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New Postal Powertrain Plan - turbo/manifold & HP Tuners JTEC support or Megasquirt

bigwalton

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So I've had a plan for the postal forever to do a stroker motor as the long-term "final" powerplant. That's why I swapped the 4L in, so going to the stroker became just a simple motor swap.

However, the taste of forced induction that I got with the supercharger on the LJ really opened my eyes. Unfortunately, they never could get the tuning right and (as I now know) they had a flawed design trying to use the stock IAT sensor after the intercooler that caused it to run way too rich on road/highway. I ended up pulling that off (and the company stopped selling them due to tuning issues like mine) and I lamented the fact that there were no practical tuning methods for the late-model TJ/LJ ECU to try to properly tune that setup.

Well, a couple things came to my attention today. Boostwerks Engineering has finally got their cast turbo 4L manifold through production AND HP Tuners just recently announced support for tuning these ECUs.
_1__Boostwerks_Engineering_-_Posts.jpg hp_tuners_-_Facebook_Search.jpg

This is a GAME CHANGER for 4.0L owners (particularly the HP Tuners news). There's been what I'd call "brute force" supercharger/turbocharger setups with piggyback controllers on the ECU, but that's never the "right" way to do things. The whole reason I gave the supercharger on the LJ a shot is because they sold me on the idea that they had come up with a way to properly burn tunes on the ECU that made everything work the right way.

HP Tuners is the gold standard for tuning engines, naturally aspirated and forced induction. I have a good friend locally that is an HP Tuners guru and he actually wished he could work on the LJ for me, but there was nothing HP Tuners could do...

So now I'm ALL ABOUT going with a basic, solid 4.0L as a base, adding this manifold, a turbo and tuning with HP tuners to a nice, healthy, but not obscene HP. Lots of choices to make but I love this idea with a nice, small turbo that spools quickly. Possibly could use the Edelbrock 4.0L head for better flow, but I don't even know if that's really necessary.

Obviously I could build a 4.0 to handle more boost and make bigger power, but I actually like the idea of keeping the block and guts stock because that will force me to limit the power I try to make. Boostwerks owner has been running an XJ (with a fabricated manifold that led to this cast iron unit) at 300 HP for 50k miles as a daily driver with a stock 99 4.0. I think the 4.0 is overbuilt sufficiently to handle a lot of additional power.

There's also a comment on the Boostwerks manifold post that Megasquirt is planning to develop their standalone EFI controller specifically for the Jeep 4.0L. THAT is another fascinating possibility.

Anyway, my mind has been reeling since seeing all of this earlier this morning. Figured it would be worth a share.

And the "just LS Swap" it guys can save it, this one is staying Jeep ;)
 

CJ7Pilot

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I hope you give this a try! I'm a big fan of turbocharging, and it would be great to see a straight forward, reliable retrofit to a normally aspirated engine, that could be installed at home. :thumbsup:
 

bigwalton

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I hope you give this a try! I'm a big fan of turbocharging, and it would be great to see a straight forward, reliable retrofit to a normally aspirated engine, that could be installed at home. :thumbsup:

That's precisely why I tried the LJ's supercharger. It was a VERY smart mechanical package that was quite easy to install in a long day/weekend. Relative to any other option to get that kind of extra power, it was awesome.

If I had the ability to just take the Jeep to my buddy and just pay him for his time and the HP Tuner credit for the software, I'm 100% positive I'd still be rocking that setup today. It was ALL in the damn tuning issues. He would have been able to actually see the problem that the IAT sensor was causing at higher speeds/temperatures in addition to taking care of all fine tuning needed to correct the maps :banghead: (I actually debated selling that setup off because I thought that someone may eventually figure out how to tune these things and I'd want to put it back on and do it right... oh well.)
 
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bigwalton

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Note that we're not talking about this happening any time soon. I'm nowhere near the point where I could go down this path, but I've always had the stroker in my head as the ultimate setup and that's now changed. Figured there may be others out there that would be interested in this option.

Realistically there's nothing at all saying you couldn't do a stroker AND a turbo now that you'd have the ability to use HP Tuners but I simply have no need to make that kind of power.
 

designerRob

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I always wondered what happened with all of the 4.0 superchargers that use to be available, and why.

I think that's great that the 4.0 will have that option again even though it will be a bunch of $. I think the previous setups we're at least $4k.

I will just say that I love the power of my Golen stroker. I think it's rated at around 270hp & 315 torque. And with my setup I feel that it has plenty of power for me. But, I don't pull a trailer or run 35s, or carry a postal top. So, I would think for something like this the turbocharged stroker would be killer! ? Looking forward to following this development.
 
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bigwalton

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I always wondered what happened with all of the 4.0 superchargers that use to be available, and why.

I think that's great that the 4.0 will have that option again even though it will be a bunch of $. I think the previous setups we're at least $4k.

I will just say that I love the power of my Golen stroker. I think it's rated at around 270hp & 315 torque. And with my setup I feel that it has plenty of power for me. But, I don't pull a trailer or run 35s, or carry a postal top. So, I would think for something like this the supercharged stroker would be killer! ? Looking forward to following this development.

I don’t think I knew you were running a stroker. I’d love to get a ride in that rig.
What EFI setup is it?
 

