My friends and I were out fourwheeling one day and my brothers Cherokee with the 4.0 ended up being driven into a creek that was thought to be just a few inches deep, well it turned out to be about 3 feet and my brother was able to kill the engine before it ingested much water. We pulled it out backwards, drained th oil, pulled the spark plugs, turned the engine over and water gushed out of the spark plug holes. Dried everything out as best we could and then put it back together and damned if she didnt fire up within 10 sec of cranking. He drove that suv for another 2 years and sold it for more than he had bought it for, oddly enough, to one of the guys we had with us the night it went swimming.
Almost Any engine can do that. That happened to me in a vw rabbit pickup truck with a tdi swap and I had built a custom air box with hydroscopic air filter cover and my engine drove me out
I went swimming in the ocean with my b2600i 4x4 5spd after far too many passes back and forth with an audience and well the truck was fine after getting it back on to dry land running on two cylinders!!! -had to pull plugs and do oil change on the beach😂 but that's ok!
We had a four wheeling group and had a 4.0 swapped CJ-7 roll over and run upside down for a while before we managed to get to shutting it off. Got the two passengers out first then climbed back down to shut it off. Took us 4 ish hours to get it back on its wheels. We broke one wench, and it took 3 more, snatch blocks, etc, chained other jeeps to trees. Lol That jeep was fixed (it only had some body damage, busted windshield frame, one door, and the fiberglass top. It ran the trails and streets for nearly a decade after that until it went to a new owner, without any mechanical issues.
My favourite 6cyl engine was the Australian Chrysler hemi. It had a 7 bearing crank too I had a panel van with the 4.2ltr engine. 202hp from the factory. Headers tripple webbers and a better cam i was getting 310hp at the wheels. That beast would sit on 90mph for hours crossing the Nullarbor plain.
I've owned a bunch of AMC sixes over the years, four Ramblers, a Gremlin, and an Eagle. The latter threw a rod on the way home from Phoenix, so I swapped in a 4.0 a friend had sitting around compete with FI and used it as a daily driver for several years when I lived in Colorado. It truly is one of the best workhorse engines ever made. The engine shown at 2:02 is the older 4 main bearing 195.6 engine. The overhead valve version in the video was based on the flathead introduced in 1952. With integrated intake manifold, it was designed to be light and cheap to manufacture and was nowhere near the workhorse the 199/232/4.0/258 were. Yes, I'm being technical, but we're all technicians here, right?
I bought a 1974 AMC Matador with the 258 for a whole $20 when I was in high-school, and drove that car for years. It's been nearly twenty years since I got rid of it, but I still dream about that old shit-box lol. I had a '67 VW Bug, and an '82 Buick Electra at the same time... all cost me less than $100 total. Those were good times....
Yup my 95 needed a crank sensor to stay running. It would randonly shutoff and that was the youtube fix. It worked and it ran like scalded dog. Would hit limiter with joy even with 250k
Great video as always. My father in a law has a Grand Cherokee with the 4.0L six in it. He is doing every he can to keep the vehicle around that motor on the road. It is interesting to me that Chrysler is now going back to a straight six, albeit DOHC and turbocharged.
Can confirm, these just simply don’t want to die. Had a rotten TJ with no doors, roof or windshield that I used as a trail basher. Ripped out a rad hose on a nasty branch and belched out all the coolant….that 4.0 drove three miles back out of the woods, overheating like crazy…I imagine a lesser engine would’ve given up the ghost far sooner
I love these engines! Have a 4.0 bored and stroked to 4.7 withe a LOT of work done to in in my 82 AMC spirit and it is a blast. Soon to have an eaton m112 supercharger on it!
I can finally say that I own a Jeep 4.0l (as I recently purchased a 99 Jeep XJ), but sadly my motor was completely borked, so i wouldn't know of the absolute strength of this legend.
The autopsy will reveal just what it takes to KILL a legend. You'll right your own chapter with the next motor. I daily a 96 xj manual, four door. 222,459mi. Source, next 4.0 from Grand Cherokee, as these are more common now, allegedly stronger, generally better treated. Good luck with your swap.
I'll second the GC as being a good source. I have a 1998 ZJ I have used as my backup daily driver, hunting/fishing rig, and winter beater for the last decade, and the only reason I am retiring it is the New England winters have destroyed the body. Major rot to the point where if it isn't parked on a dead flat surface I can't open or close the rear hatch anymore lol. I finally replaced the blown out speakers in all four doors, and the brakes let go on me.... that was the final straw. Once I get off my ass and finally put it up for sale, someone will more than likely buy it solely for the engine and drivetrain since the mileage is fairly low for it's age.
❤ Visio’s love of all straight 6s, hell, all engines, just for engineering like me😅 your amazing my man…so glad to see how uve exploded🎉finally😂been watching for years but never subscribed really to any channels, until finally having a clue 😊thank you
The AMC straight 6's are an American legacy. Built in US, Mexico and Argentina, they are the most durable engines next to the 250 (C10, Chevy/Nova and 400) from GM and the 3.9 from Ford (Falcon and some F100)
Great video! My dad had one of these in a wrangler back in the 90s. Used to tow his boat around for the better part of a decade with no problems. Dipping the back end in the salt water over and over was a different story as you might imagine. Overall a great engine from what I remember. Thanks again for the great videos!
They had ONE significant issue that I’m aware of. The valve cover was a leaker. But otherwise it’s indestructible. I had a Cherokee that had a coolant leak and ran HOT, HOT regularly. Once the lower hose burst. And my nephew drove it until it stalled in the street. An hour later it was still super hot. I replaced the hose refilled the coolant (still hot) and started it up. The lifters rattled for a few minutes. It then ran without incident.
