More power for a 95 4cyl.

[gresko]

New to the Jeep game. Became a convert after blowing up my powerstroke 1200 miles from home. Love my jeep but would like a little more power... Is it possible? It's a 5 speed with 411 gears.

 

[jamie]

you are kinda in the wrong section, this is a cj forum, not a yj forum, but since i had a 95 4 cyl myself, there is not much you can do about the lack of power, except for an engine swap

 

[derf]

Best long term solution is to add more cylinders.

 

[CJim7]

Best long term solution is to add more cylinders.

x2

 

[Sasquach]

Ditto....Find yourself a 4.0 motor from same year or therabouts cherokee or YJ and you will have a smile on your face.

 

[CJim7]

I've heard of people doing things like adding a 4.0 throttle body with good success.

The problem with 4cylinders, is they are teated like ricers:
"This sticker will add 2½ extra hp! A shiny exhaust tip shaped like a coffee can will add 25ftlbs of torque at the rear wheels!"
You get my point....It's extremelly difficult to get decent power from a 4cyl without spending a stupid amount of money on internal and external upgrades that will ultimately shorten the life of the engine.

 

[derf]

I've heard of people doing things like adding a 4.0 throttle body with good success.

The problem with 4cylinders, is they are teated like ricers:
"This sticker will add 2½ extra hp! A shiny exhaust tip shaped like a coffee can will add 25ftlbs of torque at the rear wheels!"
You get my point....It's extremelly difficult to get decent power from a 4cyl without spending a stupid amount of money on internal and external upgrades that will ultimately shorten the life of the engine.

Exactly.

I'm putting a 401 V8 into my CJ. When I'm done I'll have a very mild motor. Stock compression ratio, stock exhaust, close to stock cam profile (RV cam for low end torque). I put an Edelbrock performer intake on it but only so I can bolt on GM TBI. I'm running an MSD distributor but it's driving a stock HEI module to go with the TBI. It will have gobs more torque than I need, whenever I want it. But this motor is not being pushed at all. It should last forever, theoretically.

If I had kept my 4 banger, I would have had to seriously up the compression, put in an aggressive cam, step up the gears to take advantage of the higher RPM torque curve, etc. and then watch as it threw a rod after only 10K miles.

Long term, the only reliable way to add the power you need and want is to add cylinders.

 

[CJim7]

Exactly.

I'm putting a 401 V8 into my CJ. When I'm done I'll have a very mild motor. Stock compression ratio, stock exhaust, close to stock cam profile (RV cam for low end torque). I put an Edelbrock performer intake on it but only so I can bolt on GM TBI. I'm running an MSD distributor but it's driving a stock HEI module to go with the TBI. It will have gobs more torque than I need, whenever I want it. But this motor is not being pushed at all. It should last forever, theoretically.

If I had kept my 4 banger, I would have had to seriously up the compression, put in an aggressive cam, step up the gears to take advantage of the higher RPM torque curve, etc. and then watch as it threw a rod after only 10K miles.

Long term, the only reliable way to add the power you need and want is to add cylinders.

And interestingly enough, adding a more powerful engine often increases your gas mileage. For one, the engine doesn't have to work as hard to push as much steel down the road or get it up to speed for that matter. When I finally got rid of my 4 banger and upgraded to a AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l , I saw an increase in overall mileage. When I upgraded again to the 401, it stayed about the same, but I knew the AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l had to work a lot harder to get the same results as I was getting with the 401.

That was when my 401 was still stock. Now I get about 8 miles to the gallon but that's my own fault.

The stock 401 was a pleasure to drive and if it hadn't eaten a cam lobe, I would have left it alone. In that form, it had more torque and power then I could ever really need in a CJ. But of course Im a performance junkie...

 

[BrockGrimes]

Throttlebody, exhaust (dynomax), open the air box by removing the horn from it.
That's about it on the cheap. It'll never run like a rabbit but it'll climb like a goat.

This being said hit up the diy turbo sites.
Your stock 4banger makes like 9.2:1 compression ratio and will handle mild boost with ease.
It's easy to build a home built turbo setup just
Do your research. If you try it and bomb out the motor
You've done 2 things gained experience and have an excuse to swap motors.

Hit up craigslist people basically give away Cherokees all the time. A doner vehicle helps alot on an engine swap.
Look for a late 90's like 96 they made the most power. Also your stock Transmission bellhousing if I remember right shares the same bolt pattern as the chevy v6 also a great and easy swap.
One I personally like for my old 94!

 

[derf]

And interestingly enough, adding a more powerful engine often increases your gas mileage. For one, the engine doesn't have to work as hard to push as much steel down the road or get it up to speed for that matter. When I finally got rid of my 4 banger and upgraded to a AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l , I saw an increase in overall mileage. When I upgraded again to the 401, it stayed about the same, but I knew the AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l had to work a lot harder to get the same results as I was getting with the 401.

That was when my 401 was still stock. Now I get about 8 miles to the gallon but that's my own fault.

The stock 401 was a pleasure to drive and if it hadn't eaten a cam lobe, I would have left it alone. In that form, it had more torque and power then I could ever really need in a CJ. But of course Im a performance junkie...

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to own a CJ/YJ without a V8 or at the very least a stroked 4.0. That 4.5-5.0 engine size is just about perfect for this class of vehicle. Enough power to get moving without thrashing the engine, small enough to not totally suck gas going down the freeway.

Of course my 401 is overkill but that's the way I like it. I don't care about mileage on a trail rig.

 

[CJim7]

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to own a CJ/YJ without a V8 or at the very least a stroked 4.0. That 4.5-5.0 engine size is just about perfect for this class of vehicle. Enough power to get moving without thrashing the engine, small enough to not totally suck gas going down the freeway.

Of course my 401 is overkill but that's the way I like it. I don't care about mileage on a trail rig.

Agreed. And honestly you run the risk of breaking less when you are able to idle over an obstacle rather then jamming the skinny pedal down to develop power and torque.
A big misconception by many people in certain aspects of the 'big engine = more breakage' controversy.