Engine upgrades?

[boboborino]

Everyone may as well give up
some come on here due to wanting to meet like minded people with KJs
some come seeking advice and actually listen to what is being said from years of experience
some come just to...............well not sure :happy175:

I'm still trying to decide which one of those apply to me.:shrug:
No comments from the peanut gallery please.


:favorites37:

Bert

 

[profdlp]

Here's my advice:

Drive a 1.6L Geo Tracker for sixteen years. Then when you get in your Liberty you will be amazed at what you've got. :icon_lol:

 

[Jbergun]

Here's my advice:

Drive a 1.6L Geo Tracker for sixteen years. Then when you get in your Liberty you will be amazed at what you've got. :icon_lol:

I couldn't imagine the kj must feel like a rocket after that my father in laws 02 pathfinder feels slow compared to my jeep

 

[uss2defiant]

I'd like to step in for a moment and say,

Your money, you do whatever you like!

 

[Birdman330]

Best bang for the buck and only descent power upgrade is a K&N drop in air filter. I run it, gave me more oomph off the start. I'm quite satisfied and I run 235/70R16 tires. I drive 70 mph down the interstate, hold well with traffic and fuel economy if weather is ''perfect'' at nearly 24 mpgs.

 

[CactusJacked]

Your money, you do whatever you like!

Wait a minute, aren't we a "democracy" here? Then we should be able to tell him how and where to spend his own time and money! :happy175:

 

[profdlp]

^^ You've been reported. :secret:

 

[JeepJeepster]

Ive not read all of this.. mostly b/c I dont have that much free time...

Anyway, Ive been told the 3.7 responds nicely to mods. There is a custom tuner that I use for my 5.9 Grand Cherokee that goes by the name of 'FlyinRyan.' He uses SCT tuners and creates custom tunes for your Jeep. You use a data logger to log what the Jeep is doing, email it to him, then he writes a tune. Ive not done this with my Liberty since I dont want to spend that much money on it. I wouldve really liked to buy a set of headers, new 2.5" exhaust out the back, ported TB, 4:10 gears, then a custom tune from Ryan... But I just dont want to sink that much money into the kj if I cant be guaranteed that it will make a difference.

My only complaint with the kj is the lack of low end torque from the 3.7. It makes enough power for the kj, just not at the right places. All of my other Jeeps make nice low end torque, but the 3.7 is a higher revving over head cam engine.

 

[TwoBobsKJ]

My only complaint with the kj is the lack of low end torque from the 3.7. It makes enough power for the kj, just not at the right places. All of my other Jeeps make nice low end torque, but the 3.7 is a higher revving over head cam engine.

I've not chimed in on this debate either, but I agree with you regarding the torque. The engine is actually a pretty good - if not dated - power plant. My real beef is with the shift points of the 42RLE, especially when towing. It wants to upshift before the engine is in it's power band, leading to lugging and crazy shifting. Going to the 4.10s helped mine (got the final ratio back to factory) but I place most of the "power" problems at the feet of the transmission engineers who didn't properly match the ****** to the engine.

Maybe the 45RFE's shift points are better suited for the engine and the KJ's characteristics - but the bean counters wanted to save a few bucks on the powertrain and we got a retooled minivan transmission in the 42RLE from mid-2003 and later :thumbsdown:

In spite of all that, of all the vehicles I've owned (and it's a lot) the KJ is still my favorite.

Bob

 

[DieselMatt]

Easy upgrades

From what I've seen from the Tuner Car crowd and vehicles for sale on Craigslist, there are some pretty easy upgrades:

K&N cone style air filter: 40 hp
throttle body spacer from Pep Boys: 50 hp
Muffler removed / straight pipe exhaust: 30 hp
Domain sticker on windshield: 20 hp

So there's minimal aftermarket support for the 3.7, but I would think there's still a way to mess with programming (the low hanging fruit) and then possibly do some basic old-school engine work. Maybe deck the heads to raise compression, bore out the cylinders .030, possibly a custom cam could be made by someone?

As far as an out and out swap though, has anyone ever considered a Vortec 4.7 v6? stock it's not an upgrade, but you'd get all kinds of aftermarket support plus a choice of several very good trannys all easily adaptable.

Here's an even crazier idea. Liberty body on a 4.7 powered S-10 frame.

 

[tommudd]

From what I've seen from the Tuner Car crowd and vehicles for sale on Craigslist, there are some pretty easy upgrades:

K&N cone style air filter: 40 hp
throttle body spacer from Pep Boys: 50 hp
Muffler removed / straight pipe exhaust: 30 hp
Domain sticker on windshield: 20 hp

So there's minimal aftermarket support for the 3.7, but I would think there's still a way to mess with programming (the low hanging fruit) and then possibly do some basic old-school engine work. Maybe deck the heads to raise compression, bore out the cylinders .030, possibly a custom cam could be made by someone?

As far as an out and out swap though, has anyone ever considered a Vortec 4.7 v6? stock it's not an upgrade, but you'd get all kinds of aftermarket support plus a choice of several very good trannys all easily adaptable.

Here's an even crazier idea. Liberty body on a 4.7 powered S-10 frame.

:happy175::happy175::happy175:
Needed a good laugh today

Thanks !!

 

[tjkj2002]

From what I've seen from the Tuner Car crowd and vehicles for sale on Craigslist, there are some pretty easy upgrades:

K&N cone style air filter: 40 hp
throttle body spacer from Pep Boys: 50 hp
Muffler removed / straight pipe exhaust: 30 hp
Domain sticker on windshield: 20 hp

So there's minimal aftermarket support for the 3.7, but I would think there's still a way to mess with programming (the low hanging fruit) and then possibly do some basic old-school engine work. Maybe deck the heads to raise compression, bore out the cylinders .030, possibly a custom cam could be made by someone?

As far as an out and out swap though, has anyone ever considered a Vortec 4.7 v6? stock it's not an upgrade, but you'd get all kinds of aftermarket support plus a choice of several very good trannys all easily adaptable.

Here's an even crazier idea. Liberty body on a 4.7 powered S-10 frame.

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