Heck yeah. My stepdad and I helped rebuild an engine and despite the warnings to the lady she actually took it on a road trip across country. With a trailer! Just had a minor exhaust leak but ran good
Great video, as always! When talking about Jeeps, it's worth to say that the Willys Hurricane 6 was indestructible too. Those things are still running out in the trails even considering the last one was produced in the 70s. I love straight sixes.. smooth, powerful and they have a great sound
Yes Visio!!! Love this one ❤ My dad had this exact jeep in the states and then got the grand Cherokee Laredo a few years later Perfect way to chill on a Sunday Keep up Ur amazing work bro 💪💯🎉
We had a Cherokee 4.0 as a pool service car in the 90's (US model spec used in Europe). As pleasant as it was to drive, it was an incredible gas guzzler, even driving it in a conservative way, mainly required by its super loose suspensions and over assisted power steering, it would sink 25 L of gasoline every 100 km. It was a nice exotic car to drive whatsoever.
1. That white jeep was running a diesel turbo. 2. The 4.0L jeep was the cheapest engine to manufacture, at the Kenosha Engine Plant, until full production of the 3.5L V6. 3. Production of the 4.0L ended in 2009, with the closing of plant, which had existed for more than 100 years, with its beginnings with Thomas Jeffery Motors. Jeffrey held the highest production of automobiles until the Model T. I had the opportunity to work at the Kenosha Engine Plant before its closing and it was a tragedy to lose it. A Chinese company bought all the equipment.
oh man this brings back memories... my 1998 xj off road one of many times... drank some water while at WOT and stalled out hard. i cranked it past the hard stop and it ran again on 4 cylinders, drove itself out of the mud hole, and home an hour away with almost ZERO coolant and a blown head gasket. i did nothing but replace the head gasket a week later and the engine was still good as it could be with 180k on it. the body of the jeep was it's demise and i had to get rid of it. best engine out there, hands down!
I've got three of these in my driveway. My understanding of what did them in was their lack of fuel economy (even my stock Cherokee averages 16mpg) and their complexity to make them meet emissions (one of my Cherokees has three catalytic converters).
That along with it is a very long engine as all I6's are. The problem was front crush zone. The engine itself pretty much does not crush, and it's length didn't allow much room in front or behind to provide crush space. And the last thing one wants is an engine block wanting to sit in your lap in a front collision. It's a lot easier getting the room with a shorter engine.
@@charliedee9276 Supposedly one of the Jeep powertrain engineers was working on adapting the 3.5 V-6s 4 head design valve to the 4.0. Until ordered to stop. AMC was supposed to have run OHC versions of the 232 on test stands in the 60s. Plus there were rumors of a reduced displacement diesel with a heavier block and bottom end.
My wife has a 1996 Jeep Grand cherokee with the 4.0 She took it off road, in the snow & daily driving. It was rock solid reliable. But ice came, she drove it to work l. She slid on a big piece of ice to the side of the road into a power pole guide wire. Another car hit her Jeep when she went in to a store to call me. And that was that, unfortunately
My CJ7 had a 304 V8. It got an rebuilt with a better camshaft, Holley carburetor, headers and some porting. It was very much fun and end 80ies the fuel consumption did not matter.
The Renix system is from pre-Chrysler AMC. There is one tool, named the REM, which exploits the full capabilities of the Renix system. Also, some Renix owners have had issues with smog because the system doesn't store data. Once the contract expired, Chrysler used their own PCMs.
Mine has only done 130k miles, so is just nicely run in. Can still see the factory honing on the cylinder bores, doesn't use oil yet. Great engine, bit thirsty though.
If the Jeep inline 6 would have had a cross flow head, it likely could have stayed in production a bit longer in other applications. The reverse flow head hurts efficiency, and that also hurts emissions as well. Also, V6 engines are more compact, something that is a must these days, and Chrysler did not have anymore vehicles, till recently, that an inline 6 still made sense in. And now, instead of giving us a nice, simple, smooth, naturally aspirated inline 6, Chrysler went out of its way to engineer a turbo boosted monstrosity for people to ruin in just a few short years, because the Hurricane inline 6 WILL NOT tolerate what the old AMC inline 6 engines could.
I suspect if manufacturers made a small naturally aspirated gasoline crossflow inline 6, say 1.4liter size they would be very economical to run, and reliable due to the perfect balance. I know they are hard to package, but some cars have had long hoods and sold well. the ease of repairability in a longitudinal mount engine is a plus too.
Can you make a video about an "obscure" engine? The GM 4.1L from the Brazilian Opala! And if you never talked about the VW ABA/AP engines, talk about it too, it is a little beast! Or talk about the really obscure (for outside the South America at least), the Ford Engine so-called CHT, which was really used and abused here in Brazil (I Mean, it was used in a lot of vehicles, and it was abused, and we can see even old CHT engines still holding up to the abuse today, in the streets.)
I would agree with you 100% ,but I have had both and they are equal on all fronts except the Ford 300 can have a Cleveland's heads cut ,welded and bolted on and will produce massive power rivilng a V8 and winning a NHRA championship or 3. Good morning and great day. I believe I found this out after watching the tower of power and Ford 300 videos of yours and looking around on You- Tube. Great video as always and Thank you for sharing and I will pass it along this morning.😊 Now a video on the three race versions would be awesome. Just a thought.
