Help-Dont know which exact motor in my X!

[gmanpaint]

I recently bought a '95 X 4x4 4 dr, It has the 4.0. The problem I have is the original motor was swapped out by previous owner with a '97 4.0, thats all he could tell me. So how do I go about finding out which type it is? Is it written somewhere on the block, heads, or elsewhere? The same for the tranny as well. This engine is running very rough, has bad idle, a lifter tick ( i think), and is shaking at idle. The strange part is it seems to run fine when driving, anything over 5mph and it seems ok. It has plenty of get up, passing gear screams, but the moment I roll to a stop, it runs like crap. I want to take it to my mechanic, but he needs to find out which engine it is. Anyone have a clue? How do you find out the original type from looking at the vin#?

 

[James909]

Can you post a pic of the engine? I think the easiest way to tell the difference between the OHV and SOHC engines is by looking at the upper intake. I believe on the SOHC engine it says SOHC right on it. You can find out the original engine by looking at the 8th digit of the vin.
X=OHV
E=SOHC
But the SOHC engine didn't come out until '97 so your '95 came from the factory with an OHV 4.0

 

[gmanpaint]

I will post one in the morning, its raining good outside right now. The intake cover says 4.0 efi, that's all. The 8th digit is "x" on my vin. so that tells me what it came with, thanks for that tidbit! I dont know if the tranny was swapped as well, any clues on that?

 

[James909]

It sounds like you have the OHV motor but a picture will confirm that. The OHV engine has the 4r55e trans and the SOHC engine has the 5r55e trans. The 4r55e would work with the SOHC but it wouldn't be a simple bolt it up and go kind of swap. So what was probably done was either a OHV engine was dropped in which bolts right up to the current trans or a SOHC engine and trans was put in place. I doubt the 4r55e was modified to work with the SOHC engine.

 

[gmanpaint]

Ok, I believe it is the OHV as well, does not say SOHC, (and I can tell the diff) any where that I can tell. Now, how to find out the version of the motor. I was wanting to find out which one it is. I believe there was more than one version of the '97 OHV made, maybe 3 or 4. For all I know really, it could be another year! The past owner really did not have a clue, paid a shade tree mech to do the swap, had no paper work for it.
knowing which engine version and year would help me on future mods, and tuning.

 

[Willard]

If it says 4.0 efi on the cover, it's and OHV. All the SOHC's I believe say that on the cover.

There is only one basic version of the OHV. Nothing really changed over the years, parts are pretty much swappable all the way from '94 all the way until they ended the OHV, with the exception of some electronics, and the OHV's after '94 had a plastic intake plenum, but it still swaps with the old aluminum one.

So pretty much, since you know the year, that's all you have to know. The biggest difference between that one and the OHV until '95 is OBDII, which only makes tuning capabilites better.

 

[gmanpaint]

If it says 4.0 efi on the cover, it's and OHV. All the SOHC's I believe say that on the cover.

There is only one basic version of the OHV. Nothing really changed over the years, parts are pretty much swappable all the way from '94 all the way until they ended the OHV, with the exception of some electronics, and the OHV's after '94 had a plastic intake plenum, but it still swaps with the old aluminum one.

So pretty much, since you know the year, that's all you have to know. The biggest difference between that one and the OHV until '95 is OBDII, which only makes tuning capabilites better.

So basically your saying I could swap any 4.0 OHV parts from '94 up till '01? What about chips, air intakes, exhaust, and say coil/plugs/wires? These are some upgrades and changes I have in mind.

 

[Willard]

The computer is still OBDI in a '95 (I think) so you will pretty much need stuff for that year, it's the lone year. This isn't so much a motor difference as a difference in your actual truck. Exhaust and air intakes are more of a vehicle specific thing, not so much motor specific, so I would suggest those for the actual year of your truck as well. I'm thinking the coil packs are the same, wires are basically the same, and plugs as well.

Basically what I'm saying is, anything for the year of your truck ('95) should work fine. The motor being swapped shouldn't change anything. The exception would be for things like coils, plugs, and wires as I stated. Those are pretty much universal throughout the years.

I wouldn't quote me on all of this, it would be great to get someone with a little more experience in the second gen category to clarify this stuff for me.

 

[gmanpaint]

OBDI bummer. I knew I should have researched it some more. I thought I got a good deal on it at the time. The rig is in good shape, I just dont like the engine in it. Feels like it is going to crap out on me. I have a '94 xlt and it will run circles around the '95! 202k on the tick and runs like a bat out of hell! I was hoping to have more creature comforts, power, and style with the 2nd gen. I guess I could swap the drive train out! With what is the question. Something with low miles. I just dont want to invest the family fortune trying to save a dying cow, a swap might be cheaper. I will spend the $ on a tune and see what happens. Thanks for the input guys.