo as the small turbo, and the WRX turbo as the large one.

Attachment 31833

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The twin setup was definitely not ideal. It built about 6PSI around 1300RPM, but wouldn't build any more than that before 2000RPM when the big turbo started to build boost. I saw up to 30PSI with this setup, but I also saw a lot of blow-by and not a lot more power, making me think that there was likely a lot of drive pressure.

About this time FTE started teasing with his B3.3 turbo, so the hunt was on. I eventually found one, and it worked great, but I started having problems keeping the plumbing together, and it also became clear that the little FMIC wasn't going to keep up with the heat this thing throws out at higher boost levels.

Attachment 31836

I was also having trouble with power steering line failure at the hard line on the pump end. After being stranded several times by this, I did what any reasonable person would do, and tore it completely apart again.

Attachment 31837


This time it got a new air/water intercooler with the biggest heat exchanger I could find in front of the radiator. Ever since the initial build it's had issues with leaks at the dipstick, oil drain, and coolant hoses, so I completely redid all of this with the factory Kubota dipstick replacing my hokey junk yard thing, the drain hose moved from the oil pan to a hole in the block, and all new coolant hoses. I made a thermostat housing from some aluminum plate and one of the Volvo boost tubes, and had a buddy TIG weld it up for me to clear the intake.

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I went with a TRW electric power steering pump from a Volvo to separate the power steering from the engine and avoid cracking lines.

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After a few teething problems with my turbo adapter cracking, it seems to be working pretty well now. I'm apparently not capable of leaving things alone though...

Attachment 31842

Where's the pic of that sexy new crank pulley?

Haha, ok ok!

After some research, I figured out the crank snout on the Toyota 1GR-FE 4.0 V6 as found in the 2nd generation Tacoma, FJ Cruiser, etc has the same diameter as the Kubota's. :rocking: I lucked out and found a nice aftermarket aluminum pulley used on ebay for $40, so I ordered it to test.

It's definitely a snug fit, I had to use some light persuasion with the rubber mallet to get it on, and a puller to get it off, but it definitely fits. It's just a hair shy of seating completely, and the keyway is a little narrower than the Kubota key, but those are nothing that a couple licks with a file won't easily solve.

Attachment 31828


This picture shows where it contacts the cover and how close it is to seating. Very little material will need to be removed from the cover for clearance to seat completely.

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Very nice.

Oh ya! Going to have to get one!

Nice pulley, that should make it easier to build a serpentine system. And i forgot how nice your Jeep was, GOOD JOB!!:tu:

Thought I'd post an update. I took the Jeep on a 1400 mile round trip drive to Northern California and back a couple weeks ago, and it performed flawlessly. Freeway mileage was 27, the same as always, for the trip down. It did that leg on one tank, fueling up to begin with in Everett, WA, with the fuel light coming on right as I pulled into the gas station in Yreka, CA. I think it was something like 530 miles off the top of my head.

Before the trip I had decided that I didn't want to rely on my phone for the Torque Pro app so I could keep track of intake air temp, and a few other things that are nice to see. I recently replaced my old Nexus 7 tablet, so I loaded a lightweight ROM onto it set to boot directly into Torque, and made a mount. I also mounted a Mobius Action Camera (seen below the tablet) as a 'dash cam'. It runs continuously with ignition power, and makes 5 minute hd video files with a slight overlap, overwriting the oldest file when the card gets full.

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My parents came along on the trip driving their '00 TJ 4.0 auto, and fuel was always a concern. At one point we had about an hour drive to the point where we were getting off the highway followed by somewhere around 50 miles of back country roads. It was a bit of a nail biter getting to a town with gas before they ran out once we got back on the highway, but my gauge had just dropped down to the full mark IIRC.

Here are the two Jeeps. In case you can't tell, mine is in front. I had an issue with my winch a day before leaving, so I removed it for the trip. I liked the way it drove without it so much more that I may just leave it off and figure out a different recovery option.