No shit, went wheeling in mine and drove it for an hour with no oil pressure. Put a new oil pump in it, and it made it another 210,000 miles before it had rod knock. Made it another 20,000 mi after that.
@@gabrielv.4358 definitely not low on oil. Maybe the pump was worn out but we just drove it faster than it was intended. Either way we added an accusump for the next one.
We have considered buying a Jeep in 4.0 flavor just because of this fantastic engine, but we've chosen a Nissan Patrol, 3.3 turbo diesel for its brute low rpm torque reasons. Sadly we earned the dreaded japan rust problem with it.
I got my Grand Cherokee for a good price from a customer at the garage I used to work at. The immobiliser was playing tricks. Got it running eventually (with something I suggested to be done when it was still at the workshop), but now the alternator is stuck, so the belt snapped :/
I'm not a jeep fan , mostly because of the stereotypical owners , but 4.0 had great , torque (unlike ANYTHING japanese) , was reliable , solid and towed great! This was 1 hell of an engine and will be missed
the MOST interesting thing....... its over square (MUCH! bigger bore than stroke) most I6 engines are under square . the main thing that holds these back is the non-crossflow head...... if we had aftermarket heads.... we could get 250...300HP from it NA . the next issue would be the cam tunnel size.... limiting lift but with the non-cross flow head..... even the biggest cam is WAY MORE than enough
you can get over 300 hp NA with a built stroker, check out newcomer racing, on the horsepower monster youtube channel. with a turbo you can pretty much negate the head restriction, and Keith Newcomer has pushed a turbo 4.6 stroker to over 1,000 horsepower
The 4.2 has similar displacement and horsepower as the Maybach HL 42 from 1941. That's absurd, with abysmal mpg on top. At least, it's robut and reliable.
I have to be honest. As an owner of a 98 ZJ Laredo, i don't like how the intake and exhaust are on the same side. It makes replacing the exhaust manifold a pain because you either have to do all the work from underneath, or you have to remove the entire intake manifold. Why couldn't this engine be like every other inline six and have intake on one side, and exhaust on the other? Surely there's a good reason why every other reliable inline six does it that way, and not the way Chrysler did it.
The only part on my 1990 XJ that didn't drive me crazy with its shoddy craftsmanship was the engine even though it leaked oil and/or water quite often. I kinda miss that old shitbox.
A jeep 4.0 known for its fuel effeciency by everyone thats never owned one 😂😂😂 My max mpg city i ever got in my XJ was 14.66 and i had a frankenstein engine with various parts from HO versions and such. What an incredible engine that was
The engines themselves will take a sure beating, but chrysler's wiring is responsible for the downfall of so many. 360k original miles on my XJ, been weeping oil out the side of the head gasket for last 4 years and 50k... Reliably put over 110k since i bought it. Its been thrashed, trashed, sunk, rolled, oil starved, and overheated more times than i got fingers and toes, but the engine has never left me stranded, even running on only 3 cylinders 😂 One of these days ill put a new motor in.
Although I could have bought a newer Jeep I chose a 2005 TJ because it was the last of the straight 6. Too bad the 6 speed transmission isn’t as durable.
in performance and fuel efficiency, sure. How much extra complexity did it take to do it, though? (not to mention you're comparing a 60 year old design for the 'modern' AMC 6 with an engine that wasn't released until almost 40 years later). Both engines server their intended purpose, but saying one 'shits' on the other is a bit ignorant, bud.
@@GnBst 40 years for them to upgrade it and they didn't, it wouldn't even need to be that complex just designing a crossflow head for it would've been huge improvement
Actually the 4.0 was a modernized version of the old AMC 258ci inline 6, The 4.0 was oversquare, as opposed the 258 being undersquare. The 4.0 got EFI, and a better cylinder head design. AMC had a budget to work with, and typically that budget was quite tight. Designing a crossflow head would have been a big undertaking, not to mention expensive. So not only did AMC not have the money, Chrysler in the following years, wouldn't have much reason to invest in it. GM fanboys, ignorant and repulsive as ever. @@lieutenantdan8170
I have to agree, it has that typical older, American, pushrod, reverse-flow head, "Tractor engine-like" growl like a ford 300, 225 slant, or chevy 292, but out of them all the 4.0 is just a bit more.. distinct, like it's angrier, or something.
lol great engine but I only got 165k miles out of mine before it ate a piston… after it cracked the head… guess 2001 is not the greatest year for that engine
The 4.0 and its 3.3, 3.8 and 4.2 liter relstives are all easily killable. Just neglect maintenance. Like oil changes and keeping up with coolant. The earlier versions had issues with water pump failures. Not uncommon on many engines from the Vee Belt era. The failures were usually caused by belts being too tight. The 4.0 does have an overheating problem caused by stagnant coolant flow around the #6 cylinder. One cure for this routing a coolant line from the Heater Core Line to a fitting installed in the last core plug in the block. The 4.0 has untapped potential that untortunately requires replacing the cylinder head. The bore spread on the 4.0 (1) is the same as the Ford Windsor and Cleveland small blocks. And only .020" less than the SBC, LS and LT. In Argentina they have gone one step further. For the TC race series (2) the 4.0, Ford and Chevy inline OHV sixes have been re-equipped DOHC 24V heads. One UA-cam channel (AMXJ) has an extensive series of interviews with a retired development engineer about things that were done concerning porting etc. The same engineer was involved in building a 4.0 powered dragster that was setting class records while spinning 9k through the traps. 1) The 2.5 shares the same block architecture, oil pump, coolant pump, rods, pistons, lifters etc. 2) The oldest racing series on the planet.
