Jeep Project "Culpepper" 5.2L V8 Swap

Slangy

Sgt. CulPepper
Location
Utah
Joined this forum specifically for this thread!

I'm going to start a thread to house all of my questions, unless someone tells me that's frowned upon here. See "No Mo Turbo" thread.

Thanks and welcome. I wish I could have put a little bit more information in there for people but time was running out on me.

Why not, your entitled to have yourself a build thread. That way you can always look back and see your progress. Good luck
 
Nice write-up. I joined RME just for this write-up. I have been itching for this mod.

I read thru most of the thread and dont remember seeing what gears are you running?

I have a Rubicon (5 speed, 4.0 and 4.10) running 35's. I have lived with it this way for several years and it does not really bother me - its not my DD, offroad gearing is fine with the 4:1 TC. Do you think with the v-8 swap I could leave the 4.10's even longer?? trying to justify the v-8 instead of a gear change. I'm sure I can do a v-8 install cheaper than gears.
 

Slangy

Sgt. CulPepper
Location
Utah
Thanks for the kind words.
I am running 35's with 4.88's, I am sure I could find a better gear set to match but so far I don't mind it.
I think you will be fine, especially since it not your DD.
I say go with the swap and worry about the gears later. Trust me you will love it
 

black hills tj

New Member
Alright guys...trying to button this damn thing up. Having a hell of a time keeping her running though.

I have 3 different computers at my disposal Right now.

Computer 1...94 Dodge 318
Computer 2...97 Grand 318(not sure if this is SKIM or not)
Computer 3...96 Grand 318(non skim)

When I hook up computer 1, it starts, revs high, then dies unless I rapidly pump the gas pedal which it then chugs and eventually dies. No gauges

When I hook up computer 2, it starts, revs to 4k, down to 3k, then back up, and dies. Runs about 1-1.5 seconds. All gauges work.

When I hook up computer 3, it starts, revs increase, check gauges light comes on, shuts down. Runs about 1 second. All gauges work.

Any ideas?

Cam sensor, Crank sensor, Throttle position sensor are all brand new. Not throwing any engine related codes.
 

Slangy

Sgt. CulPepper
Location
Utah
Sorry I haven't gotten to this sooner. When I wired mine one of the pinouts for the injectors got bent and was touching another pin which caused horrible problems. It would rev way high and then die, it just did weird things. Maybe re-check all your pins to make sure they are all seated properly and see if you have any issues there.
 

TommyGp

Member
Hey Slangy, how has the high temp header paint held up? I bought the same headers and am debating whether it's worth it to paint them or if it would just rust anyway.
 

4sstroked

New Member
Very nice write up here! I am getting ready to do a 5.2 5spd swap.I should be removing the donor engine tomorrow! Its out of a 1996 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 5.2 5spd,I purchased the whole truck!,probably going to be an all winter project! I have read lots on this swap and will likely be asking lots of questions to those of you who have done it.
 

Slangy

Sgt. CulPepper
Location
Utah
Hey Slangy, how has the high temp header paint held up? I bought the same headers and am debating whether it's worth it to paint them or if it would just rust anyway.

It has held up very well, I'm very happy with it. When I did it I made sure not to half ass it like I have been known to do on other things. I think it is well worth the time and money.

Very nice write up here! I am getting ready to do a 5.2 5spd swap.I should be removing the donor engine tomorrow! Its out of a 1996 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 5.2 5spd,I purchased the whole truck!,probably going to be an all winter project! I have read lots on this swap and will likely be asking lots of questions to those of you who have done it.

Sounds awesome, I wish I would have done mine with more time to spare, I would have done things a little cleaner. Good luck with the swap and ask all the questions you need, not sure if I can answer them all but there are lots of intelligent people on RME so you should be good.
 

TommyGp

Member
Well, I painted mine last night and heated them on the grille. There was no way my wife would tolerate putting them in the oven.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1352912200.327516.jpg

I managed to place the motor mounts last weekend, but I didn't have the correct flywheel bolts so I couldn't finish the install. Hopefully this weekend I'll get it running well enough to be able to bring it back home from my friend's shop and can wrap up the loose ends at home. It's a pain to do all of this 10 miles away from my house.
 
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Slangy

Sgt. CulPepper
Location
Utah
Well, I painted mine last night and heated them on the grille. There was no way my wife would tolerate putting them in the oven.

View attachment 77408

I managed to place the motor mounts last weekend, but I didn't have the correct flywheel bolts so I couldn't finish the install. Hopefully this weekend I'll get it running well enough to be able to bring it back home from my friend's shop and can wrap up the loose ends at home. It's a pain to do all of this 10 miles away from my house.

Looking really nice, I think they turned out good. As for doing the work 10 miles away from home I totally feel your pain. When I my original plan was to do all the work in my father in laws garage, he lives about 15 miles away and I must say, after I stripped the Donorango I had had it with driving back and forth and I had to finish it all in my garage.
 

TommyGp

Member
Well, got it all in, wired, fuel line is connected, and everything short of the radiator is set up.