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For the way back up I took the tires up to maximum pressure and it made a huge difference in power at speed. It pulled all of the passes in Southern Oregon at 65 or 70 with power to spare. I wasn't able to get an accurate mileage for that leg of the trip though, because we ran into a massive windstorm in central Oregon that I fought all the way home. That made for an exhausting 15 hours of driving! I was about 1/4 tank below where it would usually be for the distance when I got home late on the 11th, but it was actually catching up during the remainder of the tank commuting between then and when I filled it on Sunday 11/23. End mileage for that tank was 25.8MPG.

Here's a picture I took of the tree debris from the windstorm at a rest area just south of Portland. It was mostly headwind with some strong side gusts thrown in to keep me on my toes.

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Hey Red,
Do you remember the dimensions of the crank pulley snout? going to start putting together the front of my motor and want to run a harmonic balancer. going to see if i can find any others that are compatible or I can modify to make fit.

Thanks
Ken

I'm always trying to think of ways to make the accessory drive on my engine better. I don't have a lot of room on the sides of the engine for extra things like if I wanted to go back to a mechanical power steering pump, but I have a TON of room in front of the engine. I stumbled across one of these a while back while looking through a Pick N Pull and had to get one.


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.die...1e6b3b44e4.jpg

It's the accessory pack from a 90's Toyota Previa mini van. They're pretty cool (for a mini van) in that the engine is under the seats, but the accessories are all at the front driven by a driveshaft from the front of the engine. Many were all wheel drive, and supercharged. This one has the alternator, power steering pump, and supercharger. I left the AC pump at the yard, because I don't need it, and didn't want to pay for it. The supercharger is a Toyota SC14, which is 1.4L, and makes 6PSI with the 2.4L gas mini van engine.

My plan is to run the water pump off of the original engine pulley, which is already machined for a harmonic damper, so an adapter for this will be really easy. I'll probably have to cut off the splines on the end of the crank, and maybe do a little work to the drive side of the accessory pack, but otherwise it should attach pretty simply with plates to the sides of the engine.


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.die...e0fd06e87b.png

That's a great idea!

Edit

Mn_p_25.html

Here's an update. The Jeep has been getting weaker and weaker lately, then it started missing below 1500RPM and putting out a blue cloud of smoke from the breather at idle. I ran a compression test and found only 110PSI in #2 cylinder, so I tore it down to take a look.

All of the cylinders show a flower petal pattern that Rangmar said is associated with extremely retarded timing, and #2 was starting to melt. Luckily the cylinder isn't too bad, the scrape marks aren't even through the hone marks, so I should be able to deglaze the cylinder and drop in a new piston.

Timing is going to be more interesting though. I removed my shim stack earlier in the summer to add more advance, so it's kind of stuck unless I do something like advance the fuel cam by a tooth. I also don't use the stock flywheel, so I need to figure out how I'll measure the timing.


You can see the torched #2 in this picture, and #3 is an example of what all the other pistons look like.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.die...cd5e297cff.jpg


Here you can just see the edge of the piston starting to lift/erode at about the 4:00 position in relation to the picture.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.die...686f74f0f5.jpg

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.die...9ce88e6e84.jpg

I should also note, since I saw my original shim stack theory from when my first engine melted down mentioned on another thread, that my original engine did not exhibit the flower petal pattern on the pistons. In the end I don't think the timing had anything to do with that failure.

Dang, sorry to rear of your failure! Aren't you spinning your motor at a higher RPM than the rest of us? I think I remember you saying you frequently run it over 4000 rpm. Maybe that's what caused the pattern?

hey Red sorry to hear about your engine. I kind of joined the club as well. I have been wanting to update my thread but I have been busy getting the spare engine put in the jeep: (back on the road today) my original engine never quit, ( 28000 miles in 21 months, with 14000 in the last 60 days) , but it was not very happy either. I have not torn down the original engine yet but very soon.
I should go pull the old cylinder head.
I don't know how many miles you got, but for me 28000 hard miles on a unknown $500 engine is not too bad sort of
good luck with your rebuild. I will be going thru my motor was well

It frequently goes to 3000RPM on overrun, but it doesn't run over 2500 in constant running. The highest it's ever spun was about 3600-3700 RPM one time, which started to float the valves.