It's really convincing in any case! The sponsors on the side had me questioning. Crazy how far technology has come! Glad to see you do a video on one of my favorite engines, keep it up!! @@VisioRacer
Pretty much every single 4.0 inline 6 Jeep engine I've ever seen in my life had some kind of overheating issues be it bad head gaskets, corrosion buildup in the water passages through the head and block, worn-out clutch fans, clogged radiators or even warped head. Every time I ever walk by one that has been on the trails running for a while feels like I'm standing next to a lit oven.... 🤷
I say it's indestructible until you let Mercedes design a garbage cylinder head for it. Dahmer neutered Jeep and then stole the viper for the freaking AMG roadster thing and left us to Fiat to slowly die
horsepower is irrelevant, it's a simple, durable, reliable design, there's not much to go wrong, that's why it's reliable. Squeezing more power out of these isn't that hard, boost makes it quite easy.
Indestructible no they are prone to overheating from the factory rad not being big enough. They are indestructible because they make so little hp and torque not very stressed engine I had one in my jeep xj.
Wrong. They're reliable because theyre a simple, durable, proven design, there's not much to go wrong. That's the basis for a good, reliable engine. You can get more power out of them just fine, especially with a 258 crankshaft, or forced induction. They ran hot in part because they were tuned lean from the factory.
And when I made a video about the Czech Tatra or the Soviet ZIL, did I try to appeal the American audience as well? I often make topic what the audience itself asks for, except the times when I make what I want or I just happen to make what people asked for long time ago and I forgot about that
@@VisioRacer Slovenski brate, I have no problem about talking about AMC/Jeep straight 6. It was a great story and I enjoyed it. But in every video, you put both imperial and metric units (while 5% of the human population knows only Imperial). This was a video about an American engine, and you used (at least for bore and stroke) only freedom units. Also, I was taught in school British English as standard (with American as support), and until this video, you usually said 'aluminium', but for this video it was 'aluminum'. To sum it up - great video, but too much inclined to the US Audience.
@@Mladjasmilic Understand. But, the bore/stroke measures were in milimeters as well, on the screen, and I tend to say aluminum all the time. I am Slovak as you mentioned hence I can pick up whatever English I want that suits me best. Peace!
@@Mladjasmilic Well technically, UA-cam is an American website so he posted this video on an American website...why would someone not primarily appeal to Americans if they're on an American website? Visioracer does a good job though, he tries to appeal to everyone not just americans
That’s not the point of this engine, they make stupid amounts of torque, 240 foot pounds from below 2000 rpm is no joke, they are low revving engines, and wen you take in to consideration that power is torque over time, yea 200hp is what you can expect
Horsepower per liter means nothing, power to weight does. this is also completely ignoring the fact that the engine was designed for mid-range torque, also if you compare the 4.0 to it's contemporaries of the day, it's output was quite favorable. The 4.0 is reliable because it's a simple, durable, proven design, there's not much to go wrong, and you can get more power out of them just fine, especially with boost.
My friends and I were out fourwheeling one day and my brothers Cherokee with the 4.0 ended up being driven into a creek that was thought to be just a few inches deep, well it turned out to be about 3 feet and my brother was able to kill the engine before it ingested much water. We pulled it out backwards, drained th oil, pulled the spark plugs, turned the engine over and water gushed out of the spark plug holes. Dried everything out as best we could and then put it back together and damned if she didnt fire up within 10 sec of cranking. He drove that suv for another 2 years and sold it for more than he had bought it for, oddly enough, to one of the guys we had with us the night it went swimming.
Almost Any engine can do that.
That happened to me in a vw rabbit pickup truck with a tdi swap and I had built a custom air box with hydroscopic air filter cover and my engine drove me out
I went swimming in the ocean with my b2600i 4x4 5spd after far too many passes back and forth with an audience and well the truck was fine after getting it back on to dry land running on two cylinders!!!
-had to pull plugs and do oil change on the beach😂 but that's ok!
We had a four wheeling group and had a 4.0 swapped CJ-7 roll over and run upside down for a while before we managed to get to shutting it off. Got the two passengers out first then climbed back down to shut it off. Took us 4 ish hours to get it back on its wheels. We broke one wench, and it took 3 more, snatch blocks, etc, chained other jeeps to trees. Lol
That jeep was fixed (it only had some body damage, busted windshield frame, one door, and the fiberglass top. It ran the trails and streets for nearly a decade after that until it went to a new owner, without any mechanical issues.
My favourite 6cyl engine was the Australian Chrysler hemi. It had a 7 bearing crank too I had a panel van with the 4.2ltr engine. 202hp from the factory. Headers tripple webbers and a better cam i was getting 310hp at the wheels. That beast would sit on 90mph for hours crossing the Nullarbor plain.
New to the 4.2 Hemi. Headers, cam and 3 Webber's; the music must have been glorious.
Awesome to see 6 bangers that make more power than boring v8's
Imagine if they developed a version of that engine that was DOHC with a cross-flow head and individual throttle bodies.
I've owned a bunch of AMC sixes over the years, four Ramblers, a Gremlin, and an Eagle. The latter threw a rod on the way home from Phoenix, so I swapped in a 4.0 a friend had sitting around compete with FI and used it as a daily driver for several years when I lived in Colorado. It truly is one of the best workhorse engines ever made.
The engine shown at 2:02 is the older 4 main bearing 195.6 engine. The overhead valve version in the video was based on the flathead introduced in 1952. With integrated intake manifold, it was designed to be light and cheap to manufacture and was nowhere near the workhorse the 199/232/4.0/258 were. Yes, I'm being technical, but we're all technicians here, right?
