232 3.8L engine replacement

Well, just picked up Oh Poop! Grand-son (3 yrs) says thats the color of my CJ5. Anyway. Checked the compression and these are the results #1 - 125, 130, 135, 140, 130, 135. The book says 140 is spec or within 10% of spec. The engine runs pretty good - don't see any smoke except at start up. Believe that's just gas (heck I get that myself in the morning!). Sending it to the shop for a tune-up, oil change and a check-up. But, wondering what it would the ball park cost be to replace the engine with another 232? Thanks

 

You might want to consider upgrading to a 258 for virtually the same cost and a little more grunt. It sounds like your 232 still has quite a bit of life left in it, so maybe you should just keep motorin'. BTW, I just joined this forum a few days ago and LOVE it. I don't have any immediate issues to address at the moment, but I'm sure I will in the future. I'm just enjoying reading all the postings on Jeeps just like mine. Keep up the great work. Later.

 

When you decide to replace the 258 is a direct bolt in replacement. more HP and lots more torque.

 

Yeah, the compression numbers look fine to me. Evenness is more important than the actual value, within reason. The average is 133 and all the values are well within 10% of that. Try running your compression check again after adding about a teaspoonful of motor oil to each cylinder through the spark plug hole. If the compression values increase, that indicates worn rings.

I'd just drive it. If you were thinking you'd have a noticible improvemnt in power by rebuilding or replacing that engine, I doubt it. It's not that worn. If you want a new engine, get a 258 not a 232. They are the same except for their crank stroke, and the 258 will be a noticable improvement in power.

Congratulations - enjoy your new Jeep!

 

Thanks for the information. I'm turning Oh Poop in to my mech on Monday. We'll see what he says. Just ordered a bunch of knobs, speedometer, and other bits and pieces. Over all, it looks like a little TLC and I'm done.

 

I have seen engines run good for a long time on 90 psi and some not run worth a hoot on 100psi (book says 140 good for them) 120 is a great number on a old, well used engine. If you start to get different temps off different cylinders or big differences in compression then you have a problem. Also put a timing light on it, if it bounces around a lot then you will have a problem.