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4.0 0331 Head Swap '00 XJ Sport

ihscoutlover

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Edwardsville
I am starting this writeup on the eve before the start of pulling the head on my '00 Sport. I have read some of the threads here and on other sites and I have come to the determination that either the head is cracked or the head gasket is blown on my 4.0. While I was somewhat hesitant on doing this, the $800+ it would cost me to have a shop do it, warrants me to try it and see just how bad/sucky it really is or isn't. I am starting with the following readings from compression:

1=110 2=115 3=90 4=100 5=115 6=115

This will end up being a long thread, but I can assure you when you see the pictures, most of what ends up happening will make perfect sense, and I should be able to break it down so that anyone here could in effect do it themselves if they take the time and do the research to do it right, the first time. I will post up the candidate here in a second, after I figure out my photobucket settings.

Jeff
 
Here it is, well this was before I pulled off the sport trim pieces. Dang things dented my DS fender:
picture.php
 
Does your oil pressure drop to 0 when the vehicle is stopped? Or do you have a milky substance on your oil fill cap on the valve cover? Or has your coolant reservoir keep draining out? If so those are all good indicators that your head is cracked and it's been leaking coolant into the oil and wearing down your rod bearings. Also check your coolant in your radiator and see if it's brown indicating the presence of oil. Bought my 01 with a cracked head, already been through this... If you do replace your head look for an 0331 head with the word "TUPY" stamped on it. I've heard Chrysler made these 0331 heads later that were strengthened between the 3 and 4 cylinders where the old 0331s were all cracking...
 
I just got done 2 weeks ago doing the same thing. I opted for a 7120 head I knew was good, only thing I have to re-do is the water pump gasket so thats not a biggie.

it's not a hard job to do, just take your time and have a 2nd person there when the new head goes on. It makes it much easier.
 
Get it fixed asap. The guy who owned my '99 before me let a cracked head go on it and ended up trashing the entire lower end b/c of coolant in the oil. He put a shitty reman head on it which I removed and replaced with a Clearwater Head (new). The reman had two plug welds right beside the valve seats that were terrible looking & not done well at all.
 
Progress is slow today. All wiring and accessories have been removed and set aside. Valve cover intake/exhaust and head still to be removed. To answer a few of the questions to date here is the low down. I have been having to add coolant to the overflow for a little while. This was after I had replaced all components of the cooling system other than the two heater hoses, and heater core. The coolant had a rusty brown color to it when I first got it. I flushed it 3 good times till the water coming out was clear. Oil pressure varies since the gauge really isn't reading right in my eyes. Pressure cold gets up to 80, then drops back to about 40. I am running some Lucas oil stabilizer along with 15/40 Rotella. While I'm hearing that's a lot of oil for this, it might actually be helping protect the engine if coolant is/has been getting into the others house. It was after the trip to Louisville, KY that I had used about 1 gallon of coolant in 440 miles that I had it evaluated and no external leaks have been found. Both me and my mechanic put the system under 16lbs of pressure and didn't find any leaks going externally. When I pull the plugs tomorrow I will get some pictures of all 6 so you all can see what's going on inside the engine as well. I do appreciate the feedback thus far.
 
UPDATE!!!! I have removed the intake manifold, and the two exhaust manifolds are there just held in by the one center bolt. No bolts broke off during removal. Head is ready for unbolting, and is clear of the rockers/bridges/fulcrum thingys. Coolant is drained. I will say this, since the oil looked good, you all should have seen the milky crap up under the valve cover. I haven't found the crack in this one just yet, so we will see just what's up there. I promise when all is said and done there will be pictures, lots and lots of pictures. New cast head should be here in the morning, via Brown Santa, so I can then get the rest of it out/in and hooked back up.

Jeff
 
I hate you.

I ordered my head last week and the hooligans said it would be in by Tuesday. It's Friday and still no word. I'm starting to get impatient.

Most people say it takes two people to pull the head. Honestly I didn't think it was that heavy and by no means am I a macho man.

My crack was in between 3&4 on my 0630 head casting. Picture shows it.

I could actually see the crack before I had it tested but I didn't trust myself. You can see the green coolant coming up through the crack.

FDCB8CE2-9430-4943-953A-C95E9036C056-11765-000007CD844D1546_zpsc773867f.jpg

EC821B37-DAB2-4791-809F-924729314FCE-11765-000007CBA7AAFC24_zpscff44bf5.jpg
 
Don't hate me just yet. Wait till my pictures come up. If you hate me cause I didn't break any exhaust bolts, well I have a trick to teach everyone. First when trying to get those bolts out, you need to turn them like you want to tighten them, and just so you can get the bolt or nut to actually break loose. Yes, use some PB Blaster or in my case some Kroil on them. All of them broke loose and other than cleaning some threads on the bolts, were good to go. I'm debating which antiseize since these bolts get a higher temperature than the spark plugs do. I don't have my head yet, but I called Clearwater whom I'm getting mine from and the head went out on Tuesday, so I should be getting it by this morning. Kingkong, don't get frustrated just yet. Youve been doing yours yourself. I've got my 73 year old dad giving me pointers, or some help at times. My wife is taking the photos, and I can assure you everyone will enjoy those, plus she's gonna put together a clip video showing all the work done from start to finish. I'm not done yet. I've got to put it back together, and make sure I don't have any air, vacuum or fluid leaks. BTW, the valve cover gasket was actually a metal unit. Basically came right off with little effort and no material on either the head or the valve cover. Now awaiting Brown Santas delivery so can get back up to my parents house to finish up this swap, and post up the pics for you jeep porn hungry folks....and those wanting to see how this is done via pictures not just words in a repair manual/book.

Jeff
 
Just for the record, you're doing God's work here, son.

As the owner of a 2000 Cherokee, I'm just waiting for the day when my head goes. WHEN it does (not if), having this resourse available will be invaluable. So thanks in adavance for taking the time to document all of this.

Seroiusly. You rock!
 
Thanks for the vote of confidence. Brown Santa came through today. Head was even placed by him into the back of my wife's Scout Traveler for transport to the operating room. Block was stripped of the remains of the old head gasket. I made another trip to the parts store besides the initial run on the way to the operating room for incidentals ordered the day before. We got the head in and torqued down before wrapping it up for the evening. The items left for tomorrow is get the thermostat and it's housing in, replace the engine ground strap that broke on me pulling the retaining nut off it, install the exhaust and intake manifolds, hook up fuel line, injector and sensor wiring, put some replacement split loom tubing on areas that it has deteriated from, replace the valve cover, air cleaner box assembly, hook up the necessary vacuumn lines, add coolant, burp cooling system, put in battery, test for leaks, make sure coolant stays where it should. That's all for tonight. Hopefully I will have a decent running/dd XJ again by this time tomorrow night.

Jeff
 
It's running. Runs great now. Still running around between or at 195, but under the 210 mark. Oil pressure is about where it should be. I drained the oil in it, added some 5w30 oil. After the first test drive, I had no more high pitched whine, which I believed to have been the tension pulley under the power steering pump. It's been a lot of long days traveling approximately 14 miles each day round trip. I had three days of parts runs to the stealership, and others to get mostly incidentals, although there was a mixup at one for my heater hoses. Total time from start to finish was about 72 hours. Since I had to drag two kids with me, and working till about 10pm each night. Pictures are being uploaded tonight, with those being added as soon as I can. Ran into some issues as this was being done. First always make sure that your tools are organized. Most of mine were, but I actually ended up needing 2 sets of tools to complete this job. One set was an oversight on my part. Also lay them out in a way to make them easy to get to and find as you go. Next, check everything again, and make sure you do things methodically. I might have taken longer to get this completed, but since it was my first time doing this repair, I wanted to do it right the first time. Also check all your parts over very carefully. My replacement head lacked the alignment dowels for the intake manifold, which made for a challenge to get all my exhaust manifold bolts in straight, and to where I could get the intake manifold into place. I also can't stress how clean you need to keep or get everything. I went through a 25 pack of shop towels to do this job. Was it a challenge?? Sure it was. Can anyone with the right tools do it?? You bet. I'm gonna get some rest but I will try and get pictures up tomorrow for you jeep porn hungry people.

Jeff
 
Okay here is my first photo as I was beginning the teardown:

IMG_4369.jpg
 
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And here we go:

IMG_4369.jpg
 
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More:

IMG_4372.jpg
 
IMG_4373.jpg


This was to mark which way the O2 Sensor for the #1 Bank, #2 Sensor routes.
 
Here is with vacuum tubing and map and IAT sensor locations:

IMG_4374.jpg
 
Next sequence:

IMG_4375.jpg
 
Another:

IMG_4376.jpg
 
Here is with the PS pump relocated:

IMG_4377.jpg
 
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