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Making the I6 motor last

1K views 19 replies 16 participants last post by  solarpower 
#1 ·
I've read posts on here that say the I6 in my 99 Wrangler is indestructible IF YOU TAKE CARE OF IT. I drive mine on the weekends, change the oil and filters religiously , hardly ever go over 55 MPH, NEVER put it in mud or a situation that requires I dog it to get out of said situation. In other words I baby this thing.

Is there anything else I could or should be doing to make this engine last? I plan on keeping it forever.

Thanks,

Chris
 
#2 ·
Babying an engine can be just as bad as pounding the piss out of it. You have to put your foot in it now and then to blow out the carbon build up.

You're on a good start doing your fluid changes religiously, just use a quality filter and oil, and change between 3-5k (preferences differ but all usually fall into this category, except for the synthetic guys).

Some people will call it snake oil, but through in a fuel system cleaner once or twice a year.

Just my 2 cents.

Patrick
 
#4 ·
You should take it out on the highway for a drive every once in awhile. Highway driving is one of the less harmful things that you can do to the engine. Its not stop and go and keeps the engine at operating temp to burn off any water produced from combustion. Rev the engine up past 3k every now and then. This gets the valves spinning to throw off and carbon desposits.

Every notice that the cars "grandma" drives are the ones that have issues. I would never buy one. The short trips are the worst thing for an enigne. It doesn't get up to operating temp long enough. I would much rather buy a vehicle with primarily highway miles than around town miles.
 
#5 ·
The I-6 is well respected for it's toughness- but no matter how well you drive it- you will not be free of it's (seemingly) inherent shortcomings. The other gnome you will contend with is problems with pollution controls that will affect the performance of the engine. Drive it like you would any other car.
What I like best is getting on it at a light and feel that seat pressure and looking in the mirror at the traffic you left behind.:)
 
#6 ·
And why did you by a jeep if you don't wheel it or go over 55 Mph?

Don't tell me it has ground effects on it.. lol
 
#7 ·
Unscathed said:
And why did you by a jeep if you don't wheel it or go over 55 Mph?

Don't tell me it has ground effects on it.. lol
He didn't say he didn't wheel it, he just said he avoids mud and tough obstacles... At least thats how I read it. :cheers2:
 
#9 ·
Agreed with what everyone said here.

The I-6 is a hearty engine that needs to run at higher RPMs.... at least once every week or so I'll leave it in too low a gear and run for a litlte while at a high RPM (not redline or anything) just to get it to cough up any deposits. Don't be afraid to get on it at a light occasionally and agreed with those who said a good highway drive is great for an engine. :)
 
#13 ·
RockRunner85 said:
Every notice that the cars "grandma" drives are the ones that have issues.
For sure. You can always give it the ghetto tune up and bring it back to life (drive the living piss out of it for a couple days). You should take it to redline at least a couple times a week, or every day in my case.
 
#15 ·
ccbiggz said:
I've read posts on here that say the I6 in my 99 Wrangler is indestructible IF YOU TAKE CARE OF IT. I drive mine on the weekends, change the oil and filters religiously , hardly ever go over 55 MPH, NEVER put it in mud or a situation that requires I dog it to get out of said situation. In other words I baby this thing.
That all sounds good Chris but seriously, don't baby it too much for this reason... driven too conservatively, the combustion chambers will load up with carbon which can cause pinging or detonation which can harm the engine. Regularly rev it up to high RPMs with fairly hard acceleration which will help keep the combustion chambers carbon free. :)
 
#17 ·
TJ driver said:
Governed to 96 mph? I've got past that with out too much effort. I won't say how much over
Not sure how. Mine cuts out at 92MPH. Yeah that was dumb to do, but it was an open stretch and I just wanted to open it up once. Scared the crap out of me when the injectors cut out as the Jeep is basically a rolling brick and it slowed down so fast.
 
#20 ·
I believe that there is a speed limiter on 2002 or2003 and up, I know the Rubicons have it, so I'm assuming that they "added" it when the did the final changes on the TJ's run.

and do what everyone has stated, got to run it up every once in a while to keep it strong. NOT WITH SPEED...RPMS is what you want. Speed in Jeeps kill.
 
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