Turbo Jeep what?!?!?!?!?!

So I just copied this particular part of my build thread here for easy finding.

So begins the finest part of the adventure so far...BOOOST!!!!!

To start with, Since the factory gas tank took a wicked beating and decided it wanted to leak and catch on fire, that was first on my list of repairs. So a quick click around Summit Racing and I picked up a 15 gal. Aluminum fuel cell that fits pretty good in the back.

So first out with the old.....

....and in with the new.


After reading a bunch of threads of people converting over to fuel cells, I picked up an Airtex E2000 fuel pump from Autozone and wired it into the factory fuel pump harness.


Here you can see the fuel pump and the AEM fuel pressure regulator mounted up on the frame.


With the groundwork pretty such done, it's on to the main attraction.



And yes, if you couldn't tell already, I went on a little shopping spree on Ebay.

I netted:

- .50 Trim T3/T4 turbo
- 38mm External Wastegate with 8PSI spring
- Greddy Type RS knock off BOV
- oil line kit
- misc. couplers and piping

And yes before the flaming starts if it hasn't already, these parts have been working pretty well for the last 4000 miles.

Of course, with shiny parts just sitting on my desk I had to test fit them right???






The best part at this point was that everything fit under the hood!

That all changed once I really started diving into this project.

Got to work fabricating my uppipe.
- I took the factory crossover pipe and cut it right in the middle where it crosses over
behind the oil pan and rotated it so it ran towards the front of the truck rather than
back to where the cat would have been.
- Then I ran a 90° to bring it up and around the pass. side motor mount.
- The rest is just some random pie cuts I did to get the turbo more or less where I
wanted it.

Sorry I don't have a picture with the wastegate flange welded on. I did include a picture so you can kind of see where I placed it.

All welding was done with a 110V flux-core MIG in my garage so the welds might not look the best but they work.






And here is where the turbo ended up sitting.



Since I felt lazy and didn't want to work out an actual downpipe and keep with the stealth theme, I just went as obnoxious as I felt I could and not get pulled over by every cop in the state






And yes that is the exhaust running out of the hood and the smaller hole is for the wastegate dump

As for oil to the turbo, I used the cross included in the Ebay oil feed kit and put that inline with the factory oil pressure sensor on the pass. side of the motor behind the distributor. A T-fitting would be better but that was an extra trip to the hardware store.
As for the return the kit included a -10 AN line and some fittings. I ended up heading down to the local speed shop and picked up a mild steel -10 AN bung.

That got welded on the pass. side of the oil pan with about an inch between the top of the fitting and the oil pan mounting flange.


Not really much to see there but something that I know people are going to ask about

While I was at it I added a Prosport water temp gauge since my XJ is the base model and only came with 2 gauges in the cluster (Speedo and Fuel Level), which allowed me to actually know what the temps were instead of a light telling me I was screwed.



That got mounted in the dash with a pretty slick panel I got from Prime 4x4. Had room for the gauge and 3 switches. Only have the red fuel toggle wired up right now but will use the other 2 for e-fans and probably an aux light of some sort.

So without further ado, here is some of the good stuff!

Initial startup and spool:
[video]http://youtu.be/uV-4UVUeO6A[/video]

First real test drive:
[video]http://youtu.be/Fms3awTYoBY[/video]

 

Since I've been getting asked this a lot, Here is a list of all the parts I have put into this thing in regards to the turbo set-up.
***Note: This is pretty much the bare bones needed to boost the 4.0L. Other parts can be added to make it cooler/fancier/better,etc...***

(1) T3/T4 .50 Trim Turbo
(1) 38MM External Wastegate with 8PSI Spring
(2) 38MM Wastegate Flanges
(1) Greddy Type RS knockoff Blow Off Valve
(1) 2.5" Type RS Blow Off Valve Tube Adaptor
(1) T3 Inlet Flange
(1) 5 Bolt Downpipe Flange
(1) Oil Feed/Return Kit - 1/8NPT Feed and -10AN Return
(1) 2.75"-2.5" 90° Coupler (Into Throttle Body)
(1) 2"-2.5" Coupler (Turbo to Piping)
(1) 2 FT of 2.5" Piping

 

Is it still running good? Have you had any issues so far? How about your transmission, how has that held up? Nice build by the way!!! I'm wanting to do this to my 96 ZJ

 

Stills runs great. Put on around 6800 miles on it before it got parked for winter. (Weird I know). The transmission holds for WOT pulls in 1st and 3rd but any other time it slips pretty bad when you try and give it too much gas. After having 240K+ it was kind of expected.

As far as I know, you should be able to do pretty much what I did to your ZJ. The engine bays are pretty similar from what I have seen. Feel free to ask any questions!

 

Ya, you would think something would have too give when adding forced induction to something with that many miles! I think I might have too figure out a different way to mount the turbo and run the exhaust, my A/C is set up just a little bit different than your cherokee.. How was your fuel mileage after putting on the turbo?

 

Yeah I knew the risk but eh, trannys are like $100 from a yard.

A/C could give you some space issues.

Mileage was around 11-13 depending on how much fun I felt like having that day
Worst I had gotten was 8.4 and that was mostly in 4 Hi pulling trees around the yard.

 

i have a FMIC here for you!!!!

