Post by ES_97Sport on Mar 17, 2017 14:40:27 GMT -5
Yes, it does.
Given how my big '97 Sport does weighing in at 6000lbs+, I can't imagine the 3.5L in M/T (and with a proper 3.5L ECM) in stock form. That would be a zippy vehicle. 
The 3.5L came in the '90s Montero and later ('99+) the Montero Sports. The Montero Sport 3.5L only came with the A/T, and then ONLY the gen 2 A/T, not the Mitsubishi version of the Cherokee AW4. Which ALSO sucks.
A gen 1 3.5L already mated to the AW4 would be a much, MUCH better vehicle than the Cherokee ever was (even in stock form) and just as modifiable. Had Mitsu had some forsight - yea, I know, Heaven forbid - they could have stomped the crap out of the Jeep Cherokee and Grand Cherokee.I'm not absolutely 100% sure, but I don't think the 3.5L was ever mated to the M/T in the Montero. If I remember correctly the 3.0L was as high as they went.
That said, as noted above, the 3.0L and 3.5L are dimensionally almost identical engines. The Mitsu V5MT1 - the TRUCK Mitsu transmission, not the earlier CAR M/T which was a POS - can easily be mated to the 3.5L. The only gotcha is the engine backing plate - the sheet metal plate that goes between the engine and transmission bell housing. The M/T plate doesn't fit the 3.5L. The 3.5L A/T plate leaves a tiny gap on the lower DR side and a 3" tab of sheet metal has to be trimmed off to allow the clutch slave cylinder to mount flush to the bell housing as it does on the M/T. (This BTW is something the tech and I just solved last week) Anyway, anyone with access to a laser table could CAD up and cut a correct plate easily. Now that I know what's what, I'm going to have a couple cut so the correct plate can go in next transmission swap. Otherwise, depending on the year of the engine and the year of the vehicle, motor mounts may need to be modified. Seriously? Its - REALLY - NOT rocket surgery.
The two major issues and one really minor issue is the ECM and transfer case, and the injectors.
Like I noted above the 3.5L is a totally different geometry, which requires different values in the ECM - specifically timing. The 3.5L WILL run on the 3.0L M/T ECM, so presumably the 3.5L will ALSO run on the 3.0L A/T ECM. But there are cooling issues. I got mine to the point where it runs fine in town on the dual electric Contour fans with the stock radiator but I don't know if that'll work when the temps start climbing above 70F, especially off road. However, I did have a HUGE griffon radiator custom built and it DOES work with that both on and off road even in 100F+ temps in UT. This isn't a cure, its a band-aid. A custom tuned ECM or piggy back like the MegaSquirt would fix this problem but could cause emissions test issues.
A guy posted years ago on the 3.5L swap in cars that the fuel injectors need to be changed. The 3.5L injectors need to be swapped for the 3.0L injectors. I did this last summer and that cleared up a 'rich' issue I was having. I haven't seen any issues with that. Passes CO emissions with flying colors.
The major MAJOR issue has nothing to do with the engine swap. The huge problem is that there isn't a transfer case that will mount to the V5MT1 M/T, except for the gen 1 Mitsu 1.92:1 t-case. While the t-case is sound and will take the abuse, the ratio is crap. If you're stuck with the Mitsu t-case, that makes the entire conversion kinda pointless IMHO, unless you're building a purely street vehicle. In which case you might as well buy a 3.5L vehicle and be done with it. It is possible to build an adapter for the Mitsu M/T to the Jeep NP231 pattern (and other's I'm sure), and all the measurments necessary are on my web site, but its not trivial even for an experienced machinist, and to have someone actually do it for you could run upwards of $15K.
Edward
