Jeep Liberty 3.7 engines

Yeah, it's an old thread, but the correct answer is:

The 3.7 will last between 10-15 window regulators. 

I saw this thread and thought the Aussie was back!    Anyone know what he's up to?

X.7 Chryco motor = pain and suffering the world over. 

We never did have any problems with the wife's. It went well over 200k. 

I still see Aussie post on the book of faces a fair amount. He's doing the girl and family thing a lot. 

The Mopodular... Modulopar... Mopular..?

AMCDaimlerDodgeFiat never really went "whole hog" with this engine like Ford did. They just sort of copied the first couple 2V versions and used slightly more dubious alloys.

Yeah, it's an interesting comparison. Ford made a 2v sohc 4.6 that was pretty dog slow but super reliable (at least, the longblock) while Chrysler made a 2v sohc 4.7 that would make a Dakota faster than a 4.6 Mustang, but not super reliable. Then Ford made a 3v 4.6 that made good power but had stupid issues, and Dodge updated their 2v 4.7 with vvt to make similar power and ended up more reliable, but it was so late in the game noone noticed or cared. 

I don't hate hate the engine but i think the whole thing was an ill-founded attempt to compete with other manufacturers' spec charts rather than other manufacturers' actual performance. Right about the time they gave up on the 3.7 they finally wised up and started putting the 3.5 and 3.8L v6s into truckish things. They ALREADY HAD those engines 10 years prior when they designed the 3.7. Both are vastly more reliable, and the 3.8 is also vastly smaller, lighter, and simpler and have equal or better torque and power. The 3.5 is lighter too but it does have 12 more valves. Then they punched the 3.5 out to 4.0 for like 2 years before discontinuing it, making it the Fiero GT of chrysler v6s. A 4.0L Nitro runs a 15.4 1/4 mile while a 3.7 one runs a 16.5ish. Same mpg. More reliable. No comparison. So the entire existence of the 3.7 was basically pointless and foolish and Chrysler proved it in the end by reverting to the older V6 family in similar use cases. The 4.7 at least filled an actual empty slot in the engine lineup, but Dodge already had a good 5.2 OHV v8 and GM had just designed a new OHV v8 that carried them another 15+ years, so the idea of updating an OHV design, while unpopular at the time, was certainly feasible. The Hemi was only a few years out and could have been downsized to ~5l with massive parts commonality. Hindsight is 20/20 but i think it's fair to say that whole engine family should never have existed. 

The VVT engines had their issues too.

IIRC the main problem with the 3.7 was that they stuffed up the valve guides and the valves would tend to stick and not close all the way, causing weird running misfire issues.

In reply to Knurled. :

That's what I hear. And the problem was compounded if the oil wasn't changed regularly. 

We have 136k on ours bought new.  It’s run a lot of fire calls to the station and no engine problems.  Don’t get me started in a/c or power steering issues though....

In reply to Vigo :

The "never should have existed" comment agrees with some things I was thinking about the 4.7. Doesn't seem like they had much of a game plan other than, "hey, Ford's doing it."

That said, they did get 300hp out of the 2V... which is 35hp more than Ford ever did.

PLEASE HELP!

This thread has been an interesting read about X.7s and Libertys. Seredipititiously, my wife purchased a 2003 Liberty 3.7 in 2005 and has loved it every since. Up till earlier this year, this car has given me very few problems. One one window regulator needed replacement! But last spring, one cylinder hydrolocked and grenaded its valves. I purchased a donor 3.7 that came from a Durango. Now that gardening season is drawing to a close, my time with this project will restart at the point where I've been stuck.

I'd sincerely appreciate if anyone can give me a clue about how to get the engine mated with the transmission. I can't seem to get the torque converter centered with the drive plate.

Thank you!

In reply to JohnRW1621 :

They came from the factory in '05 and '06 with a spiffy little turbo diesel.  We had one and LOVED it.  A glow plug broke and ended it.

In reply to DHBirren2 :

I put a used transmission in my 08 raider(dakota which uses the same drive train as the jeeps) a couple years ago. I don't remember any drama with mating the engine and transmission. Just line up the dole pins and start a few bolts then check it looks right and pull it in evenly.