2006 dodge ram 1500 3.7l engine into a 2006 jeep liberty?

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poiz87

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Good afternoon. My 06 jeep liberty's engine finally died on me this week after 212,000 miles! BUT, I found a used engine at the salvage yard from a 2006 dodge ram 1500 with a 96,000 mile 3.7L and I am wanting to swap that into my jeep liberty. Do you know if this will be a simple swap with everything plug and play? I have had little luck with searching for specific answers on this project. I do know a 2006 liberty engine requires a 2006 3.7L engine, unless you want to spend the time and money converting it from the older engines. The main concerns I am thinking are the wiring harness and ECU (can I use the stock in the liberty or do I use the dodge harness/PCM), transmission (TCM or if my jeep liberty transmission will bolt up to the engine), exhaust/intake differences (are the headers the same and will they bolt up to my exhaust), EGR system, and if there is anything else you can think of. I'm trying to knock this project out this weekend, so please let me know what you think. Thanks for your time!
 

TwoBobsKJ

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Good afternoon. My 06 jeep liberty's engine finally died on me this week after 212,000 miles! BUT, I found a used engine at the salvage yard from a 2006 dodge ram 1500 with a 96,000 mile 3.7L and I am wanting to swap that into my jeep liberty. Do you know if this will be a simple swap with everything plug and play? I have had little luck with searching for specific answers on this project. I do know a 2006 liberty engine requires a 2006 3.7L engine, unless you want to spend the time and money converting it from the older engines. The main concerns I am thinking are the wiring harness and ECU (can I use the stock in the liberty or do I use the dodge harness/PCM), transmission (TCM or if my jeep liberty transmission will bolt up to the engine), exhaust/intake differences (are the headers the same and will they bolt up to my exhaust), EGR system, and if there is anything else you can think of. I'm trying to knock this project out this weekend, so please let me know what you think. Thanks for your time!

Check your PM's. There's a LONG one in your in-box :gr_grin:

Bob
 

poiz87

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that's great information bob, thanks for the help - I'll let you know how it goes! Just in case anyone else out there is wondering how this is done, Bob says:

"Essentially what you're going to use from the RAM is the long block. You'll need to swap the following from your Jeep engine to the RAM donor:

- Intake manifold
- Exhaust manifolds
- Oil pan
- Drip tray under the oil filter
- Oil filler neck
- Motor mounts

To ensure everything fits correctly I'd suggest you use the fuel rail from the Jeep rather than the one from the RAM. There may be slight differences due to the difference in the intake manifold.

Also, the power steering pump may be different as well. Look at the pics in my original thread showing the bosses in the left cylinder head; you may have to tap three of them to get the power steering reservoir to bolt to the head. It is just a 10 minute job to tap those bosses.

Get a new oil pan gasket/windage tray - don't reuse the gasket from your Jeep. The gasket/tray deforms when you take off the oil pan and so you shouldn't reuse it. Thought: Look at your oil pan and if it has a fair amount of rust bubbles you may want to consider ordering a new one from the dealer. They aren't that much - and again, the pan for the truck is different than the Jeep so you can't use it. The Liberty pan has to clear the crossmember and the drain hole on the truck is on the side vs the rear for the Jeep.

Get a set of intake and exhaust manifold gaskets.

The Jeep's harness will clip back up to the the RAM engine no problem. The EGR will be the same also.

The ****** and engine will go back together just fine - the RAM's ****** bolt pattern is the same as the Jeep's. You should use the flex plate off the Jeep's engine though; there are differences in the torque converters used in the Jeeps and trucks so just use your plate.

The swap I did involved an engine from a different generation (different computers, timing gears, etc) and doing the same as I mentioned above along with the timing gear swaps, the engine fired right up. It has been running like a top for 12,000 miles so yours should go very smoothly too. Again, you're essentially swapping long blocks keeping the intake, exhaust and oil pan from your engine."

Also, here's Bob's overview on what he did: http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/f202/engine-swap-overview-53270/index2.html
 

poiz87

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I didn't take any pics - but it wasn't too bad of a swap. It took me about 2 days to finish and the only parts I had to use from the original liberty engine were the exhaust manifolds and engine wiring harness. Everything else was identical between the engines; including the oil pan, intake manifold, flywheel, etc. I couldn't use the engine wiring harness from the dodge ram because it didn't have the correct length and the correct connectors to the body harness. It starts up and drives fine. I've put about 100 miles on it so far and the check engine light went away today. If there are any questions about the swap, let me know. Thanks.
 
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