Katherinego

Indeed they have. It's much much worse. Broken valve spring and mangled push rod.

PatHenry

I had a broken valve spring on a 00 Jeep - it wasn't a cheap fix but didn't spell doom.

Did the shop say if metal bits got into the cylinders or oil or not? If the engine block is still good, it might be worth it to put a new clearwater head on it.

If you want to sell it, you'll get some money for it - probably about enough to cover the shop bill for what you already had done. The best bet is to look at your local craigslist type site and find what the prevailing price for an XJ with a bad engine goes for. Ask for the average price if you want to maximize money, sell lower to move it quickly.

You aught to get at least a few hundred for it.

PatHenry

My advice would be to put a clearwater head on it (do NOT reinstall the old one even if the shop wants to repair it) if the engine block is ok - even if it's the book value. A clean XJ that you owned from new is worth more than a book value.

Katherinego

They don't know where the other parts are without removing the head. He said labor only to R&R the head is $800. Not counting seals & fluids.

Also more $$ to replace all push rods and springs. And whatever else has gone wrong.

new head with shipping: ~600
labor to r & r head: ~800
valve springs ~20 each: ~240
push rods & stuff: ~70
more labor and stuff: ~800

Comes up to ~$2500 if lucky.

In the last week a tree fell on my deck, my furnace went out, and now the jeep is down. Has not been a good holiday season. The way my house and driveway are setup, I don't even have a way for a tow truck to get it in here. Anyway, thanks for listening, and sorry to take this thread off track.

PatHenry

Oh no worries - sorry to hear about the recent misfortunes.

Well, I suppose that if they haven't taken the head off, you may not be in so deep that the sale price of the Jeep with engine issues is just enough to cover the diagnostic labor.

It's interesting that they can't tell you whether the missing parts fell into the engine or not. I would think that it would be a pretty easy question to answer and something that could be determined with an inspection camera.

Why would you NEED to replace all the valve springs?

What I would do if I were you is to create a new thread and ask if anyone can tell you what parts/clips etc. that COULD have fallen into the combustion chamber of the engine and if it's legitimate that they couldn't tell you if the block is good. It seems fishy to me that if it's whole parts that are MIA, that there isn't a way to inspect or use a magnet without pulling the head.
I would also ask if replacing a pushrod and spring is feasible without pulling the head.

There are guys on this forum that are seasoned pros and veteran amateurs that are very familiar with the I6 4.0L engine and will know the answers to these questions.

I can tell you that when I had a valve spring break - it was only the valve spring, no push rods were replaced, that I was able to get the single spring replaced for a few hundred in labor. The engine was a 00 with the original head. After the replacement the engine ran beautifully for another 60k miles of daily driving and still runs smooth as butter today with 302k miles on it.

I'm worried you're being taken for a ride by the shop - but if you start a new thread specific to your issues you will get a lot of good answers and expert advice very quickly so you can know what you're dealing with. Things might not be as bad as it seems.

third coast

The biggest concern that I would have is if damage was done to the piston associated with the broken spring. When the spring broke I believe that valve would have dropped down into the combustion chamber and been hit by the piston. I don’t have firsthand experience with that failure in this engine but the piston may have survived just fine. As mentioned, a view inside the combustion chamber with an inspection camera should answer that. It is relatively easy via the spark plug hole. If the piston is damaged I would stop work there as the bill is going to be much more than you are going to want to incur.

It is possible that the valve retainer clips fell down one of the oil passages into the engine block or are still stuck in a head passage. That may not be terrible if they made it to the oil pan or got stuck in one of the passages. I doubt they got somewhere where they did any real damage but it is always possible.

I don’t recall you stated how many miles are on the engine, if it uses any oil or has other issues. If the engine appears intact and healthy other than the valve/spring/pushrod damage a good option would be a refurbished TUPY casting head. The refurbished head should come with all the valves, springs and related hardware. It is all used hardware however, but the price is more attractive and a viable option if from a good head rebuilder. A new set of pushrods is inexpensive. This approach solves two issues – replacing damaged valve train hardware and eliminating the poor head casting. Currently Windy City Engineering has a refurbished TUPY casting head listed on eBay for $350 + less than $100 for shipping. (see earlier info on them in this thread) Best bet would be to call them directly at 773-721-7373 and see what they can do for you. You might get a bit better price going directly, or find something locally. Windy City is located in Chicago. I got a refurbished head from them and so far no problems. https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-0L-JEEP-T...UAAOSwoX5azO3z

At this point you will want to assess your emotional attachment to the Jeep, its overall condition and if you want to chance the repair. More damage could be found as a shop gets into it or the shop could do a poor job and more issues will occur later. Depending on year/options/condition your Jeep in the Pacific NW in good running condition could be worth anywhere from $3k to $10k. A one owner Jeep with records increases the price. If sold in the condition it needs a head (not that uncommon) it should still be worth $1k or more in your area assuming minimal or no body rust.

You might want to search out options for the needed work in your area if you are not confident in the current shop. Their quote does not seem completely unreasonable as it is easiest for them to quote new parts. You want someone you are comfortable with, has a good reputation for this type of work and will not charge excessively. If their shop is not clean and orderly or If they offer to buy it from you for next to nothing say NO and go another route immediately!

Katherinego

Thank you so much ThirdCoast. That makes a lot of sense.

I started a new thread here https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/00-...sh-rod-248784/ as PatHenry suggested.

