At what $ point do I just replace???

I've got a 98 w/4.0l and 130,000 miles. I run a RE 3 1/2" on 31x10.50's, with a few other toys thrown in. I haven't done anything with the engine yet. I think every gasket in the thing leaks, including the head gasket, and of course the exhaust manifold has a big old crack. Those are the only problems. Everything else looks and runs like it's only a couple years old. She still runs strong, doesn't overheat and shows no other signs of aging.

I'm gonna pay somebody else to do the work. So far I've done all the work myself, but I just don't have the time. It isn't my daily driver right now, but will be by this winter. I have a company vehicle right now. I'm seeking other work up north and I'm pretty sure they won't let me take it with me. I'll need it to be extremely reliable. I'll be buying another newer Jeep hopefully some time next year, but plan to keep my Cherokee for a long time. I'm trying to keep this thing on a budget and don't want to unnessessarily spend too much.

At what point, money wise, depending on how much it will cost to get the gasket and manifold work done, would it be better to just replace the engine?

Anyone have any experience with Advance Auto's "tough One" engines?

There are some threads kinda like this, but they all talk about engines that I assume are just trashed and none really talk about when It's financialy time to pull the plug.

....And Oh yeah. Anybody gonna be selling a house a little east of Syracuse with a three car or detached two car garage??? A barn would be sweet.

It's not that hard to tackle the worst of the leaks when they get bad enough, and if you take care of it the engine has a hundred thousand miles or more left in it. I wouldn't waste money on replacing it unless it needs replacing.

The first leak I would fix is the valve cover gasket. The bolts tend to loosen up over time and cause the leaks which cover everything below. Once you take care of that then look for the other leaks. I would not be surprise if there are fewer than you think.

A complete "regasket" and a manifold R&R will may equal the price of the engine assembly. The added costs of the cooling system, mounts, damper, sensors etc are a given. Your jeep is truly at a halfway point. I'd say do the minimum repairs with the best quality parts. Rather than what I did recently, doing the most repairs with the cheapest parts.

At 130k, your engine is middle aged but has many miles left, you get the most out of it by driving it until the engine requires a repair for safety or efficiency that is worth the returns. Let it leak, unless its a coolant or engine oil leak. Transmission and power steering leaks will forgive you once. A valve cover, oil filter mount, or oil pan gasket are worth it. They will pay for themselves in a few months. A cracked manifold is a BOOGER. Everyone has different results with the same replacement parts. No jeep is alike, that's for sure.

I have a "tough one" engine in my 92, so far it's ok with 1200 miles now. It runs very cool at 185˚ on the highway, and 210˚ in city traffic which is a relief, because the Advance Auto warranty does not cover overheating. (The engine came with the wrong oil pan for a Cherokee, it has warning sticker "you may need to reuse your old oil pan." My mechanic didn't notice this important little sticker. My front axle was gnawing into the oil pan, the polite term is "clearancing".)

For the leaks, I'll add that it's worthwhile just to go around tightening the oil pan and valve covers, which loosen with time, and probably worthwhile (as well as very cheap) to replace the oil filter adapter O-rings. That's a pressurized point, and often looks like leaks from other places. You can lose a lot of oil from there when it gets bad enough.

The only bad thing to me sounds like the head gasket. Have you done a compression test? Is there water in the oil?

I am in the process of a complete rebuild and found a complete gasket kit on ebay for $10 and an exhaust manifold for $100. I have chosen to do the work myself, but is is taking a while longer than I expected (due to wife and kids and funds)

Thanx for the advice. I've been trying to put off the gasket job, but the coolant is starting to look a little muddy and I guess it's just time to get it done.

CJ's98XJ said:

Thanx for the advice. I've been trying to put off the gasket job, but the coolant is starting to look a little muddy and I guess it's just time to get it done.

Click to expand...

I still wouldn't go after the head gasket on a cast iron engine unless you're losing coolant or seeing other outward signs of head gasket failure, like white exhaust. Check the compression, and pressure test the cooling system first. By all means do it if it needs it, but there's no point in going to all that trouble if all it needs is a flush.

I've installed numerous Recon remanufactured engines (builds the Tough One engine for Advance) with little problem. My experience has been that too many installers seem to think installing an engine should be like hanging shocks on a car-- bolt it together and call it done. A competant technition shouldn't even consider replacing an engine without first determining why the previous engine failed and fixing any other problems that can affect the opperation of the new unit.
Do your homework and shop around for the best value on the swap (notice I didn't say cheapest) and make sure you get in writing everything they say they're gonna do- i.e. water pump, belt, hoses, ignition tune up, EGR valve (can burn a piston if inopperable), knock sensor, etc....
Remember the golden rule of repair work:
there are three types of work-- quality work
fast work
cheap work
if you look hard enough, you can get any two of them, but you'll never find all three in the same place!
best of luck in your search-- lemme know if you need any help finding quality shops in the Tidewater area
--Shorty

HO's don't have egr's.

than I guess they wouldn't put that in writing, huh?

If you're gonna do a new engine - I suggest do a complete cooling system overhaul at the same time including radiator. Why even leave the door open for potential overheating of freshly machined iron?

my 98 150k is the same way, oils leaking out of valve cover head gasket posibly rear main oil filter adapter, power steering is leaking from who knows where, trans fluid is leaking, coolant is leaking, and my ac clutch is bad. save money and just fix it all when they get to the point your putting a quart of fluid in just to drive to work in the morning.

I did the engine in my 98 at around 330,000mi when an injector stuck open and wiped #3 cylinder out. Still drove it home up the PA turnpike 90+ miles on 5 cylinders. Had it replaced with a Jasper and that is the 3rd jasper product I have bought, a V6 engine for wifes Oldsmobile 4 or 5 years ago and a trans for the same olds 2 years ago. The jasper came with a kit with many new parts like hoses, tstat, waterpump, belt, etc. A pretty complete setup and supported/warrantied by jasper shops nationwide. My sons friend had a 2.5L replaced in his TJ after he drowned it, then took it to Florida on vacation to disney the day after replacement, engine died as soon as they got there, they dropped it off and had another done in 2 days, no questions asked.
Now in your case with it not being a DD I'd look at some other alternatives like one of the after market strokers maybe, they are in the same price range as a jasper reman and if I had had the time would have gone this route but the 3 places I checked needed 2-3 weeks to get one ready and ship it out for my 98.
As for your leaks, the valve cover gasket can imitate alot of other leaks but if you are getting coolant into your oil and oil into your coolant thats a different story. I had a cracked exhaust manifold on mine and never knew it, we welded it up while the engine was out and so far so good though it does need a cat back but at 9 years and 380,000mi thats no suprise.