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Stock XJ Cherokee Tech. All XJ Non-modified/stock questions go hereXJ (84-01)
All OEM related XJ specific tech. Examples, no start, general maintenance or anything that's stock.
Just picked up a 2000 Cherokee classic with 205,000 miles. Everything was in good shape interior and exterior, and seems to run without issue. No check engine light. Only major issue is the heater core needing to be replaced.
After having it the last couple weeks and doing some research Ive come across the 0331 cylinder head issue. I checked and the head is indeed stamped with 0331 so I know I’ve got the head with potential issue. Trying to figure out what the best course of action to take with it. Currently everything seems to be working great and running without issue. But plan on keeping and driving this Jeep for many years to come. I’ve gots lots of plans on upgrades, but wanna put my money into the right place as far as making sure it’s gonna be a solid reliable running vehicle before anything else.
I’ve looked into replacement heads, Clearwater seems like a great option that many have used. Would just a straight head swap be best route? Do I need to worry about any damage on the bottom end if I do have a cracked head and just haven’t realized it yet?
Oil pressure seems to be within the parameters of what is considered “healthy”. But I know our gauges aren’t always accurate and should check with a mechanical gauge to verify.
Not sure if this is the right route, or if I should just leave it alone. Seems like swapping engine could create some issues with finding something that’s a direct plug and play setup(I’ve got coil packs) and would have to do further modifications to get an older engine to work without giving off check engine codes. I’m in an emissions county and need everything to work property to get tagged and registered for the year.
Any advice would be appreciated
Leave it alone at 200,000 miles.
- Put your money into maintaining the cooling system. New 2 row radiator. New waterpump, thermostat & gasket, along with a thermostat housing. I use the high flow water pump and high flow thermostat housing from HESCO. Do a through cooling system flush. You might want to replace the Evaporator while you are in there.
Couple of thoughts on why I WOULD NOT replace the head at this time.
- You could have an accident on your first test drive with the cylinder head you replaced for no reason.
- A new cylinder head could give you tight tollarances & now you'll be blowing exhaust gases past the 200,000 mile piston rings & you could notice oil consumption.
- If the 0331 head does fail at this point, it's most likely a tired engine at 200,000 plus miles and dropping in a rebuilt / remanufactured would most likely seem like a good idea.
Mallard! A very good point. My 2000 WJ 4.0 head cracked at 156K miles and after replacing it she started using quite a bit of oil. So much so that I had to put an oil separator on the CCV line. That was catching about 4 ounces of oil a week! That doesn't sound like much, but without it I was fouling the plug in Cylinder #5 if I let it idle too long. By the time I pulled the motor at 252K, there was a faint cloud of oil smoke when using engine braking going down a hill. The odd thing is after using Cataclean, the converters are still on the new engine and passing inspection. The Jeep now has 253115 miles on it.
As far as rebuilt engines go, I couldn't get the straight word about weither a rebuild would have that 0331 head on it, so I went with a shortblock and reconditioned my Clearwater head to use on it. $800 for the shortblock and $200 for the head. The rebuilders all said that whatever head the engine came in with, it when back out with it if it passed testing. I wasn't confident with that. They want your block number to match, so it's not like you could get a 2003 or 4 for a 2000 jeep either.
Leave it alone at 200,000 miles.
- Put your money into maintaining the cooling system. New 2 row radiator. New waterpump, thermostat & gasket, along with a thermostat housing. I use the high flow water pump and high flow thermostat housing from HESCO. Do a through cooling system flush. You might want to replace the Evaporator while you are in there.
Couple of thoughts on why I WOULD NOT replace the head at this time.
- You could have an accident on your first test drive with the cylinder head you replaced for no reason.
- A new cylinder head could give you tight tollarances & now you'll be blowing exhaust gases past the 200,000 mile piston rings & you could notice oil consumption.
- If the 0331 head does fail at this point, it's most likely a tired engine at 200,000 plus miles and dropping in a rebuilt / remanufactured would most likely seem like a good idea.
Haven’t looked into the heater core to much, since it’s getting warmer it was something I was just gonna put off till the fall and take care of it then. I’ve seen parts listed pretty cheap for the heater core. Is there much difference in them?
sounds like replacing head only doesn’t seem like a good way to go. I’ll get on top of the cooling system and make sure everything is good there. And if/when the engine goes I’ll look into swapping used or ideally a reman engine. Expensive but the atk engine seems like a pretty good option. Just not sure if it’s $2600 good.
Gonna pull the valve cover this weekend to get a better look inside the head to confirm if it’s a stock head or if I get lucky with a tupy head
Not necessary unless you want to pull the valve cover for other reasons.
did that already, but as I said to much gunk build up to see it very well. Seems like a have a leak from the valve cover anyway so I’ll get a new gasket and seal it up
did that already, but as I said to much gunk build up to see it very well. Seems like a have a leak from the valve cover anyway so I’ll get a new gasket and seal it up
took my 0331 to a shop after I cleaned it. They Magged it and said no cracks. Slight warp they will
machine down. He recommended staying with the 0331 instead of switching to the 0630. A new gasket set comes with a valve cover gasket. So save the money on a gasket now and replace it when you do the head swap or at least have yours taken to a shop
Haven’t looked into the heater core to much, since it’s getting warmer it was something I was just gonna put off till the fall and take care of it then. I’ve seen parts listed pretty cheap for the heater core. Is there much difference in them?
You get what you pay for....
In theory, if you buy an aluminum / plastic end tank / rubber gasket heater core, the thermal dynamics of the three different materials are different when it goes through it's heating / cooling cycles. If you use an all brass / copper core, the expansion & contraction should be the same.