I much prefer running it at lower RPMs, but it hasn't had the torque to do that in a while. When it could pull at lower RPM the vibration was constantly breaking brackets and cracking turbo adapters. When I first swapped it in, it would pull from about 1500RPM with 8-10PSI of boost, then really start spooling about 1900RPM. The past couple years it would still spike to 8-10PSI, but only hold about 6PSI of boost below 1900RPM. During a normal hard pull holding 2400-2500RPM it would hold 25PSI and top out around 105 degrees intake air temp. During a really hard pull like Stevens Pass (13 miles of 5-6% grade) loaded for camping, it would hold 30-32PSI and top out around 130 degrees IAT.

I also have tried several configurations of methanol/water injection. Spraying meth/water would give it a noticeable kick in the pants, egts would stay about the same, but IAT would drop down to about 95 degrees. Injecting just before the intake seemed to make the most difference in power, but injecting before the turbo made the most difference in IAT and EGT. I removed it after about 10k miles of preturbo injection because it had started to erode the leading edge of the compressor wheel.


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.die...9e14dc689a.jpg

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.die...13d93d07cb.jpg


I did some research last night, and the flower pattern is common and normal in hopped up diesels from added fuel, so maybe it's not timing. The other pistons had a pretty even coating of light carbon showing a lot more even burn, but some coolant spilled on them when I removed the head. When I cleaned the coolant off of them it cleaned the carbon off, leaving only the heat marks from the injector pattern.


This is what my #1,3, & 4 look like
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.die...f64b7eba7c.jpg

Powerstroke (reportedly somewhat overfueled)
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.die...dc960660db.jpg

Duramax
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.die...5010c62c89.jpg


I'm planning on doing a few modifications while it's apart. First is ceramic coating the pistons, which will hopefully help distribute the heat more evenly still. I also want to do some porting to the head. I probably won't touch the intake side beyond any port matching necessary, because I don't want to screw up the swirl. The exhaust side has a nasty protrusion right behind the valve that can be smoothed away though, and I bet that makes a noticeable difference alone.


Exhaust - notice the ledge/step. The picture almost makes it look like it's spiraled, but it is not, it's just a level ledge interrupting flow.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.die...9f3da71822.jpg


I'll have to check the mileage on the Jeep to be sure, but I think I have about 40,000 miles on the conversion since 2012. It's never seemed to have the torque or get the mileage that others have reported, but I'm not sure if that's due to an issue, or lack of aerodynamics. It's seemed to do fine in most cases below 50mph, then hits a brick wall above that if there are any hills. The Jeep scales at 3600lbs with me in the seat.

Finally, I suspect that I may have just found the design limit for shedding heat. During normal around town and 60-70mph freeway driving it wouldn't usually get over 1000 degrees EGT, but during a hard pull it would slowly creep up to 1200 before I would back off. It's possible that this may be too much heat for the pistons to shed to the cylinder walls, and I just got bit for pushing my luck.

so you over temped vs overrevved I have never been very happy with my EGT. I often run in the high 1000's, and 1100's. I try to take my foot out of it just before 1200. it is kind of a PIA to drive by the EGT. early in my trip I took out 30% of the rack adjustment I was running at sea level. I still had trouble. some of the big 8%+ hills I was rite there with the loaded trucks going 25-30mph up hill in 2nd

I wonder if it is a jeep thing, are you still at 3.08 rear gear with the ax15? I wonder if I am overloading and not revving enough. but man the engine sure seems to like running in the 2000-2200 range. it runs just fine in 4th, at 2500 too, just seems better at 2000
For mods have you thought about oil squirters. I am working toward them for this engine. on my gen 1.5 today, I have finally gotten rid of the oil vacuum pump and went with the little VW hella electric pump. so far I like it.