HeepToJeep

.

ixanay_on-the_exjay

This probably deserves its own thread. I assume you'd have some difficulty with the guage cluster but if you're just swapping everything out and in then I don't see you having much of an issue, you'll just be left with extra 02 sensor. Sounds like a lot of unnecessary work to me just to avoid a "not quite OB2" system. The newer heads are set up for Coil over Plug so not sure what the deal would be to set up a dizzy if you're planning on using a newer head to accomodate the newer intake. I would just rebuild the bottom end, get a fresh cast 0331 throw it in and call it a day.

FewScrewsloose

Hello,

My girlfriend has an 01 xj with over 100K on its 3rd engine. Recently on a wheeling trip she had decided to go through a rather deep mud hole (water about hood height) and it took several attempts to make it through said mud hole both through it and back.

So, question is, on the ride home she over heated and what at the time had appeared has blown the lower hose or cracked the radiator as coolant and steam had burst on the left side of the radiator out from under the hood. rather than dig into it on the side of the road, we called and had it towed home and rode with friends the rest of the way home.

The next day we dug into it and I added water to the radiator to pressure test and find the leak...15lbs of pressure, 30 minutes, no leak?.. scratching head..

So, we top off coolant reservoir and fire it up, runs like it was missing and alternator was screwed due to mud ( which was upgraded with a modded unit recently after this occurrence). The jeep then again was chugging out antifreeze out of the cap.as the temp started to get towards 220. So, I removed radiator and cleaned out all of the packed in mud and stuff, flushed the cooling system and then topped off with coolant after putting it back together.

It is still pushing out coolant even before it gets hot or up temp? Could this be air still entrapped ( just received a new lisle funnel for holding coolant higher and helping with air, have not yet tried as it arrived just before typing this while at work).

I also did try using a block tester with the yellow liquid above the coolant fill on the radiator to see if there was any indication of exhaust gases in the coolant and it did not change colors as it should have if gases were present.

So, assuming this jeep has the 0331 head I am learning all about, what direction should I take? Has anyone had similar symptoms and can anyone add any suggestions as to a direction to take?

Thank in advance!

Ralph77

Bad cap maybe?

FewScrewsloose

Hello,

My girlfriend has an 01 xj with over 100K on its 3rd engine. Recently on a wheeling trip she had decided to go through a rather deep mud hole (water about hood height) and it took several attempts to make it through said mud hole both through it and back.

So, question is, on the ride home she over heated and what at the time had appeared has blown the lower hose or cracked the radiator as coolant and steam had burst on the left side of the radiator out from under the hood. rather than dig into it on the side of the road, we called and had it towed home and rode with friends the rest of the way home.

The next day we dug into it and I added water to the radiator to pressure test and find the leak...15lbs of pressure, 30 minutes, no leak?.. scratching head..

So, we top off coolant reservoir and fire it up, runs like it was missing and alternator was screwed due to mud ( which was upgraded with a modded unit recently after this occurrence). The jeep then again was chugging out antifreeze out of the cap.as the temp started to get towards 220. So, I removed radiator and cleaned out all of the packed in mud and stuff, flushed the cooling system and then topped off with coolant after putting it back together.

It is still pushing out coolant even before it gets hot or up temp? Could this be air still entrapped ( just received a new lisle funnel for holding coolant higher and helping with air, have not yet tried as it arrived just before typing this while at work).

I also did try using a block tester with the yellow liquid above the coolant fill on the radiator to see if there was any indication of exhaust gases in the coolant and it did not change colors as it should have if gases were present.

So, assuming this jeep has the 0331 head I am learning all about, what direction should I take? Has anyone had similar symptoms and can anyone add any suggestions as to a direction to take?

Thank in advance!

ixanay_on-the_exjay

Sounds like you have other problems to worry about. You should be able to get the cooling system fully functional even with a cracked head then you can assess the head situation. From the description it doesn't seem like a head issue although 0331's are known to crack after a single overheating event. Anyways, two things... 1. Instead of "assuming" why don't you not waste your time (or ours) and check which head it is. 2. I can't imagine someone would go through the effort of replacing an engine TWICE and still run 0331 heads

FewScrewsloose

First off, Thank you already for the replies and suggestions.

Radiator cap, already tried a different cap off of another XJ.

As for knowing or not knowing exactly which head it has on the engine after 2 previous engines being installed, these engines had been previously installed several years back by an ex of hers, so yes they definitely would have replaced the engine with an exact replacement junkyard engine which she did say was were each sourced for $350.
Yes, I do suppose that one should know exactly which head is on the current engine that is in the vehicle and not assume that a junkyard replacement engine that has been sourced out of another 01 XJ would have a stock 0331 head on it. This engine has been running without hiccups for over 14 months.

So, I will confirm which head is on the engine tonight after work, 5 hours approximately from now and update then.

Any other suggestions from anyone who may have similar symptoms or ideas is greatly appreciated.

third coast

Did you use the block tester properly by drawing radiator gas up through the test fluid but without drawing antifreeze into the test fluid? You would see bubbles in the test fluid as you pull in gas from the radiator by using the bulb of the tester. Then verify the test fluid is good by putting the tester with a new load of fluid at the tail pipe and draw in exhaust gas. The fluid should change from blue to yellow in a short time.

Your symptoms sound like a bad head gasket, cracked or warped head, warped intake manifold or other engine damage such as a piston. If water got sucked into the engine there is a very good chance significant damage was done. Any signs of muddy water residue in the intake? As you are discovering as you research this the 0331 head is very susceptible to overheat damage.