joentuff

Ok I have a 2009 jk 4 door and I want to swap in a 3.6 how difficult will it be and what all will I need? I have heard it's pretty simple and will work with my ecu but is that so or not? Will it work with my auto trans or do I need the trans that comes with the 3.6?

Tripletsi

Have you spent any time researching on your own in this forum already? I've seen this posted many times before...

joentuff

I'm on my phone and not having much luck, maybe a better question would be since I hear a tick could anyone give me an idea on plans on what I should do? Rebuild? Can I rebuild it stronger? Or what's the cheapest swap?

nthinuf

Cheapest would probably be calling one of the v8 upgrade shops and finding a used 3.8 from one of their swaps.

Haven't seen a 3.8/3.6 swap thread get further than someone asking if it's possible, and everyone telling him to suck it up and get a v8, or just replace with a used 3.8.

Or if you have the money and are doing the swap yourself, start looking at the LS or Hemi swap kits and see if it's something you want to tackle.

Earth Siege

The better question is find out what the tick is.

May just be an exhaust leak, which isnt worth a motor swap for.

If the motor is bad, a replacement 3.8 is cheapest and quickest way to go.

I am doing a motor swap now with 5.3 ls motor and trans. This is a cheaper swap than a hemi just simply due to the mass quantities of used ls motors out in the marketplace and most are good for over 300,000 miles . This is a 10-15k swap if u do all the work urself.

The hemi is just a little more expensive and in the wrangler seems to be more problematic but has more support for fixes on the forums.

The diesel option is most expensive, other than prices i dont know much about them. Very involved swap.

Earth Siege

The real killer in the swap is the federal emmissions laws regarding motor swaps.

U can put a newer motor in an older car as long as all emmissions devices are also swapped.

U cannot put an older motor in a newer car ever.

I have an 09 4 door. Hemi or LS, either one must be sourced from an 09 or newer vehicle with relevant emmissions devices or its illegal.

I found a 2010 silverado as my donor truck because i also wanted the 6 speed auto that came out that yr and this 5.3 also is a flex fuel motor which means it is an aluminum block-almost same weight as the cast iron 3.8 block.

joentuff

Ok if I was to buy a 3.8 from someone like AEV from would it make sense to upgrade and internals previous to install? My jeep is heavy roof rack, bumpers, winch, and running to large or tires (38s) it's pretty much a street queen and only off road a few times a year. Currently I have 94k on my motor, and drive 30-40k a year with a lot of highway time so I'd like to do the best long term "fix" without dumping tons of cash into it

zstairlessone

They (3.8 engines) stand up to supercharging fairly well it seems, I'm just not sure there was ever a big market for hot-rodding them so probably not too many hi-po parts out there. They came from mini-vans after all

JSS

Their is not much benefit to putting in a 3.6L in a Jeep with a 3.8L, do to the amount of work that is involve. Like you would need to use the 3.6L trans (A580 or the 6 Spd) you would also need to rewire the Jeep and then see if it works. A lot of R&D work would have to be done, anything is possible if you want to pay the money.

Dahmer

Upgrading to a 3.6 from a 3.8 would be the biggest motor swap disappointment ever in my opinion. You could have after you spent probably $10000 you would still have a motor that is disappointing. A super charger would be a better upgrade for power on a 3.8. A hemi or LS would be a way better way to go if money's not an issue. I've drove a 3.6 and 3.8 and even though the 3.6 has more power it still sux compared to any V8 vehicle I've ever drove. I've never seen a dyno but the 3.6 power doesn't seem to come in until later in the RPM range, which is useless for big tires and off road.

Now with that said if money's an option id be looking into fixing that 3.8 or replace it. I see them used with low miles on Craig's list pretty often.