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4.0 in a 1980 Cherokee (258) - question from Italy

Posted: June 4th, 2019, 5:45 am
by yuza
Hi all

it is Yuza from Italy here, proud owner since a couple of months of a 1979 (but apparently 1980 MY) Cherokee widetrack, originally equipped with a 258 and T176 tranmission

I just discovered by checking casting numbers that at least cylinder block and head are from a 1994 4.0 engine (hence a HO?), but PO kept the stock carb and intake manifold

Bellhousing, flywheel, clutch, transmission should be the original ones (clutch is 11", I just replaced it with a kit for the 258 which fits and works ok)

I have few questions for anybody experienced with these swaps:

1) besides counting the counterweights on my crankshaft, is there any other way to understand whether the crank is from the 4.0 engine or from the 258 (hence being a stroker)? Any visual check I can do?

2) as far as I can see on wiring diagrams, on the 4.0 the oil pressure switch has 2 wires (in/out 12V basically). In my case the "out" wire is routed to the carburetor solenoid (should be the anti-dieseling system). Where is the oil pressure sender located on a 4.0 engine? I need to send a signal to my cluster (and to use the 258 sender, with the right resistance of course)

3) the starter makes a horrible grinding noise, by reading in this forum I understood that starter and flywheel need to be from the same engine, or they will not work properly together. My starter lost any tag/sticker, how can I know whether it is from the 258 or the 4.0?

Thanks

Re: 4.0 in a 1980 Cherokee (258) - question from Italy

Posted: June 11th, 2019, 12:47 am
by yuza
Anybody?

I add another question: I assume I have headers from the 4.0 engine, are these compatible with a standard exhaust from a 258 or do I need to make any adjustement because of different location/position of the connecting flange?

Thanks