I bought a 1974 AMC Matador with the 258 for a whole $20 when I was in high-school, and drove that car for years. It's been nearly twenty years since I got rid of it, but I still dream about that old shit-box lol. I had a '67 VW Bug, and an '82 Buick Electra at the same time... all cost me less than $100 total. Those were good times....
@@2400Baud Cheap used cars are their own kind of fun.
Great video as always. Those 4.0 sure do last, was just working on one that needed a crank sensor, it had over 270,000 miles on it.
Yup my 95 needed a crank sensor to stay running. It would randonly shutoff and that was the youtube fix. It worked and it ran like scalded dog. Would hit limiter with joy even with 250k
Great video as always. My father in a law has a Grand Cherokee with the 4.0L six in it. He is doing every he can to keep the vehicle around that motor on the road. It is interesting to me that Chrysler is now going back to a straight six, albeit DOHC and turbocharged.
Can confirm, these just simply don’t want to die.
Had a rotten TJ with no doors, roof or windshield that I used as a trail basher. Ripped out a rad hose on a nasty branch and belched out all the coolant….that 4.0 drove three miles back out of the woods, overheating like crazy…I imagine a lesser engine would’ve given up the ghost far sooner
I daily drive my 1985 Jeep CJ7 with the 4.2L 258. Great Engine!
I love these engines! Have a 4.0 bored and stroked to 4.7 withe a LOT of work done to in in my 82 AMC spirit and it is a blast. Soon to have an eaton m112 supercharger on it!
I can finally say that I own a Jeep 4.0l (as I recently purchased a 99 Jeep XJ), but sadly my motor was completely borked, so i wouldn't know of the absolute strength of this legend.
The autopsy will reveal just what it takes to KILL a legend. You'll right your own chapter with the next motor. I daily a 96 xj manual, four door. 222,459mi.
Source, next 4.0 from Grand Cherokee, as these are more common now, allegedly stronger, generally better treated. Good luck with your swap.
I'll second the GC as being a good source. I have a 1998 ZJ I have used as my backup daily driver, hunting/fishing rig, and winter beater for the last decade, and the only reason I am retiring it is the New England winters have destroyed the body. Major rot to the point where if it isn't parked on a dead flat surface I can't open or close the rear hatch anymore lol. I finally replaced the blown out speakers in all four doors, and the brakes let go on me.... that was the final straw. Once I get off my ass and finally put it up for sale, someone will more than likely buy it solely for the engine and drivetrain since the mileage is fairly low for it's age.
❤ Visio’s love of all straight 6s, hell, all engines, just for engineering like me😅 your amazing my man…so glad to see how uve exploded🎉finally😂been watching for years but never subscribed really to any channels, until finally having a clue 😊thank you
Just swap it and make it better by making a work in the cylinder heads, makes more poweer
The AMC straight 6's are an American legacy. Built in US, Mexico and Argentina, they are the most durable engines next to the 250 (C10, Chevy/Nova and 400) from GM and the 3.9 from Ford (Falcon and some F100)
The GM 4100 was awesome too
Great video! My dad had one of these in a wrangler back in the 90s. Used to tow his boat around for the better part of a decade with no problems. Dipping the back end in the salt water over and over was a different story as you might imagine. Overall a great engine from what I remember. Thanks again for the great videos!
I have a 95 Jeep XJ with a 6. Best truck ever. I do wish it had a ladder frame, but it is indestructible for sure. I’ll never sell it.
Have one, too. 190k miles and runs like new.
This the ford 4.9 and the dodge slant six are what some call the immortal inlines
They had ONE significant issue that I’m aware of. The valve cover was a leaker. But otherwise it’s indestructible. I had a Cherokee that had a coolant leak and ran HOT, HOT regularly. Once the lower hose burst. And my nephew drove it until it stalled in the street. An hour later it was still super hot. I replaced the hose refilled the coolant (still hot) and started it up. The lifters rattled for a few minutes. It then ran without incident.
i ran mine with no coolant well into the red zone for WAY longer than i should have. never warped as far as i can tell
Same deal, ripped off rad hose on a nasty trail and made it three miles back home with the temp pinned
Heck yeah. My stepdad and I helped rebuild an engine and despite the warnings to the lady she actually took it on a road trip across country. With a trailer!
Just had a minor exhaust leak but ran good
Exhaust leak is required for proper break in, and best performance.
One of the most durable and reliable engines
Great video, as always!
When talking about Jeeps, it's worth to say that the Willys Hurricane 6 was indestructible too. Those things are still running out in the trails even considering the last one was produced in the 70s.
I love straight sixes.. smooth, powerful and they have a great sound
Fantastic engine and also the car. Drove them in Lebanon when I was in the UN. A real work horse. 🙃👍
Almost 350k on mine and still singing. Fluid change soon.
I had a 1994 Jeep Cherokee sport, had fun with it, had to sell it 😪.
It was a good vehicle but it's in the hands of someone who will keep it in shape.
I had one in a jeep XJ - great mill!
the 4.0 was good as well as the Ford 200 and 300s but the Slant six just will not die no matter what.
