4g54 swap with a 4g64 easy or not?

[dhandy]

Hey, this is my first threat on here. I am curious as to how difficult it would be to swap a 4g64 2.4L fuel injected motor over into a 4g54 carb motor? Basically I just got a heck of a deal on a 88 Dodge D50 with bad motor. I already have a 94 Mightymax with good motor. Both are 5 speed manual. They Dodge is 4x4, the mighty max 2x4. Dodge had the 2.6, mighty max the 2.4. How much trouble would it be to put the 94 motor in the 88 truck. Is it more trouble than its worth and I should consider other alternatives, or is it relatively easy? thx

[Merrill]

I comes out in about 30 minutes. You can take all the electrical and wiring with it... just swap it over.

Easy is a point of view. Hard to say if it is easy for you to do.

[dhandy]

Hey, thx for the info. Good point on the easy part. lol I am relative mechanically inclined, but have a handful of friends who are really good. However, I'm getting mixed reviews from them. The area for them gets gray on switching the wiring, computer, etc. Most of these guys are chevy/ford, etc guys. No problems with motor swap, just uncertain on amount of time, etc on wiring switch over. Some of them say probably no big deal, others say stay away from it and go with a rebuild, etc. So all of them suggested sites like this to get thoughts from guys who have done the swap from carb to fuell injection on mitsu/dodge. Any thoughts on how much wiring, electronics, etc has to be switched or how difficult to get to, etc? Thx again for post

[Redneckmoparman]

the harness' are pretty easy to swap out, but youll have to do pretty much bumper to bumper wiring, and swap over the fuel system. idk about the differences with the 4x4 wiring, if any though. worst case you wouldnt have an indicator that it is in 4x4 and would have to wire in a manual switch if there is a solenoid for the front end

[Merrill]

I'm not talking down about your friends' abilities or anything, but if they can't figure out how to unplug a wiring harness, then plug it back in on a different vehicle,you may want to re-think their abilities :lol:

Just unplug it, take it out, put it back in the same spot on the other truck, plug it all back in, and drive. Chevy's and Ford's have wiring harnesses as well. The fact that it has an ECU means little.... just unplug it, and plug it back in on the new truck lol

[Yoshiwarrior]

I recently found an 88 macro cab. Which I wanted anyways for cheap as parts truck. The motor in that one has been siezed up. It's got the 2.6L 4x4 in it. And I've got the 4g64 in my truck. Just not sure of it's worth the long travel to get this parts truck. If it's an easy swap like you say, I think it'd be worth it to have the extra cap space, since I am a tall guy. Plus the 4x4 would excellent for the winters where I live. When you say you have to do bumper to bumper wiring, why can't you keep the old harness?

[geezer101]

The 4G64 has a completely different wiring harness due to the 4G54 not having EFI. Fuel pump, ECU, relays...

[Yoshiwarrior]

Ahh, ok. That's nothing I want to get into. What if it did have the EFI and 4x4. How hard is that?

[pennyman1]

pretty much plug and play then, depending on year. 1990 was the first year efi and is different that the rest of the years efi.

[mikec96]

If you are going to do it... Take everything out of the newer truck. fuel tank lines, wiring (yes, all of it) and move it over, it will make things that much easier. It wont be that hard but there will be one thing that will need to be modified regardless. The oil pan on the 4g64 does not have the clearance for the front diff so you will need to cut the pan and weld in something to hold the oil in. ... I just finished doing this very thing on my 87 d50 only I didn't have a newer truck to pull stuff from so some thing like my fuel pump and lines are all custom in the truck.

[d50Lewis]

I put a 92 4g64 in a 80D50. everything fit perfect, motor mounts, fan shroud on radiator, even the drive shift fit the 92 trans. 5speed. The wiring took me a week to make everything work together. Lots of solder and heat shrink tubing. had wiring diagrams for both. put fuel pump in tank, works great. I now have about 300,000 on it. I had the motor, trans and wiring harness, everything. I think the oil pan is different on the 4x4.

[dash]

sounds like a good candidate for project thread, and a wiring info would be helpful