I'm not getting fuel though and the security key light on the dash is lit. My Jeep had a security key, but the '01 1500 engine and harness donor did not. I can't tell about the '01 2500 computer donor (5spd CCD bus) but didn't think it had SKIM in any '01 truck.

I read somewhere that if you don't disconnect the SKIM module under the dash that it will brick your ECM. I'm hoping that's not correct or I might have just cost myself some $$. I did not do any under dash work.

When I turn the key to the ON position i can here the pump prime, but there is no fuel at the rail when I depress the Schrader valve.

Thoughts?
 

Voodoo50

New Member
Location
middleburg, fl
Hey Slangy. Finally started the swap. I had to rebuild the engine so I've been finishing that for now. Into the wiring I go. I laid out the harness, plugging everything in where it goes to get a mental picture of what is left over.
http://s34.beta.photobucket.com/user/EvilLordMoonGlum/library/Jeep%20engine%20swap%20Swap
If you look at the link I have posted the pics of it all. There are two plugs I am wondering about. One is C105 next to the PCM plugs. they other is the white plug that was removed from the PDC. Everything else goes somewhere. Do these two look familiar? We both used the same doner Durango(mine was red too even..lol) still thinking and reading schematics. Any input would be appreciated.
The wire I started with was the big DG/OR that goes from the white plug PDC to the injectors and exits at C105 (the one next to the PCM plugs) wondering about this being open at both ends. I am getting closer but still not there. Whn it is all said and done I plan to write a pin for pin explanation for my particular mod.

Thanks for the mountain of information it really helps.

R/
Voodoo
 

Slangy

Sgt. CulPepper
Location
Utah
Fire!!!! Starting fluid dumping out of the headers isn't a great idea!

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i...-9556-02E27546EA33-15441-00000BC003C744CB.mp4

I think I need a stronger fuel pump and probably some work on the grounds, but it fires on ether at least.

Sorry for not getting back to you sooner, I have been busy and just forgot to check back in. Hey that fire looks very very similar to what I did. Luckily I had a fire extinguisher nearby. The problem with mine was a bad pin placement which caused an injector to pull an extreme amount of fuel (more than normal) and shoot it out of the block igniting it on fire. By the way how does it feel to hear it at least start up, it made it all worth while for me when I got that far. Nice work.

Hey Slangy. Finally started the swap. I had to rebuild the engine so I've been finishing that for now. Into the wiring I go. I laid out the harness, plugging everything in where it goes to get a mental picture of what is left over.
http://s34.beta.photobucket.com/user/EvilLordMoonGlum/library/Jeep%20engine%20swap%20Swap
If you look at the link I have posted the pics of it all. There are two plugs I am wondering about. One is C105 next to the PCM plugs. they other is the white plug that was removed from the PDC. Everything else goes somewhere. Do these two look familiar? We both used the same doner Durango(mine was red too even..lol) still thinking and reading schematics. Any input would be appreciated.
The wire I started with was the big DG/OR that goes from the white plug PDC to the injectors and exits at C105 (the one next to the PCM plugs) wondering about this being open at both ends. I am getting closer but still not there. Whn it is all said and done I plan to write a pin for pin explanation for my particular mod.

Thanks for the mountain of information it really helps.

R/
Voodoo

Let me take a look and try to refresh my memory, I know I did have a few plugs that were not used, I believe it was the same case as you I think I didn't use two of them. The one by the pcm looks familiar let me think about it for a while and see if I can refresh my memory to help you out. By the way it is looking like it is coming along quit nicely.
 

Slangy

Sgt. CulPepper
Location
Utah
Hey Slangy. Finally started the swap. I had to rebuild the engine so I've been finishing that for now. Into the wiring I go. I laid out the harness, plugging everything in where it goes to get a mental picture of what is left over.
http://s34.beta.photobucket.com/user/EvilLordMoonGlum/library/Jeep%20engine%20swap%20Swap
If you look at the link I have posted the pics of it all. There are two plugs I am wondering about. One is C105 next to the PCM plugs. they other is the white plug that was removed from the PDC. Everything else goes somewhere. Do these two look familiar? We both used the same doner Durango(mine was red too even..lol) still thinking and reading schematics. Any input would be appreciated.
The wire I started with was the big DG/OR that goes from the white plug PDC to the injectors and exits at C105 (the one next to the PCM plugs) wondering about this being open at both ends. I am getting closer but still not there. Whn it is all said and done I plan to write a pin for pin explanation for my particular mod.

Thanks for the mountain of information it really helps.

R/
Voodoo

Take a look at the schematics and double check but I think the big white plug gets cut off and you have to tie the wires into the small black plug to get power to the PDC. The little black plug goes to the PDC on the 4 banger and the white one goes to the PDC on the V8. So those two have to be tied together. The white plug will just get discarded and you will ultimately end up with just the small black plug running to the PDC.
If this is not the case let me know.
 

TommyGp

Member
I haven't updated this in a while, but I got it to run finally. Turns out that there must be some bad wiring in the original C harness of the Jeep. I didn't mess with it, but when troubleshooting I took the factory looming off. The injectors and coil magically started testing correctly.

I had to divert my attention to an emergency bathroom remodel and haven't worked on it since it started up that morning. My guess is some wires have thin insulation or something odd.
 
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