Dreaded Piston Slap Has Struck Again!

Short version: 1992 XJ 4D, Titan 4.6L Stroker. Installed in 2006, about 50k miles on it. Heat issue, over heated, PISTON SLAP! Now what?

Long story: I've had this jeep for 18 years. I've had it with me from coast to coast. I'm faced with ether replacing the engine or coming up with a more economical solution, which is the point of my post, I need help figuring out what to do.
This jeep was my first car, I lifted it, saved up for the winch bumper and was saving for a winch. Then 9/11/01 came and I wasn't working on it anymore, because like a lotta Jeep owners I know, that day set our lives on a different path and the old Jeep sat in a storage unit.
While deployed, when I got a chance to chat with my older brother on AOL in an MWR tent in that god forsaken desert, all I could talk about was using some of that sweet deployment cash to outfit my rig and hit up some of the beautiful Southern California trails while the Marines had me out there. When I got home my family and friends had surprised me at a welcome home party, with a loaded up & tricked out rig. They put a new suspension, breaks, exhaust, paint, winch, rims, 33" MTRs, Highlift Jack, and a bunch more. They had all chipped in, My older brother sorta project manager. I was given some pictures of the project that included one of my little sister polishing up the wheels and helping mount them, she was like 10. They put so much work into this Jeep, because they wanted to spend time with me when I was home, or maybe they knew there's no way that I would have been able to pull that thing outta storage and get it running well enough to drive it out to Cali over post deployment leave, or maybe maybe heading down to the Chrysler dealership where my dads now sold cars for 35 years and turning wrenches of a few hours here and there somehow helped them not worry about what crap I was getting into over there. They did all that work outta love. So if were looking for a way to melt down love from friends and family and hammer it out into something tangible here it is. My 1992 Jeep Cherokee Sport.


When I came home I took the jeep with me back to Cali and had a great time out there on those trails. It stayed my daily driver until well after college and moved with us down to Texas. Somewhere in there a few upgrades were added to included a 4.6L Stroker build by Titan engines. It was an awesome engine and it really stood up to abuse. Unfortunately I loaned it out to a veteran buddy of mine who needed transpo for a while and somehow the coolant overflow nipple busted off, boiled over on a hot South Texas Day and is died on his way into work. I drove down to him and saw the coolant all over the road, I knew what happened. I filled it with water and it was back in action, all but for a noticeable tick. As my fellow warrior still needed a lift I changed the oil, added some Lucas oil stabilizer and the sound went away and he drove it a while longer. Once I got it back the tick was back and wouldn't you know it if that little booger hadn't grown into a full blown knock.

https://flic.kr/p/JTTviB[IMG]
[IMG]https://flic.kr/p/JRyniu
So here we are. I have this great machine, this gold brick of love from my friends and family, this reliable friend who's been with me so long, this jeep with a bad engine... Luckily my two year old loves working with his daddy in the garage which makes this project so much more than just busting knuckles on 100+ days.
Needless to say I'm not in a position to buy a brand new Titan or heck even a new OEM replacement.

Not sure how well this picture shows the scratches but its not small. The engine ran strong, with very slight compression drop in #5 when I tested it yesterday prior to pulling it apart. The plug was completely black and oily, while the others were not bad.

This Temp sticker shows the smoking gun... It got hot, Is it worth saving?
If I want to keep this Jeep long into the future, should I just consider figuring out how to replace the entire engine?
Thanks so much for reading this. I'll update this post as I make progress.

If you would really want to keep it I would start looking around junk yards. Bring a compression tester, some motor oil and a breaker bar. Find a 4.0 that has good compression and all the Pistons move. Then drop the pan and see if the bottom end ( pull all the main and end caps. Check if the bearings are spun or gouged and if they're ok then put the ends and caps and bearings back exactly the way then came off. Also check if the crank or the Pistons look broke. If you get a 4.0 from 2000 + it's got the 0331 head and look for cracks on it. Pull it if you have to. )is ok. Then the valve cover and see if the valves still move ( still out in the bone yard) if they do what I would do next it pull the rockers push rods and lifters and look down to the cam and see if it's alright. ( again put all the lifters back in the same order you took them from while keeping them clean. If you do end up with a good motor bust swap all your sensors and good bits over to it after you clean it up and you should have all the stock power ( granted the motor isn't hurt too bad. ) I had a 1997 xj sport that had 357k on and it got in a wreck. Put a hole in the pan. Didn't see it until it was too late. Before that thing had like 4 calapsed lifters and still drive my dad all over the country. Took him to Washington state from St. Louis 3 times like that. ) sad to hear about the motor and good luck on your hunt. Also. It isn't a bad idea to pull the head on a boneyard motor just to see if it's ok. That keeps there for a reason. If it's the motor or something else.


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Not really sure what to tell you about the motor, but I will say that's a great story and thank you for your service! :cheers: