"is bad bearings a death sentence that's soon to come if it's running well and not making noises?"


Bad bearings?

 

So the vehicle made my decision for me with a nice puddle of oil and antifreeze sitting in my driveway this AM. Looks like a new motor is the deal. Didn't want to spend so much but like its been said I'll have a damn fine vehicle which should, if taken care of properly ( which it will) last me a long time.

My wife and I came to the conclusion that we'd rather spend $10k on getting this thing right than $10k on another Toyota corolla or something even more boring and less useful.

 

Why do you have fluids everywhere? Bad main bearings don't cause leaks like this.

 

^ that.

 

Get a second opinion from another mechanic I guess. Someone might be trying to milk you. Maybe the mechanic followed you home and loosened some things while you slept? Ok maybe a little drastic, I trust nobody. Been ripped off before, now killing my jeep with fire is the only way I'll get rid of it.

 

Junkyard motor! and rent an engine hoist!

 

OP says they don't have the time to do a motor swap, so it sounds like this isn't an option.

 

I would do a TON of research before you start dropping money on a new engine. The mechanic MAY have given you a good deal, but there are a TON of other options out there that might be better.

(Check out this thread)

Also, most engine manufacturers/re-manufacturers have a CORE charge, so you should be able to knock the price down some more.

Good luck!

 

X100000....2 years ago I had a engine knock on my 97 xj. Mechanics at the shop told me the engine was toast. Quoted me for $2700 for engine replacement. Ended up being loose torque converter bolts. Never trusted mechanics since then. I do my own work now.

 

My first XJ blew a plastic side tank on the radiator open while I was driving on the highway through Canada in a light blizzard. I had no idea it blew until the temp gauge went crazy and the 4.0 overheated. I had it towed to a Canadian Tire and the tech told me the radiator blew out and the motor was dead. It was knocking pretty bad so I wasn't too hopeful, but a radiator swap cured it all. Sometimes, mechanics aren't lying but are just plain wrong.

 

If in your position and your 99 is in good condition (BTW it is the best year of the 97-99's of the modern and none of the PITA problems of the 00-01's).


I still have the original motor in my 99 230,000 mi and runs fine, but if/when it does go bad I will replace it with a new rebuild. I will install new accessories parts like the one that you listed and priced.


I have well over $8.5k invested in mine not including the purchase price ($1800) and my wife and I enjoy it very much. In fact so much that I sold our Razor the XJ has a lot more comfort and will go about anywhere it did plus heat/AC and all the extras we can carry with us. Mine is setup mostly for off road but still street legal.


It sounds like you have a good platform to work from and improve on just remember "If Mama ain't happy nobody's happy", just enjoy together.


For what you quoted on price and everything included not bad.........But get a second opinion just in case only costs a few more bucks and who knows?

 

So I guess I should state that I did have this looked at when I purchased the vehicle and it was in good shape. No leaks no noises. I noticed low oil pressure and took it to my mechanic to have it looked at. Thought it might be oil pump or something else. After putting it on a mechanical gauge it was determined that II had very low OP.The mechanic took the oil pan off to see if I had any metal shavings or oil pump issues. He determined by the amount of metal in the pan and by looking at the damaged main bearing that I needed a new motor. This motor did have a blow head at one time so he was taking into assumption that the head being blown caused further damage prior to being fixed. I gather that when putting the oil pan back together the ******** working on it either A) didn't put it together right or B) it had issues all along I wasn't aware of. I did get a quote on a refurbished motor installed for $3600 which to me is pretty good considering a new motor is $2800 at best. I use this as my daily so I want to make sure its solid. I love this Jeep and have wanted one all my life. Hate spending that much but after weighing the pros and cons I figured it would be a good deal to go ahead and swap it out.

 

Definitely will stay on this site and learn to fix my own damn rig going forward for sure. Thank you all for your feedback. I glad I found this site. Now to fix my dang headline and automatic windows.... ;-)

 

I had mine in to replace a glasspack muffler. The mechanic found "Black liquid" in the glasspack and kindly explained that it could ONLY be oil from blowby from bad compression rings.

Tried to sell me on a brand new crate motor installed. I called BS and rented a compression tester from Autozone. I had one cylinder that was a little lower than the rest, but a little oil in it didn't fix anything.

I only use a mechanic if I already know exactly what I want done, don't have the time or am unwilling to shell out a ton of money for very specialized tools I will most likely never use again, and have shopped it around to several different reputable places for price.