2001 Jeep Cherokee 276k miles orig. Most reliable vehicle I have ever owned.
Yes Visio!!! Love this one ❤
My dad had this exact jeep in the states and then got the grand Cherokee Laredo a few years later
Perfect way to chill on a Sunday
Keep up Ur amazing work bro 💪💯🎉
We had a Cherokee 4.0 as a pool service car in the 90's (US model spec used in Europe). As pleasant as it was to drive, it was an incredible gas guzzler, even driving it in a conservative way, mainly required by its super loose suspensions and over assisted power steering, it would sink 25 L of gasoline every 100 km. It was a nice exotic car to drive whatsoever.
1. That white jeep was running a diesel turbo.
2. The 4.0L jeep was the cheapest engine to manufacture, at the Kenosha Engine Plant, until full production of the 3.5L V6.
3. Production of the 4.0L ended in 2009, with the closing of plant, which had existed for more than 100 years, with its beginnings with Thomas Jeffery Motors. Jeffrey held the highest production of automobiles until the Model T.
I had the opportunity to work at the Kenosha Engine Plant before its closing and it was a tragedy to lose it. A Chinese company bought all the equipment.
oh man this brings back memories... my 1998 xj off road one of many times... drank some water while at WOT and stalled out hard. i cranked it past the hard stop and it ran again on 4 cylinders, drove itself out of the mud hole, and home an hour away with almost ZERO coolant and a blown head gasket. i did nothing but replace the head gasket a week later and the engine was still good as it could be with 180k on it. the body of the jeep was it's demise and i had to get rid of it. best engine out there, hands down!
258s were indeed tough. I rebuilt a few (and Ford 300s) only due to user error and blatant neglect.
I did the 1,000th like for this video, may there be thousands more for the rest from this spectacular channel
Thank you, man!
The 4-O engine is a good unit. Rivals the 3.8 Buick
In the mid 70s AMC sold the tooling for the V-6 back to Buick after Jeep had bought it in the 60s.
I've got three of these in my driveway. My understanding of what did them in was their lack of fuel economy (even my stock Cherokee averages 16mpg) and their complexity to make them meet emissions (one of my Cherokees has three catalytic converters).
That along with it is a very long engine as all I6's are. The problem was front crush zone. The engine itself pretty much does not crush, and it's length didn't allow much room in front or behind to provide crush space. And the last thing one wants is an engine block wanting to sit in your lap in a front collision. It's a lot easier getting the room with a shorter engine.
@@charliedee9276
Supposedly one of the Jeep powertrain engineers was working on adapting the 3.5 V-6s 4 head design valve to the 4.0. Until ordered to stop. AMC was supposed to have run OHC versions of the 232 on test stands in the 60s. Plus there were rumors of a reduced displacement diesel with a heavier block and bottom end.
My wife has a 1996 Jeep Grand cherokee with the 4.0
She took it off road, in the snow & daily driving. It was rock solid reliable. But ice came, she drove it to work l. She slid on a big piece of ice to the side of the road into a power pole guide wire. Another car hit her Jeep when she went in to a store to call me. And that was that, unfortunately
My CJ7 had a 304 V8. It got an rebuilt with a better camshaft, Holley carburetor, headers and some porting. It was very much fun and end 80ies the fuel consumption did not matter.
This 4.0 straight six is such a smooth running motor.
The Renix system is from pre-Chrysler AMC.
There is one tool, named the REM, which exploits the full capabilities of the Renix system.
Also, some Renix owners have had issues with smog because the system doesn't store data.
Once the contract expired, Chrysler used their own PCMs.
I had a 88 Jeep Cherokee with a manual transmission. Wish I would've kept it. 😭
Mine has only done 130k miles, so is just nicely run in. Can still see the factory honing on the cylinder bores, doesn't use oil yet. Great engine, bit thirsty though.
The 4l is amazing! If cared for!
If the Jeep inline 6 would have had a cross flow head, it likely could have stayed in production a bit longer in other applications. The reverse flow head hurts efficiency, and that also hurts emissions as well. Also, V6 engines are more compact, something that is a must these days, and Chrysler did not have anymore vehicles, till recently, that an inline 6 still made sense in. And now, instead of giving us a nice, simple, smooth, naturally aspirated inline 6, Chrysler went out of its way to engineer a turbo boosted monstrosity for people to ruin in just a few short years, because the Hurricane inline 6 WILL NOT tolerate what the old AMC inline 6 engines could.
I suspect if manufacturers made a small naturally aspirated gasoline crossflow inline 6, say 1.4liter size they would be very economical to run, and reliable due to the perfect balance. I know they are hard to package, but some cars have had long hoods and sold well. the ease of repairability in a longitudinal mount engine is a plus too.
Can you make a video about an "obscure" engine? The GM 4.1L from the Brazilian Opala! And if you never talked about the VW ABA/AP engines, talk about it too, it is a little beast! Or talk about the really obscure (for outside the South America at least), the Ford Engine so-called CHT, which was really used and abused here in Brazil (I Mean, it was used in a lot of vehicles, and it was abused, and we can see even old CHT engines still holding up to the abuse today, in the streets.)
hands down the best i6 ever made
I knew a guy in high school who wanted to current wrangler. I told him if he wanted a wrangler, get the ones with the amc straight 6 you'll thank me
I would agree with you 100% ,but I have had both and they are equal on all fronts except the Ford 300 can have a Cleveland's heads cut ,welded and bolted on and will produce massive power rivilng a V8 and winning a NHRA championship or 3. Good morning and great day. I believe I found this out after watching the tower of power and Ford 300 videos of yours and looking around on You- Tube. Great video as always and Thank you for sharing and I will pass it along this morning.😊 Now a video on the three race versions would be awesome. Just a thought.
I get they wanted to save space. But I will drive a straight six over a v8 every day.
Thank you. Interesting video.
