Decisions

7

74CJ5

New member
So my '12 JKU sport needs a new motor. I am looking at a few different options and am curious what you guys would do.

Option 1: $5,000 (installed and out the door) for a low mileage 3.6 take out motor that was swapped out for an LS upgrade.
Pro- lowest cost option, low mileage motor
Con- no warranty, out of pocket expense

Option 2: $6,800 (installed and out the door) replacement Mopar 3.6 from the dealer
Pro- 3 year warranty
Con- $1,800 more, still out of pocket expense

Option 3: trade it in on a brand new 2017 black Rubicon w half doors and enter the world of having a car payment again. They are giving it to me at a great price since it's a 2017 JK.
Pro- new Rubicon, I could transfer a lot of my after market parts. Financing would soften the blow of $7K out of pocket, which I don't have lying around at the moment so I would have to charge it. Ugh!
Con- back to monthly payments and they aren't giving me as much for my Jeep as I had hoped. They said $18K minus the repair bill so basically $11K

Anyhow, sucks because it only has 82,000 miles on it and is in great shape. Let me know what you would do and why. Thx


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Are these prices including labor? I just went through this swap, and it was significantly cheaper.
It's a really straight forward process to replace it yourself, we finished the job with hand tools over a weekend.

**Edit - I see you mentioned Installed, so includes labor. I would highly recommend doing this job yourself if you can.
You're probably paying half of the quoted price in labor, if not more.
 
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Anything that has a warranty IMO. In all honesty, whatever you can afford and are comfortable with but I wouldn’t buy anything used like a motor or transmission cause of all the unknowns and the price difference between option 1 and 2 is piece of mind for me.
 
JKDream said:
Are these prices including labor? I just went through this swap, and it was significantly cheaper.
It's a really straight forward process to replace it yourself, we finished the job with hand tools over a weekend.
Click to expand...
This. Since my Jeep isn't a daily, I'd pick up a remanufactured motor that has some kinda warranty for around $2k and install it myself. Or a pull-out for even less.

If I was intent on buying a new Jeep, I'd still do it myself, sell it for $20k and use that for a down payment. 😎

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Build Thread - Adventures of Fiona - https://wayalife.com/showthread.php?t=47407
 
Interested to hear what the folks here think, what happened to the original? 82K is normally just getting broken in good.
How much have you invested in aftermarket parts that wouldn’t come off?


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Steve Williams said:
Interested to hear what the folks here think, what happened to the original? 82K is normally just getting broken in good.
How much have you invested in aftermarket parts that wouldn’t come off?


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Click to expand...

The one we replaced had 60,000 kilometers. They aren't the most reliable motor out there.
 
I just went through this same dilemma with my WJ which has a lot of $ and time invested into it. We were potentially ready to buy a JL as well. We decided to fix the Jeep and I did the motor swap myself. It was a huge job but I don't regret it. I used a company called partsmarket and got a used engine with 68k on it shipped to my house for about 1500 bucks and it comes with a 6 month warranty. Labor to pay someone would have been 2000-2500 more. I also was able to transfer a lot of known good parts over from my old motor to my new one.

There are a lot of reputable companies out there that sell use motors with a warranty.
 
I don’t know if this helps but my buddy did a ls swap and has his motor laying around. It has about 32,000 miles on it and he is trying to sell it for 2k if you want to make the drive up from Florida.


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Steve Williams said:
Interested to hear what the folks here think, what happened to the original? 82K is normally just getting broken in good.
How much have you invested in aftermarket parts that wouldn’t come off?


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Click to expand...

That won't come off...probably the Dynomax exhaust. Not sure if the Poison Spyder flares fit a '17. Anyone know this?

I have an AirRaid cold air intake, front, rear bumpers, winch, rock sliders, $1,600 in new tires, rims, fox shocks, etc that would come off.


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JKDream said:
Are these prices including labor? I just went through this swap, and it was significantly cheaper.
It's a really straight forward process to replace it yourself, we finished the job with hand tools over a weekend.

**Edit - I see you mentioned Installed, so includes labor. I would highly recommend doing this job yourself if you can.
You're probably paying half of the quoted price in labor, if not more.
Click to expand...

Yes includes labor. Unfortunately, I don't have the the skill set nor all the tools necessary to do an engine swap. I'm not in a local club as I have a full schedule between family, work and the rest of my toys so that rules out a buddy that has his own shop at home. Both quotes the labor was around $2,000.

I priced a reman'd motor at it was $4400 shipped with a 3 year warranty. Maybe I could call a local shop to see what they would charge for the labor. Buddy of mine gave his mechanic and said he was fair.


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74CJ5 said:
I priced a reman'd motor at it was $4400 shipped with a 3 year warranty. Maybe I could call a local shop to see what they would charge for the labor. Buddy of mine gave his mechanic and said he was fair.


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Click to expand...

I’d check that option. My second choice would be the $6800 option. That’s if you don’t want the newer Jeep. That’s just my opinion. I’m not up to a diy motor swap, either.


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