I guess questions you should ask yourself;
- Will I have the Jeep in 10 years if I install the aluminum style heater core?
- Is it a good selling point, to point out to the new owner of the Jeep that an all metal heater core was put in vs. the aluminum/plastic heater core. After all, it's like an all day job to R&R the heater core.
Personally, I'd spend the roughly extra $100 to put in the all metal heater core. To me, I think it's a better quality. I'd hate to R&R the dash a second time, spend more money on coolant & what not.
^^^^^ he is correct! I have had many sleepless nights and nights I do sleep have night mares now ever since I went with a aluminum one ... I don't ever want to do it again as my back still hurts from it and it was 3 years ago!...lol I should of spent more money and went with copper!
So a new problem I noticed, the coolant reservoir was almost empty over the weekend. I topped it off and have been monitoring it everyday. The level in the tank drop about an inch or so everyday. And when I leave it parked at an idle it starts to form a small puddle leaking out of the exhaust pipe.
so pretty much assuming that the head is already cracked at this point. Trying to figure out what to do. Had a local shop quote me $4200 for an autozone motor parts and labor (3k for engine, 1200 labor). Not a chance of doing that lol.
finances will not allot for a nice reman motor at the moment, and would like to try an get a used engine for it.
what year engines should I be looking for? From what I’ve read a pre 96 engine had an additional temp sensor that wasn’t used in later models and something else about the blocks being a bit stronger. So was thinking of finding a 96-99 with lowest miles possible out of another xj, that way all the accessories will have same mounting points. I know about the different size exhaust manifold, and the fact of needing a bracket for the coil rail. Is there anything else needed to make it a direct swap in without any issues?
Also I live in Atlanta and would like to see if anyone has some locals shops that could help me tackle this project (help source a good engine/install) without destroying my bank account. I have someone that I might be able to use for install at a reasonable rate if I get all the parts necessary so that’s also why I’m curious about what else is needed for a swap if I go that route.
So a new problem I noticed, the coolant reservoir was almost empty over the weekend. I topped it off and have been monitoring it everyday. The level in the tank drop about an inch or so everyday. And when I leave it parked at an idle it starts to form a small puddle leaking out of the exhaust pipe.
so pretty much assuming that the head is already cracked at this point. Trying to figure out what to do. Had a local shop quote me $4200 for an autozone motor parts and labor (3k for engine, 1200 labor). Not a chance of doing that lol.
finances will not allot for a nice reman motor at the moment, and would like to try an get a used engine for it.
what year engines should I be looking for? From what I’ve read a pre 96 engine had an additional temp sensor that wasn’t used in later models and something else about the blocks being a bit stronger. So was thinking of finding a 96-99 with lowest miles possible out of another xj, that way all the accessories will have same mounting points. I know about the different size exhaust manifold, and the fact of needing a bracket for the coil rail. Is there anything else needed to make it a direct swap in without any issues?
Also I live in Atlanta and would like to see if anyone has some locals shops that could help me tackle this project (help source a good engine/install) without destroying my bank account. I have someone that I might be able to use for install at a reasonable rate if I get all the parts necessary so that’s also why I’m curious about what else is needed for a swap if I go that route.
Do NOT assume the head is cracked. All cars have water coming from the exhaust. I was losing coolant also and thought it was the head and took it to a machine shop. No cracks. It was the radiator leaking out of the bottom corners. You need to inspect your radiator for dark green staining in the bottom left and right corners. Also your water pump gasket can leak. Also your hoses can leak. Also your freeze plugs can leak. Don’t go dropping money on a new engine when yours is most likely perfectly fine. Go to Blackstone lava website and get a sample kit from them. Get an oil sample from your drain plug and send it in to be analyzed for coolant in your oil. Also your heater core can leak onto the passengers side floorboard under the carpet. You have 4 different hoses under the hood that can leak Even if you have coolant in your block it doesn’t instantly ruin it. All that is in the block is pistons, camshaft/lifters, bearings and crankshaft along with the oil pump pick up.
Check out the Viper coil setup at ksuspension.com. for $125, you get the complete kit, but they give you part numbers for the coil and wires from a 2009 Dodge Caravan 3.8L V6 that they use for much less. The only thing I would buy from them is the extension harness. ksuspension.com
Check out the Viper coil setup at ksuspension.com. for $125, you get the complete kit, but they give you part numbers for the coil and wires from a 2009 Dodge Caravan 3.8L V6 that they use for much less. The only thing I would buy from them is the extension harness. ksuspension.com
so other than the coil setup and the exhaust manifold, is there anything else that you know of that I would need to put in an earlier engine?
Do NOT assume the head is cracked. All cars have water coming from the exhaust. I was losing coolant also and thought it was the head and took it to a machine shop. No cracks. It was the radiator leaking out of the bottom corners. You need to inspect your radiator for dark green staining in the bottom left and right corners. Also your water pump gasket can leak. Also your hoses can leak. Also your freeze plugs can leak. Don’t go dropping money on a new engine when yours is most likely perfectly fine. Go to Blackstone lava website and get a sample kit from them. Get an oil sample from your drain plug and send it in to be analyzed for coolant in your oil. Also your heater core can leak onto the passengers side floorboard under the carpet. You have 4 different hoses under the hood that can leak Even if you have coolant in your block it doesn’t instantly ruin it. All that is in the block is pistons, camshaft/lifters, bearings and crankshaft along with the oil pump pick up.
ive got no coolant leaks. And with an 0331 head seems like this engine has been on borrowed time for awhile anyway. Just looking for some info on what I need to know about swapping a used engine
03-26-2020, 07:27 AM
