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Got screwed on a motor.

4K views 26 replies 14 participants last post by  prjohnson 
#1 ·
Picked up a used motor today for My TJ. Been talking to the guy for the last week about a 2000 TJ motor that would drop right into My rig and plug and play. At one point in our messaging, He said it was a 2002. Which would work fine. When I got to his house today, the motor was on a stand outside of his garage waiting for Me to get there. First thing I noticed,,,, distributor!!! I asked him wtf. He said, He took coil packs off and installed distributor to work on a 1998 TJ. He had several Jeeps and seemed like He knew what He was doing so I let that go in one ear and out the other. Loaded it up in the back of My truck and strapped it down. Right about then He said something about Cherokee!!!! I looked at Him and said (Is this a Wrangler motor or Cherokee?) He quickly said Wrangler. Paid Him and headed home (3 hours away). I had a bad feeling about the motor. Got all the way home, drove out to My shop and compared My old motor to the new used one. Not the same. I tried calling Him up but of coarse, He wont answer. Anyhow, according to the casting numbers, its a 98. Not sure if its a Wrangler or Cherokee motor.
 
#2 ·
By the way, this is going into My new to Me, 2000 TJ. What I need to know, now that Im cooled off a little. Can I take the top end, intake, and exhaust off My 2000 motor and transfer them to the 98' motor? Or I could put it on craigslist, advertised correctly (Cherokee Motor). This really sucks, driving that far to get screwed from a fellow Jeeper.
 
#7 ·
This was just wrong on so many levels, but funny none-the-less... :laugh:

OP,

That sucks big time. I have nothing to offer but condolenses as I am not to keen on motor repairs. I hope you do get a hold of that bass tard, or at least figure out some stuff to use off of it.

Good luck!
 
#4 ·
wow that's harsh not the house burning down but driving 6 hours and droppin coin for nothin I believe another 6 hour trip would be in order that would be an expensive engine sale for him if he wouldn't pony up a refund plus gas

I'm just saying...
 
#6 ·
So you have been talking to this guy how do you know him? Did you answer an ad off craigslist? Do you have a copy of the craigslist ad saying the year / model of the donor car you're supposed to receive? If you have it in writing you can easily take him to court for a bait and switch. If you met this guy because you know a guy who told you to talk to this guy....and it was all verbal it will be much harder. Even a text message would help. Don't just accept getting screwed time to make it right. Frankly you had enough warning signs to not trust this guy but should either get your money back or the motor you're supposed to have.
 
#9 ·
It wasnt on craigslist. I put a wanted add on greatlakes4x4.com. He pm'd Me and said he had a 2000 wrangler motor with 98,000 on it. He goes by sandmaster. I read his reviews and out of 37 of them, only two were bad, and they were back in 2008. Maybe its a sign, "put a v-8 in it dummy".
 
#18 ·
ask around on gl4x4 politely. he will most likely be "pressured" into making it right. im on there alot. we frown on shady deals, bad dealers are often treated pretty harshly! i buy tons of parts off there, never had an issue.

yes, you can swap most any part from engine to engine.
most likely, if the engine is good, it can be made to work.

sorry for your luck! that really blows!
 
#10 ·
XJ, ZJ and early TJ engine blocks interchange, until you have a 2000+ TJ.

TJ/WJ 4.0L Engine blocks underwent clean sheet design changes effective in the 1999 WJ Grand and 2000 TJ Wrangler. These blocks are not interchangeable with XJ/ZJ engine blocks. The reason is motor mount bolt holes and belt driven accessory mounting bolt holes are in different locations, or not present at all, TJ/WJ vs. XJ/ZJ.

Dude must not have a membership on JeepForum.
 
#14 ·
#15 ·
Why couldnt I have seen this info before I handed him My hard earned money. I PM'd him on greatlakes and told him I wanted My money back. I also told him I had'nt filed out his feedback yet but I was going too. Hoping that might trigger him to make it right before I rat him out.
 
#26 · (Edited)
Got banned! My bad...



Haha, yeah I got banned till the 9th. Made This profile today to say good bye. I'm not worried, I actually prefer wrangler forum over jeep forum, better picture uploading and better Mobil app. There's some good dudes here. But if the mods are gonna freak out over a popular funny internet pic... oh well. Any other forum would just remove the post if they had an issue with it. Then a mod sending me a message telling me to "Think about what you've done" HAHA, are you my mother, is this time out? LOL! Sorry I posted a pic of your old lady...get over it!

Later guys, see you over at wranglerforum

Best wishes
NH-JK
 
#23 ·
Sandmaster has agree'd to give Me My money back. Im going down there this evening. 3+ hour drive. Further inspection this morning, the block is broke where the driverside motor mount bolts to it. He had a piece of plate bolted between the mount and the block so I couldnt see it. He did tell Me the mount was messed up, thats why the plate was there. He made it sound like all I had to do was use the mount off My old motor.
 
#24 ·
Jeez, what an *******. I hope he's actually there to give you your money. How is this guy not banned from that forum? Be sure to give him a poor rating to make others stay away.

I have had success locating parts through car-part.com and Junkyarddog.com. I believe the latter is how I found the 4.0L for my Jeep, but it's been a while since I've used that site.
 
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