KCXJKID

I had a 2001 with 202k. It ran strong the whole time I owned it. Did oil changes, coolant service, tune up etc. Sold it to my cousin feeling confident about the whole "selling cars to family" thing, and the head gave out 2 months later. I was like

playbass

My Dad had a 2001 XJ, bought it brand new. I think it was in 2006, he had put around 50K on it and the water pump went out and it overheated briefly and the head cracked of course. I didn't vote in the poll but there is another case of the cracked 0331 head.

ihscoutlover

Mines a '00 XJ Sport, got about 180k on it and the head I believe has cracked. I got it with about 170k on it, and all highway driven up to this point. We took it wheeling with about 173/174k on it, and it finally overheated. Problem is that I had flushed the cooling system not long after I got it, and the initial two flushes were nothing but muddy water. Two weeks after getting this clear water out, was when it overheated. I replaced the radiator, water pump(which at this point had no real fins left on the impeller), and the t'stat. Also did the upper and lower radiator hoses. 2 weeks later still had some muddy brown water that I flushed till it was clear. About 2-3 weeks and about 2k miles, I had started noticing that the overflow bottle was losing coolant at a steady rate. Keep adding and had a pressure test run, and the numbers appeared to be normal, but no coolant found leaking around hoses or gaskets. Temps been riding under the 219* mark after the water pump change, and the temps go up and down with the electric fan kicking on and off normally. Took a trip from STL to Louisville, KY, and before the trip, filled the overflow up to the "Full" mark. Stopped for gas about 190miles in, and the bottle was empty. Filled and resumed the rest of the trip. Departing Louisville, filled the bottle back up to the "Full" mark. Arriving back home, checked it that evening and low and behold, the bottle again was empty. So in about 440+miles, I lost about a gallon of antifreeze. No exhaust found in the radiator coolant, and when under pressure cold, nothing is found leaking. Its going to my mechanic for some further diagnosis, to determine if it is indeed the head cracked, or a leaking freeze plug. Just my take, but hopefully my mechanic will use one of the better heads on it so that I don't ever have to mess with this again.

Jeff

dirtsurfer7

oh they definitely crack, keep that sucker from getting to hot, and keep a sharp eye out for early signs of head gasket leakage

CrawdadSlim

Lets keep it goin. 2000 Cherokee sport. 118k still runnin strong. My paint and interior are clean enough to eat from.

Jamie57

2000 XJ bought it at 255000 KM and actually had a rad bust open and over heat. Fixed rad and drove another 30K km before I had to replace head.
NOT from a crack but a burnt exhaust valve.
I had a 99 7120 head sitting around. Had it freshened up and installed it.
Put some brackets to hold coil on and haven't had a problem since.

Jjs2000xj

I hate reading things like this because it sounds like u did alot to freshen the cooling system and avoid overheating yet u still had it overheat. Since it happened wheeling, I'm thinking maybe the fan clutch or the e-fan had issues?? Were those checked?? Mine is a 2000 4.0 build date 03/2000. Right in the midst of the 0331 issue! So my ears perk up on these posts

JohnEP

I do realize that his poll was supposed to be about XJ's, but I voted anyways b/c I have the same engine and head on my 2000 WJ 4.0.

Bought my 2000 Grand Cherokee 4.0 with about 90K miles. Replaced the 0331 cracked head at about 140K miles, and found "Victor Reinz" on the gasket I scraped off the block. This means the head (or at least the head gasket) had already been replaced once before at less than 90K miles (before I bought it). Unfortunately, this poll does not allow me to vote "twice" for 2 cracked heads on the same vehicle...

Demonoid369

If you have to make a thread with a poll about a certain head cracking, there in lies the answer............ Lol

CrawdadSlim

Whats even funnier than that is when some inbread toothless wonder driving a rusted-out worthless jalopy advises someone not to buy a super clean low miles 2000 or 01 because one of these days maybe the head may crack. But seriously, this is a learning tool for owners to get a feel for the percentage of such failures. BTW according to the poll 83.14% of 0331 heads live on. Please post if your head failed after your poll.

Jjs2000xj

Per this poll of 172 voters on CF approx 20% of 0331 heads have cracked.
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/showth...400&styleid=14
If you take into account the distinct possibility of poor maintenance being a major contributor it would seem in my eyes that with good cooling system maintenance you have maybe a 1 in 10 chance of experiencing a problem (or even less than that) considering overheating appears to be the #1 cause by a long shot. Just my $0.02 based on the votes. I try to remember that when people have mechanical issues they tend to discuss way more often then when they are NOT having issues. I'm that way and just attribute to human nature. Or that I'm a big fat whiny bastard.... Ha

Demonoid369

Sure got your panties in a bunch lol cool down Susie, I'm only joking.

HS00XJ

2000 with 150k no cracks yet (nock on wood)

JeepsMyName

Opps voted wrong.. my cracked at 156000

ihscoutlover

No on fan clutch or electric fan. Fan clutch was good and tight. E fan was on most of the time. We were on a slow trail ride, and I kept shutting it down because the temp was already way too hot. It likely cracked when I was driving it the 2-3 miles to lunch, as before we exited the trail the temp gauge was in the "she's almost toast" range and I continued to drive it to lunch but at that point it was probably done for, so we got it to lunch, shutdown, and popped open the hood. I drove it close to 80 miles back home on the interstate and it ran just fine, stayed in normal range, but I still think the damage was really done before I even acquired it from the PO. And for the record I replaced the head and its components myself, saving me like $700-1k....Awesome.....but a learning experience in itself.

Jeff