Thanks!
And there is the ford inline six
Great video!
No shit, went wheeling in mine and drove it for an hour with no oil pressure. Put a new oil pump in it, and it made it another 210,000 miles before it had rod knock. Made it another 20,000 mi after that.
wow
We blew one up at Pitt race in our lemons Jeep. Apparently the oil pickups don’t take well to sustained cornering
Or it was simply low on oil and worn out oil pump....
@@gabrielv.4358 definitely not low on oil. Maybe the pump was worn out but we just drove it faster than it was intended. Either way we added an accusump for the next one.
live, laugh, love the 4.0!!!
We have considered buying a Jeep in 4.0 flavor just because of this fantastic engine, but we've chosen a Nissan Patrol, 3.3 turbo diesel for its brute low rpm torque reasons. Sadly we earned the dreaded japan rust problem with it.
Chrysler should still use this engine today!!! They are fools not to. It's quite literally the most perfect engine ever created.
I got my Grand Cherokee for a good price from a customer at the garage I used to work at. The immobiliser was playing tricks. Got it running eventually (with something I suggested to be done when it was still at the workshop), but now the alternator is stuck, so the belt snapped :/
My Comanche sat for 5 years. Drained the fuel, put new fuel in it and it started on the first try
I'm not a jeep fan , mostly because of the stereotypical owners , but 4.0 had great , torque (unlike ANYTHING japanese) , was reliable , solid and towed great! This was 1 hell of an engine and will be missed
As I sit here watching this video in my original engine 362k mile 4.0 xj😎
Mine caught fire and still ran after 😂 miss that thing
the MOST interesting thing....... its over square (MUCH! bigger bore than stroke)
most I6 engines are under square
.
the main thing that holds these back is the non-crossflow head......
if we had aftermarket heads.... we could get 250...300HP from it NA
.
the next issue would be the cam tunnel size.... limiting lift
but with the non-cross flow head..... even the biggest cam is WAY MORE than enough
you can get over 300 hp NA with a built stroker, check out newcomer racing, on the horsepower monster youtube channel.
with a turbo you can pretty much negate the head restriction, and Keith Newcomer has pushed a turbo 4.6 stroker to over 1,000 horsepower
The 4.2 has similar displacement and horsepower as the Maybach HL 42 from 1941. That's absurd, with abysmal mpg on top. At least, it's robut and reliable.
I have to be honest. As an owner of a 98 ZJ Laredo, i don't like how the intake and exhaust are on the same side. It makes replacing the exhaust manifold a pain because you either have to do all the work from underneath, or you have to remove the entire intake manifold.
Why couldn't this engine be like every other inline six and have intake on one side, and exhaust on the other? Surely there's a good reason why every other reliable inline six does it that way, and not the way Chrysler did it.
my first car was a CJ7 4,2 straight 6
The only part on my 1990 XJ that didn't drive me crazy with its shoddy craftsmanship was the engine even though it leaked oil and/or water quite often.
I kinda miss that old shitbox.
A jeep 4.0 known for its fuel effeciency by everyone thats never owned one 😂😂😂
My max mpg city i ever got in my XJ was 14.66 and i had a frankenstein engine with various parts from HO versions and such. What an incredible engine that was
Don’t quote me on this, but I think the engine was still in production just a few years ago by Beijing Auto group
Yay jeep video
Magical video.
Why this engine sounds like a diesel L6? The non cross flow head?
An engine that could easily withstand the test of time. Not bad for a brick on wheels, to be honest
It was too reliable and they lost money because of the reliability.
The engines themselves will take a sure beating, but chrysler's wiring is responsible for the downfall of so many.
360k original miles on my XJ, been weeping oil out the side of the head gasket for last 4 years and 50k... Reliably put over 110k since i bought it. Its been thrashed, trashed, sunk, rolled, oil starved, and overheated more times than i got fingers and toes, but the engine has never left me stranded, even running on only 3 cylinders 😂
One of these days ill put a new motor in.
Although I could have bought a newer Jeep I chose a 2005 TJ because it was the last of the straight 6. Too bad the 6 speed transmission isn’t as durable.
Imma let you finish but the GM Atlas 4.2L I6 shits on the boat anchor Jeep I6
in performance and fuel efficiency, sure. How much extra complexity did it take to do it, though? (not to mention you're comparing a 60 year old design for the 'modern' AMC 6 with an engine that wasn't released until almost 40 years later). Both engines server their intended purpose, but saying one 'shits' on the other is a bit ignorant, bud.
@@GnBst 40 years for them to upgrade it and they didn't, it wouldn't even need to be that complex just designing a crossflow head for it would've been huge improvement
Actually the 4.0 was a modernized version of the old AMC 258ci inline 6,
The 4.0 was oversquare, as opposed the 258 being undersquare. The 4.0 got EFI, and a better cylinder head design.
AMC had a budget to work with, and typically that budget was quite tight.
Designing a crossflow head would have been a big undertaking, not to mention expensive.
So not only did AMC not have the money, Chrysler in the following years, wouldn't have much reason to invest in it.
GM fanboys, ignorant and repulsive as ever. @@lieutenantdan8170
My dad said Chrysler removed a good engine with a bad engine to this day 3.6 penstar is crap.
It has an own, remarkable and somehow special sound, different from other straight-six engines. How comes, why is that ?
it sounds like it has lung cancer
not an insult, i had one and i loved its rasp
I have to agree, it has that typical older, American, pushrod, reverse-flow head, "Tractor engine-like" growl like a ford 300, 225 slant, or chevy 292, but out of them all the 4.0 is just a bit more.. distinct, like it's angrier, or something.