 

I also have AN hose for you! I'll stop by after work this week sometime.

 

This will be the last update for the XJ as it has long been retired. Here she is as she sits as of last winter.





Super rusty rear uniframe rails were causing the rear end to shift as I was driving down the road so it is retired. I will be throwing up a new build thread for my latest project soon.

 

I am sad to see this turbo xj retire! I am getting ready to copy exactly what you did...

 

I was sad to park it but it just wasn't safe anymore. The turbo kit is now living on in another Cherokee of a member of the local Jeep club around here and he is enjoying it.

 

Well that is good at least it is still being put to use. Did you notice an increase in engine power when you had yours?
I am becoming serious putting on a turbo for my '87 jeep wagoneer 4.0L. I have a pretty solid idea on what materials I need from your parts list you created, and setting it up. I will have a welder to build an up-pipe and down pipe. I have a few questions now and some down the road as well. Which dealer from ebay did you buy your .5 trim turbo from? also do you suggest any other improvements you have made since the initial setup? I was thinking maybe adding a fuel management system from split second in the system. I am excited and would like to hear your tips and advice.

 

The turbo I ordered from Ilovetacotaco on Ebay.

One of the things we ran into when I put this setup on a '99 was that the MAP sensor was getting all kinds of freaky. 505 Performance sells a MAP sensor bypass that they recommend for all stock ECUs running a turbo or supercharger.

They also recommended we run a step colder spark plug and 27 lb injectors. You would have to do some searching to find some injectors that would work with the old Renix style injection system you have in your wagoneer.

I can't really say about the Slit Second system as I have never run one and haven't heard of one being run on the old Renix system either. I'm sure it is possible to wire it in successfully but I can't really help too much on that front. One option that is a little more involved would be to convert over to a Megasquirt. It is a full standalone system that gives you full reign over the brains of the engine.

 

Awesome, I have already swapped my injectors to 4 hole volvo's 746's at 19lbs... I may just increase the fuel pressure by 5-8psi to compensate for larger injectors. It may not be enough but it will have excellent atomization. I know the stock map sensor can't read high pressure so I will go down that route for now. I want to confirm, it is a .57 compressor wheel trim/ 50 AR compressor housing with a .63 A/R turbine will be the correct size for the 4.0L? Thank you for all of the help so far man!

 

Gotcha. You should be alright with the injectors.

As for the turbo,
◾Compressor Specs :
3" Compressor Inlet
2.130" Inducer
2.755" Major
T04B/T4 Type Compressor Housing
2" Compressor Outlet
Compressor .49 A.R.
Compressor .50 Trim
8 Blade Type T4 Compressor Wheel

◾Turbine Specs :
T3 Type Turbine flange
T3 5 bolt flange
Turbine .63 A.R.
2.205" Minor and 2.570" Major Propeller
T3 Turbine Housing
2.274" Outlet
12 Blade Type Turbine

That turbo is recommended for 1.6-2.3L engines making 150-400 horsepower. I chose it because it had good spool up and I wasn't looking for peaky numbers. I was trying to make more power lower in the RPM range since I used the truck for rock crawling.

Glad I can help man. Let me know if you have any more questions.

 

Yeah 2 more for now and i should be good till i get the parts. From looking at your pictures closely, i noticed there is a blue hose from your blow off valve to the front your intake manifold for vacuum pressure. With my renix the intake manifold is a little different, and I got the IAT sensor in the back of the manifold, and two in the front, first one is a ccv coming from the engine valve cover and the second one is a vacuum line to the fuel pressure regulator and the other two are busted (it has been like that for a long time). My question is did you remove the IAT sensor and relocate it somewhere else on the intake system and put the BOV vacuum line there? Next question was I saw a red box by where the old A/C compressor on it and it says 34mm on it, what is that thing?

 

I will have to take a look at my Renix manifold in my Comanche tomorrow. On the 96 manifold that fitting was just capped off before I put the turbo on it. I don't remember off the top of my head messing with the IAT sensor. In fact, I don't remember seeing one at all when I was working on it. I will take a look and let you know.

That little red "box" with the 34mm on it is a water temp sensor adapter I had put inline with my upper radiator hose for my Temp Gauge. I had the dummy gauge cluster in this one so I at least wanted to know how hot it was running.

 

Sounds good, Thank you!! there was a good write up on dino's jeep website that recommends the intake air temp sensor should be moved from the intake manifold to the intake box since the manifold heats up from the exhaust manifold. If I do this it will open a spot up and find a coupler from the hardware store to put in for the BOV vacuum.

 

No problem! I also took a look and noticed that my IAT sensor was already moved to my airbox by the previous owner. I never hooked it up after I pulled the airbox. Still ran like a top.

Sounds like you've got some good resources available. Good luck!

 

Oh man that is incredible that it still ran like a top. I wonder if IAT will help more or less!? . I guess we will see haha! I am trying to get on the trail as much as possible before it snows here in colorado so I will not be starting this project until I have some down time. I do have good resources available, and there are many preparations I need to make do first, I need a Tig welder, close up that preheater vent on the exhaust manifold (i got that dumb hose that connects from that to the airbox) and possibly upgrade the fuel system first like you did. I will attempt a DIY adjusting fuel regulator first and see if that works but if not I will go down that route.