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2000 Cherokee Buying and Cracked Head advice

kellen

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Seattle
Hello all.

Looking at buying a new Cherokee to replace my 89 XJ and my 93 ZJ. Found a local 2000 XJ Sport with 94,xxx miles, 231 transfer case, 8.25 rear end (no ABS). Test drove and it runs fine. Has nice options, factory alarm, cd changer and new tires. Car will be a DD, not offroaded, craziest would be a little OME lift and 30" tires to make it look proper. Owner wants low 5000$.

Now I do research here and I see that they are problematic for cracking the heads. Is this something that is going to happen regardless or is it luck of the roll? How much is a cracked head replacement via a mechanic? Anyone have one with nearly 200k and no cracking? Will good maintenance prevent this.

Any other things I need to check out for this year? My research indicated checking the power windows to make sure they open from all doors (they did). 4WD worked fine. Only problem was the temp sensor didn't register all the time. Would sometimes go down to nothing and then back again. Pulled back some carpet and no signs of rust.


Thanks again!
 
I"m in this same boat. Looking at a 2000 with 91k got him at 4500 going to drive it tomorrow. From what i've been able to find the head thing is only for castind 0331, think thats right, and mostly due to being run hot. I think in the 5's is a good price. Most i've been able to find are there or a little higher some alot higher. Hope somebody with more knowledge chimes in on this thread.
 
Just watch for the 0331 head casting.That was the prone to crack if it was ever overheated. Look underneath just inboard of the rockers for rust there. Look for any signs of offroading underneath. It would be scratches gouges or caked mud. Check the oil and the coolant for the mix of oil and coolant.
 
i realize the 0331 head cracks a lot, however i put 220,000 miles on mine before it did. If it runs good and you like it, get it. I also have a 98 and i would take my chances with an 0331 head again before i bought another that wasnt a 2000 or 2001 theres just something different about them ( i know technically there isnt, they just seem nicer ha)
 
Just for clairification, all 2000 and 2001 have the 0331 head, right?

Not worried about rust up here in the PNW, but will check. Will give the mechanic who inspects the heads up about the cracked head and the mixing.

Thanks.
 
I've had 7 Jeeps in last 12 years.. still own 2 of em. both Cherokee's. 2001 and 1998... blown head gasket at @ 160k on both... the 0331 head on the 00-01 are more prone to cracking yet I cracked and blew my head gasket on the '98s 0630 head first.... it happens... we all know what JEEP stands for.. just empty every pocket.. just every expensive part.. LOL... so true... but I love my Jeep and will always own one! its my baby... my very costly and high maintenance baby that is... :) I say not good for a DD unless your mechanically inclined... unless ya got $$ to buy a new one and take extremely good care of it... but then again all 7 of mine have been my DD... and that's why I'm now mechanically inclined! lol
 
There's a lot of rumor floating around about the 0331 head. I'll add to it. Based on general reading, it seems to be a fairly small percentage of head that crack: probably around 5%,.. less then 10% Having said that, it's a crap shoot. Most of the ones that seem to be prone to the problem pop between 50K and 100K. Proper maintenance doesn't seem to matter. People claim to have had them let go without ever overheating or abusing the engine.


The assumption is there was a problem with the casting, some defect in the water jackets or roof of the combustion chamber, possibly porosity or small voids in the casting around the #3 cylinder. Further assumption is that Chrysler became aware of the problem and fixed it sometime in mid-late '00, as all 01 XJ and all later TJs continue to use the 0331 head and the problem disappeared. This is all speculation, as nobody at Chrysler is saying jack.

I'd say go ahead and buy it. Just watch your coolant and check the oil regularly(You should anyway,.. :D )If it does pop, there are getting to be a lot of later model TJs in the wrecking yards now, and any '01-'06 TJ head will swap onto a '00 XJ.
 
To paraphrase a well informed 'Jeeper'; ...'the '00 and up HO heads with casting no.0331 have smaller exhaust ports to produce a faster warm-up of the catalytic converter and improve emissions. The performance also suffers because the ports don't flow as well as those of the 7120 and 0630 castings.' What I see there is that the reasoning to quickly heat up the cat, also causes a detrimental metals expansion rate, i.e., the head, as a consequence, and/or head bolt stretch, gasket separation, etc. The already mentioned statement that; "as nobody at Chrysler is saying jack"is probably spot on as I've never had anyone reply to my inquiries. Anyways, it is thought that Chrysler made the proper fix to later models using the head number in question, lol. Guess they figured a work-around in order to meet emissions b.s. Perhaps dis-ing the cat would help out in some preventative measure.., but it all depends on where you live. I would, since I do not have big brother looking up my_____! Back in '79, living in the lower 48, I took my new Jeep Cherokee, model 17's cat service plate/plug out.., blew the bead style material out onto the highway, and then put the plug back in. Ran that 17 for a quarter million miles. The 258 was way well within specs., but the frame busted. Point is I determined that anything, (premature fouling of the cat, degrading muff.), preventing free flow of my exhaust was, something to get rid of, and normal back pressure could be maintained easy enough with the empty cat, and a good muffler, and with it's stock cross-over length of pipe.
 
Why am I having to read responses to old threads today? Another resurrected thread was from 2003!

READ THE DATES!
 
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