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dohc91gli

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Oregon
A little more than a year ago my 2000 Classic's head cracked (didn't know it then) while hunting and blew a hole in the radiator in the process. After hours of nursing it along with creek water and the like was able to find a little market and was able to patch the hole in the radiator well enough to limp it to my buddies rig. It was staying cool till it didn't and got hinges-of-hell kind of hot. Went from normal to buried in the red. Pulled over and it sounded like oil was crackling on my valve cover where it meets the head like frying bacon. I got it towed from the scene of the hotness to my dads place in Lebanon Because it was a lot closer than McMinnville where I live. (I was down by Alsea) it sat there through the winter, and I borrowed a trailer and brought it home in the spring.

It had the cold piston slap that many have so I just decided to replace the whole engine and be done with it. At the same time regear, do a header, and also replace the broken radiator. So after a year of my XJ being down, I have the new engine and most of the parts to revive her. engine, water pump, thermostat and housing, belt, header and gaskets.

Anyone have any experience with this? should I replace all my sensors at the same time? Coolant and oil sensors? Crank sensor? I'm currently looking for the best deal on quality gear sets in 4.88 anyone know where the best deal is right now, and what brands are the best? Thanks in advance and I'm so thrilled to be able to drive my jeep again soon-ish.
 
hey welcome back!

My normal train of thought is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". There is also how much are you willing to spend to make it your perception of reliable? Ultimately it's up to you but I would keep the old sensors and replace them if they don't work. Although it might be a good time to freshen up the crank sensor and possibly O2/s.

I recently re-geared front/rear to 4:56. Found the process overwhelming with various deals and who to install vs. buy the tools and do it myself. In the end I chose a shop with 40+ years of experience in the offroad/racing community to purchase gears and install. They only use 5 cut gears (Sierra Gear) believing they are the strongest gears made. Yukon got it's reputation from 5 cut but now use 2 cut, so I've been told. The more common gears sold today are 2 cut. Lots of debate which is better 2 or 5 cut. Well supposedly they are stronger but they are noisy like an old farm truck. Instead of an oval shape contact patch, 5 cut gears use nearly all the tooth shape for contact. Was told to get mud tires and I would never notice the gear noise, haha! Not what I was expecting to get but it is a done deal now. If I did get something stronger then I guess it was a good deal. I didn't pay top of the line shop price nor did I cheap out but it wasn't cheap. Going forward I will buy the tools and do it myself.

Sorry I wasn't much help but maybe gave you some thoughts to consider. ...and welcome back.... almost!
 
Good info, thanks! reading the instructions on first start up has me worried. Starting, then having to run for 15-20 min at 2000 rpms seems like a daunting task. I’d hate to get an air bubble in the cooling system and it to get too hot to complete the break in. Is there a fool proof way to get all the air out the first time? I’ll search the XJ tech forum as well.
 
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