HighSierra CJ

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I always wondered what happened with all of the 4.0 superchargers that use to be available, and why.

I think that's great that the 4.0 will have that option again even though it will be a bunch of $. I think the previous setups we're at least $4k.

I will just say that I love the power of my Golen stroker. I think it's rated at around 270hp & 315 torque. And with my setup I feel that it has plenty of power for me. But, I don't pull a trailer or run 35s, or carry a postal top. So, I would think for something like this the supercharged stroker would be killer! ? Looking forward to following this development.
I am also running a Golan 4.6 stroker. It’s topped with a Mopar fuel injection set up. I can’t say enough about it. Plenty of power, plenty of torque. I am running 31’s, 4:10’s TF-999 lock up trans, soft top.

Supercharger sounds fricken awesome.
 

bigwalton

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I am also running a Golan 4.6 stroker. It’s topped with a Mopar fuel injection set up. I can’t say enough about it. Plenty of power, plenty of torque. I am running 31’s, 4:10’s TF-999 lock up trans, soft top.

Supercharger sounds fricken awesome.

Turbocharger, but yeah. Plenty of time to come up with another plan and change my mind again :rotfl:
 

bigwalton

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Turbo is the way to go, as long as you don't tune for the Snap Crackle and Pop.

did you read the article? It actually cites the reason for it in turbocharged engines. :shrug:

All I’d care about is getting a solid tune to do what I want. Whatever happens from there is irrelevant. I wouldn’t be trying to wring every last HP out of my setup, I just want it solid and driveable. That’s why I think I’d just stick with a solid stock 4.0 and not a built-for-turbo block.

My analogous engine would be any stock turbo diesel pickup. I just want solid, reliable performance.
 

ag4ever

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There's also a comment on the Boostwerks manifold post that Megasquirt is planning to develop their standalone EFI controller specifically for the Jeep 4.0L. THAT is another fascinating possibility.

This is very exciting!

I have been wanting to do a megasquirt controller, but never like the fact the microsquirt did not have enough channels to be sequential efi and you would need to run batch fire. The next option was to build a megasquirt, but that did not seem great for a 4x4. Then to get the sealed megasquirt computer you had to go with the double throwdown race setup. Just not good options, but a dedicated 4.0 computer would be awesome!
 

ag4ever

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did you read the article? It actually cites the reason for it in turbocharged engines. :shrug:

All I’d care about is getting a solid tune to do what I want. Whatever happens from there is irrelevant. I wouldn’t be trying to wring every last HP out of my setup, I just want it solid and driveable. That’s why I think I’d just stick with a solid stock 4.0 and not a built-for-turbo block.

My analogous engine would be any stock turbo diesel pickup. I just want solid, reliable performance.

Yup, just dont think you need to be dumping fuel in the exhaust on a trail rig to keep boost up. Plus I personally think it sounds boy racerish. For my trucks & SUVs I want as quite as possible. One of the reasons I use a golf cart for running around my hunting lease. Sometime quite is priceless.

For a track car, yes, very appropriate.
 

bigwalton

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Yup, just dont think you need to be dumping fuel in the exhaust on a trail rig to keep boost up. Plus I personally think it sounds boy racerish. For my trucks & SUVs I want as quite as possible. One of the reasons I use a golf cart for running around my hunting lease. Sometime quite is priceless.

For a track car, yes, very appropriate.

I don’t care, whatever drives best. If it makes it more drivable around town, snap pop it is.
 

93_Fummins

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:popcorn:

Interested to watch this progress. Someone on here local to me put a bug in my ear to start investigating Vortec 4200s (Atlas I-6) out of Trailblazers and toss a little whirly boi and some HP tuners at it for a smooth 400hp, but a turbo stroker OEM Jeep mill sounds like a lot of fun too.
 

tower210

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:popcorn:

Interested to watch this progress. Someone on here local to me put a bug in my ear to start investigating Vortec 4200s (Atlas I-6) out of Trailblazers and toss a little whirly boi and some HP tuners at it for a smooth 400hp, but a turbo stroker OEM Jeep mill sounds like a lot of fun too.
Never even heard of a turbo vortex 4200 swap before this.......
 

bigwalton

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:popcorn:

Interested to watch this progress. Someone on here local to me put a bug in my ear to start investigating Vortec 4200s (Atlas I-6) out of Trailblazers and toss a little whirly boi and some HP tuners at it for a smooth 400hp, but a turbo stroker OEM Jeep mill sounds like a lot of fun too.

To be clear, this isn’t really a build thread and I won’t be doing it any time soon. Just found these two pieces of the puzzle on the same day and thought it was worth a share. And I do not plan on a turbo stroker, but I think you’re saying that may be how you’d go...
 

Ron84cj

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I just came across this. If you are building a stroker, plus an aftermarket head, plus the turbo set up, at that point financially it just makes more sense for a V8 of some sort. But a turbo on a stock ish 4.0L, now that would be cool to see. Maybe I missed it, when do you plan on diving into it?
 

spankrjs

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The only thing that concerns me about adding a turbo to one of my sixes - I am already battling high under hood temperatures down here in the summer. I am fairly confident a turbo will not help matters :banghead:
 
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