Do toyota next... from the f series progression to the last Landcruiser gas/petrol straight 6 engine 1fz-fe
lol great engine but I only got 165k miles out of mine before it ate a piston… after it cracked the head… guess 2001 is not the greatest year for that engine
cool :3
The 4.0 and its 3.3, 3.8 and 4.2 liter relstives are all easily killable. Just neglect maintenance. Like oil changes and keeping up with coolant. The earlier versions had issues with water pump failures. Not uncommon on many engines from the Vee Belt era. The failures were usually caused by belts being too tight. The 4.0 does have an overheating problem caused by stagnant coolant flow around the #6 cylinder. One cure for this routing a coolant line from the Heater Core Line to a fitting installed in the last core plug in the block.
The 4.0 has untapped potential that untortunately requires replacing the cylinder head. The bore spread on the 4.0 (1) is the same as the Ford Windsor and Cleveland small blocks. And only .020" less than the SBC, LS and LT. In Argentina they have gone one step further. For the TC race series (2) the 4.0, Ford and Chevy inline OHV sixes have been re-equipped DOHC 24V heads.
One UA-cam channel (AMXJ) has an extensive series of interviews with a retired development engineer about things that were done concerning porting etc. The same engineer was involved in building a 4.0 powered dragster that was setting class records while spinning 9k through the traps.
1) The 2.5 shares the same block architecture, oil pump, coolant pump, rods, pistons, lifters etc.
2) The oldest racing series on the planet.
any engine can be killed with zero maintenance.
the 4.0 runs hot because it's tuned on the leaner side.
✋🏼🇦🇺👍🏼
....now do one on the 3RZ-FE powerplant by Toyota this engine will rack up 1M++ miles, bolt a turbo n will eat V8's for breakfast.!!! Lol
is... is this thumbnail AI generated?
Not sure exactly the way it was made, I have people making them for me
It's really convincing in any case! The sponsors on the side had me questioning. Crazy how far technology has come! Glad to see you do a video on one of my favorite engines, keep it up!! @@VisioRacer
I think it is, its almost impossible to know the difference... But looking at the wheels made it clear
Pretty much every single 4.0 inline 6 Jeep engine I've ever seen in my life had some kind of overheating issues be it bad head gaskets, corrosion buildup in the water passages through the head and block, worn-out clutch fans, clogged radiators or even warped head. Every time I ever walk by one that has been on the trails running for a while feels like I'm standing next to a lit oven.... 🤷
I say it's indestructible until you let Mercedes design a garbage cylinder head for it. Dahmer neutered Jeep and then stole the viper for the freaking AMG roadster thing and left us to Fiat to slowly die
Well played sir.....🤣
Yeah what does 80s-90s mercedes know about building a decent I6 anyway....500k miles and the engine might have problems. Pathetic.
Verykillable.
Hard to blow up when it only makes 180hp lool
horsepower is irrelevant, it's a simple, durable, reliable design, there's not much to go wrong, that's why it's reliable.
Squeezing more power out of these isn't that hard, boost makes it quite easy.
Unkillable.... give it to me for 1 hour and I'll send that thing back in a box
Indestructible no they are prone to overheating from the factory rad not being big enough. They are indestructible because they make so little hp and torque not very stressed engine I had one in my jeep xj.
Wrong.
They're reliable because theyre a simple, durable, proven design, there's not much to go wrong. That's the basis for a good, reliable engine.
You can get more power out of them just fine, especially with a 258 crankshaft, or forced induction.
They ran hot in part because they were tuned lean from the factory.
You are trying to appeal to the American audience.
Probably US ads bring most money...
And when I made a video about the Czech Tatra or the Soviet ZIL, did I try to appeal the American audience as well? I often make topic what the audience itself asks for, except the times when I make what I want or I just happen to make what people asked for long time ago and I forgot about that
@@VisioRacer Slovenski brate,
I have no problem about talking about AMC/Jeep straight 6. It was a great story and I enjoyed it.
But in every video, you put both imperial and metric units (while 5% of the human population knows only Imperial).
This was a video about an American engine, and you used (at least for bore and stroke) only freedom units.
Also, I was taught in school British English as standard (with American as support), and until this video, you usually said 'aluminium', but for this video it was 'aluminum'.
To sum it up - great video, but too much inclined to the US Audience.
@@Mladjasmilic Understand. But, the bore/stroke measures were in milimeters as well, on the screen, and I tend to say aluminum all the time. I am Slovak as you mentioned hence I can pick up whatever English I want that suits me best. Peace!
@@Mladjasmilic Well technically, UA-cam is an American website so he posted this video on an American website...why would someone not primarily appeal to Americans if they're on an American website? Visioracer does a good job though, he tries to appeal to everyone not just americans
man this engine sucks. Only 200hp for how many liters?! No wonder its reliable...
That’s not the point of this engine, they make stupid amounts of torque, 240 foot pounds from below 2000 rpm is no joke, they are low revving engines, and wen you take in to consideration that power is torque over time, yea 200hp is what you can expect
@@eraummenino3011 When that engine first came out it was a high horsepower number for the size.
Horsepower per liter means nothing, power to weight does.
this is also completely ignoring the fact that the engine was designed for mid-range torque, also if you compare the 4.0 to it's contemporaries of the day, it's output was quite favorable.
The 4.0 is reliable because it's a simple, durable, proven design, there's not much to go wrong, and you can get more power out of them just fine, especially with boost.