Whodat6

If I were to change to a new engine or put a new engine in. Is there a better option than the 3.8(2011 Rubi)? Would anything work with the transmission? Sorry don't know much about this

jordy

There are a plethora of options better than the 3.8. It' comes down to how much you want to spend. I keep eyeballing an LS swap with an 8 speed GM tranny. The $20K price tag I keep ending up with makes it a tough sell for a play vehicle.

almost

The beauty of the 3.8 is that it's dirt cheap to replace, other than that it doesn't have much going for it. Everything else LS or HEMI is a serious investment. If you just want an all around better driver the cheapest routes would be to replace the 3.8 and re-gear for a little more oomph, or sell it and find a 2012+ with a 3.6. My jeep is basically stock and I'm thinking of re-gearing to 4.56s.

Whodat6

My Rubi has 4.11. Is there much point in upgrading the gears? I have 33's but am getting 35's really soon

almost

If you want to have the same power as stock, yes. Search for JK gear chart and it will show you what RPM you will be turning based on tire size and gear ratio.

Sixty4x4

Jordy is right on for the price of a conversion. If you do the wrenching yourself you might get an engine/tranny around $14-15k using a kit such as Motech for a Chev or RPM for a Mopar system. If you get a new V6 3.8 then I suggest you at least add a more torquey camshaft in before you install. Then tune accordingly by accessing the program. Moving the torque band down 500-800RPM makes a huge difference.

SoK66

JMHO of course, but after watching some of my fellow club members hassle with LS & Hemi conversion issues I'm settled on simply replacing my 3.8L with a fresh one when that day comes. I run 37s with 5.38 gears and get reasonable highway performance, if fairly miserable fuel mileage (14mpg). The engine has 80k on it now and since new has been rather noisy, uses 1/2 qt of oil in 3,000 miles consistently. Mine technically has the Lifetme Powertrain Warranty, so if the 3.8L goes south I could probably find a dealer that will honor the warranty. However, accepting the fact the rig is fairly well modified, I'm resigned to paying for everything myself. I figure my mates & I can swap out the 3.8L in a day. I can probably find a deal on a long block and be rocking fairly inexpensively, all things considered.

almost

A 1/2 quart every 3K miles is pretty damn good. Mine goes through a quart every 3K and I still consider that pretty good with 204K miles on the motor. FCA won't consider it an issue until it burns more than 1 quart every 1K miles.