2010 JK Engine Swap

Hey all,
It happened. My engine died. The question now becomes, what do I do about it?

My question(s) for you all is this:
Do I replace the engine? Do I upgrade the engine? Or is it time to upgrade to a newer JK or JL?

I've done a lot of work to this Jeep, so it's personalized and I love it, but I feel like I've learned a lot, so moving on isn't a terrible decision in terms of starting from scratch. Which leads me to my second question, at what price point do you move on, assuming you're not well to-do can just go buy a brand new Jeep cash? My gut tells me that number is about $7-10K, but I don't know what replacing the engine would cost at a non-dealership. But it seems at about 7-10 is the point at which it's like, well, shouldn't I just put that money towards a brand new Jeep instead?

Anyway, I'd appreciate anyone bringing up a pro or con I may not have thought of or just some personal experience on your end.

Oh, side note, I looked at some other threads and didn't see a good response, but does anyone know of a good mechanic up in the Seattle area that does this type of work? It seems like all the good engine swap places are 1000+ miles away from where I am. Right now I'm stuck with the dealership and my searches haven't been promising.

Thanks in advance.

I was in a similar dilemma last year with my WJ. Ultimately, I ended up with a junkyard motor with 68k on it and got it shipped to my door for about 1500 bucks. I did the work myself but had I paid a shop, it would have been about 2k in labor. The dealer wanted around d 6-7k IIRC.

Thanks, WJCO.

They left a message today. They said $5400 for a new engine, plus a bunch of other miscellaneous parts. They said about 22 hours of labor, but their full estimate is just under $10K. Looking for a used engine might be a better option, but I always worry about not knowing how other people treat their stuff.

Bleh.

You should contact Motech. They have a ton of engines laying around from all the LS swaps they have done. Mine is down there but it is the 3.6 and I have a guy that is supposed to be buying it. You should be able to get one for $1500 with 50K miles or so, plus shipping.

Swindle said:

Thanks, WJCO.

They left a message today. They said $5400 for a new engine, plus a bunch of other miscellaneous parts. They said about 22 hours of labor, but their full estimate is just under $10K. Looking for a used engine might be a better option, but I always worry about not knowing how other people treat their stuff.

Bleh.

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It blows my mind what some of these shops charge. I did the work myself but it only cost me $10k for an LS and a MoTech swap kit. Couldn't be happier with the outcome. My vote would be to find a friend that is handy and do the V8 swap. MoTech has made it so easy now that you could pound it out in a weekend or 2.

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