Anybody here ever rebuild a 4.7 jeep V8???

[69wannabe]

I picked up a really nice 2000 jeep grand cherokee several month's back with a dead 4.7 engine. Been picking at it on and off in between other work for awhile and got all the machine work and needed parts to put the engine back together but it has been slow go with the engine reassembly. A very different engine than I am used to putting together but I took it slow and finally got it all together. Planning on dropping it back into the jeep maybe tomorrow evening. Still got several other item's I plan to replace while i'm in the middle of putting it back together. Anybody else here have any experience with these modular engine's?? I am hoping that it turns out good since the jeep is very nice inside and out and am planning on keeping it as a good spare if it doesn't blow up in my face!!!! 

[Baldwinvette77]

If thats the same overhead cam engine im thinking of, with the really long chain and plastic guides.

Make sure you torque the cam sprockets well, off the top of my head its 90 ft/lbs, but look it up, i've personally had a cam sprocket let go and well... it wasn't good, and i've heard of a few other cases aswell. my local engine shop keeps cams in stock because of how many get damaged because of that. 

im not saying you need to be afraid, im just saying don't just tighten it down by hand and hope for the best   

[Mike DC]

     
I would probably throw a used motor into it.  They made a lot of those 4.7L V8s and nobody really beats on them or values them highly.

[Indygenerallee]

Yep I have rebuilt 4 of them. Make sure you buy a quality timing chain set the full Fel-Pro is around $550.00 stay away from the Ebay variant I had a hydraulic tensioner fail on a new Ebay one. The engines are also known to throw
the cam followers off if a lifter is weak, I bought a Durango with a dead cylinder cheap that way once guy said it had a bad engine. pulled the valve cover and 20 minutes later it ran like new!

[69wannabe]

If thats the same overhead cam engine im thinking of, with the really long chain and plastic guides.

Make sure you torque the cam sprockets well, off the top of my head its 90 ft/lbs, but look it up, i've personally had a cam sprocket let go and well... it wasn't good, and i've heard of a few other cases aswell. my local engine shop keeps cams in stock because of how many get damaged because of that. 

im not saying you need to be afraid, im just saying don't just tighten it down by hand and hope for the best   

Yes, that is a good description!!! Really long timing chain's and 90 ft/lbs is the torque on the cam sprocket's. My machine shop guy has helped me with it and I have torqued everything on this engine to the exact spec on the torque sheet that he supplied me with.  This is the first one of these I have rebuilt and it's coming along slowly and I am a little nervous but I hope it turn's out to run good and be a good jeep.     I got the engine back in it this evening and got it bolted to the transmission and got the motor mounts bolted in. Maybe I can get it up and running within the next week or so. 

[69wannabe]

Yep I have rebuilt 4 of them. Make sure you buy a quality timing chain set the full Fel-Pro is around $550.00 stay away from the Ebay variant I had a hydraulic tensioner fail on a new Ebay one. The engines are also known to throw
the cam followers off if a lifter is weak, I bought a Durango with a dead cylinder cheap that way once guy said it had a bad engine. pulled the valve cover and 20 minutes later it ran like new!

I got all my parts from my local machine shop. He got all the timing part's for me and it had to have a crank kit and six rod's and I went ahead and replaced all the piston's too. I can't remember for sure but I think the timing part's were made by cloyes but I do remember it was name brand part's!! Got one head rebuilt and had to buy the other head since one was bad.
My machine shop guy helped me along with it since it was my first time rebuilding one of these kind of engines. Got it back into the jeep tonight and got it bolted in but it got dark on me so I will do a little more tomorrow after work and maybe get it going soon!!