well as some of you know i have been struggling with my xj trying to get this motor in since i cracked my block. well last week i got the motor in and i test drove it on the farm. well it seemed to hold up ok. i didnt run it for long because it only had water in it. got it back to the farm house and put coolant in it and drove it home. on the way home it started overheating and upon looking i found the radiator had blown out on the drivers side. so i put a gallon of water in it and drove it the other 3 miles home. it cut off in the driveway and not only was the radiator gone but on the passenger side of the motor the head gasket had blown out. i called the guy i got the motor from and he said no warranty but he had other motors i could buy.
so im really tired of working on it. trying to get it fixed these past couple months has really taken a toll on me.
so my question for you guys. should i try and fix the head gasket or just take the lift off and sell it and buy another one. the main reason i ask this is because i had done a head gasket on the last motor and thats how i cracked the block. im more leaning towards fixing it but i wanted your opinions.
thanks guys.

 

That's sucks! I say fix it since you have experience working on the head gasket and know what not to do now.

 

i'd say it depends. is there anything special about the body/suspension of the current jeep? if not, i'd just swap the lift/ axles/whatever is of value onto another known working jeep. i know how you feel about working on something and then having to keep wrenching on it. i replaced the head on my MJ and ended up having to replace the engine 6 months later. i only did it because MJs are more scarce to find and not always as cheap as XJs.

if you're really tired of wrenching on it you could always just sell the whole jeep and buy a good condition stocker (not a beater) and start over when you get the motivation to wrench.

 

well see thats the thing. i had just put $600 into parts and $350 in the motor. and the body is perfect. no dents. suspension is brand new. only been on about a year and only wheeled once. the only blemish is a spot where the paint is chipped on the hood. no flaking off and is primer underneath so its not rusting.
and i think im gonna keep it and fix it. im gonna have my cousin help me because he wants to learn to work on cars so im gonna let him help me (hes 13)

 

atta boy, even though your xj is being kind of a jerk. you know it will never turn its back on you, so it wouldn't be right for you to turn your back on it

 

honestly i dont think i could let it go. i miss the community and the wheeling. and my cousin is getting into jeeps so we made a deal. he helps work on it and he goes with us on the next wheeling trip. and ill let him behind the wheel (he does know how to drive, oh the usefulness of a farm)