I suspect so, but it sounds like we're running in the same temp range.

Definitely! It got a little easier when I changed my EGT gauge to one with an alarm that goes off at a preset temp. At least I don't have to keep my eyes glued to it at all times.

My stock gears are 3.73 with the AX15. It does like that range, but mine just doesn't have the oomph to stay there at higher speed. Keeping it revved up, I was able to maintain 60-70MPH going over the passes in southern Oregon on I5 when I took a trip to northern California in 2014.

What is the vacuum pump for?

I've done research on oil squirters, and it just wouldn't be feasible for me right now. I've actually been laid off since January, so I'm doing all this on a tight budget. I really don't want to have to pull the engine from the Jeep and strip down the block to get it machined. On a positive note, it did last 4 years and ~40,000 miles, so it can't be too far over the threshold. It has plenty of fuel and boost, so I'm thinking the ceramic coating to help evenly distribute the heat and reflect it out of the combustion chamber, along with increasing flow may be the ticket.

One thing I realized that may or may not be a coincidence is that it started to lose the bottom end power shortly after I changed to a hotter thermostat (200*). I'm wondering if the slight drop in heat absorption capacity was just enough to bump it over the top and start overheating the pistons? I've also had a hell of a time keeping my turbo adapter from breaking. I finally got the bracket gusseted, welded, and the turbo braced well enough to stop cracking welds, but it started breaking bolts off in the manifold. Whenever that would happen the first sign would be the turbo losing efficiency and EGTs creeping higher and higher over a period of days or weeks as the leak worsened. It's possible that damage occurred during one of these times of overall higher average temps.

how did your ceramic coat hold up on your manifold? My Vacuum pump is for Aircon vent control and vacuum power brakes.
I guess I got lucky on my turbo adapter, mine is dead simple; straight up and down, the center pipe goes all the way thru the flanges, and is welded on the inside and tacked on the outside with the EGT bung in middle, just enough room to weld it.
I don't know if you can see 1200F glow, but it has to be pretty close to glowing hot. The airplanes and some of the boats I worked on glowed at power, the planes really get your attention at night. the boats turbo hot sections are all water cooled like crazy, then they start glowing rite where the water stops Glowing steel is weak steel, so had to be completely unloaded or it would crack
3.73 and a ax15 I think you might be spinning faster than me with ax15, and 3.08 and a 28.5" tire. I am rite at 1980-2000 rpm at 68-69mph.

Who are you getting your hard parts from??? and gaskets?

The manifold ceramic coating ended up getting rust bleeding through. The company offered to redo it, but I never got around to taking it off and getting it to them. The outside of the exhaust never got hot enough to glow. It touched 1200 in the exhaust stream, but never sustained that temp long enough to heat soak the metal.

Hey guys, my new rig weighs in at 4500lbs with me and 1/2 tank of fuel. I have scaled it at over 4800lbs and it doesn't seem much different performance than my 3700lb Ranger was. Fuel MPG's are a bit lower but 36 MPG average isn't too shabby. I have to wonder if you have an out-of-balance issue causing all the breakage.

I'm not sure what you mean by out of balance issue?

Seems like you're breaking a lot of brackets and bolts, maybe your flywheel setup is causing the issue.

Oh, I see what you're saying. It's entirely possible. I know the Jeep flywheel is lighter than the original Kubota flywheel.

did you ever put up limits on your engine mounts? I am a new convert. I destroyed my last set of mounts on the AK trip. They were barely a year old. I now have the nylon wrapped anchor transmission mounts for the front of the engine,
the new old engine is much quieter now., the idle sounds different, but so far more steady than the old.

Carnage
 

So far here's the carnage.

Other than what I've already shown, I found a broken ring on #2, which was expected. Piston #4 has a bunch of pock marks on the top, and the bearings for #2 & 4 are bad. The rest of the bearings and pistons look ok with only light scuffs in the coating on the skirts.

Broken ring from #2
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.die...9e81d969de.jpg

Bearing from #2
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.die...3d5ef6d348.jpg

Piston #4
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.die...b76ac46c39.jpg

Bearing from #4
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.die...e766cf9bb3.jpg

Ouch! Bet the crank will need to be ground.

When you say retarded timing. Is this in respect to the new higher/ varied rpm these motors are seeing in a automotive application. The my is probably ideal for 1800 rpm but needs more when we are revving higher. The advanced timing removing the shims places timing closer to ideal at the 2200+ range I bet. I wonder if we can shift the injection gear one tooth advanced and run shims to bring an to 14* or so. It appears 12* is the limit when all shims are removed. Then again 12* may be the happy medium. Good starting/ reasonable rpm efficiency.

Things to think about.

We found a crack on #4 tonight, so it's looking like it would probably be a good idea to replace all 4 pistons.

I'll check the specs before putting it together, but the crank looks really clean. If I have to pull the engine, I'm probably not putting a Kubota back in.


That was just an idea that Rangmar had on first impression. I don't think that's the case as all of my shims are removed and I'd have to be off a tooth for the timing to be that retarded.

I dropped the head off at the machine shop to be magnafluxed today. I should know in the morning if it is ok. I also found a shop to check the injector patterns. No charge unless cleaning or rebuild is required, so I'll get those shipped out tomorrow. The porting on the exhaust manifold and turbo adapter is almost done. I'll still need to port the head when I get it back, then it's just a matter of getting all of the new parts and getting everything to the ceramic coater before assembly.

Check out the misalignment. There's no less than 4 places that are this bad in the flow path. It should make a huge difference once it's all smoothed out!

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.die...299dd42e55.jpg


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.die...e65e76b71b.jpg

Has anyone replaced their pistons? I'm trying to figure out what this had for pistons, and all we've been able to figure out so far is that it is stock bore. Unfortunately the numbers on the pistons are Carrier specific, so there is no easy cross reference.

It's not an 03-M series engine, but the pistons appear visually identical to the M series pistons with the molly coating on the skirts, and the raised area for the pin retention clips. The standard 03-DI pistons look much different, so I'm curious if they didn't put the newer style M series pistons in these even though they're not Ms?

Here's my piston
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.die...150ea0fda3.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.die...15401892f6.jpg

Here's an M series piston
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.die...bd5a100f14.jpg


Here's an example of a standard DI piston
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.die...4ca42a20ac.jpg

is the difference for the one you found in the pin boss, or the bowl location or both? the pistons I have seen for sale all come with wrist pins , which may make that pin boss not so important

I found this one; a bit spendy at $140 each no rings.

http://www.thermobyproducts.com/prod...9419-00-am.htm

TB-25-39419-00-AM PISTON ASSY STD T2 134DI

if you can cross reference that part to kumar you might be in business

All the pistons in my Thermo catalog show the coating on the skirt.

The only differences I can see are in pictures, so just the pin boss and coatings. I'd have to have them side by side to compare bowl location, but I doubt it's different.

FTE - Is that a catalog you can order out of?

As a side note, I pulled the pistons from my original engine. As we suspected the rings are stuck with zero gap, indicating that they probably had inadequate gap to handle the extra heat.

Both 1st and 2nd ring gaps are in this picture, but the 2nd one is almost impossible to spot (about an inch to the left of the top ring gap).
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.die...191ef2e913.jpg

It's a catalog that the mechanic from work gave me, it's a parts supplier in Portland that he gets parts to service our equipment. I suppose I can buy from them, most likely not at the price he is getting. It's the same as the link that Diesel XJ posted. You most likely have a similar supplier up in your neck of the woods.

Adapter plate
 

What would your buddy charge to make another of those adapter plates wanting to do this swap got the motor already also from washington