What’s it worth/how to fix it

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So this thing ended up in my garage.

97, 4.0/auto/4x4. 19x,xxxmiles
Dirty interior, trashed headliner, redneck bumpers/sliders, brand new 31s, faded paint, only bit of rust is where people cut and fold, a few dints but decent looking little Jeep.

Biggest issue is that it is running rough. No cel and still runs just stumbles on itself at idle.
If you do the dollar bill exhaust test it blows the dollar like it should but every few seconds it try’s to suck it in which tells me that I have an exhaust leak/vacuum issue.
I can hear what I believe is a cracked header but otherwise runs quiete except for an obvious stumble.

What is your money on? Skipped timing? Broken/bent/burned valve, broken valve spring, the curse of the 97s?

Plan is to clean the interior, redo the headliner, find a key fob for it(auto locks and windows but just got two regular keys), maybe put on some decent looking bumpers (either fix gear or new prototype Tnt stuff I’ve been working on) fix whatever the issue is and flip it.

I'd bet on an exhaust valve issue. Do a compression test and see if you can narrow it down. That'd be my first step.

Those are '95-'96 front seats, try to find some '97-'98. I would personally throw the stock bumpers/flares back on.

Stock bumpers for sure.

It really doesn't look bad overall.

Fix the exhaust leak before trying to diagnose the miss.

After further inspection, he exhaust leak I hear might be out of the head/halves not the header.

A compression test yeileded 110,90,30,30,125,120 for the respective cylinders. Gunna pull the valve cover and see if the valve springs/valvetrain looks good before I pull the entire head.

Head gasket

It's a '97. Kill it with fire.

time2getdirty said:

Head gasket

Click to expand...

Was just gonna say...easy fix tho

YELLAHEEP said:

It's a '97. Kill it with fire.

Click to expand...

Was waiting for you to chime in.

you're welcome

Flores is smart

I'm not surprised its between 3 & 4 but how common a problem is this on the 4.0's?

Last bad head gasket I had on a 97 was at the firewall on #6 and it was also oozing oil on the passenger side. Head was decked, valve job, and all has been good since.

Congrats on finding and telling us the problem so fast!

Easy fix on the head gasket.

I agree on the stock bumpers. I know you could fab some nice ones up cheap but aftermarket bumpers don't seem to make much of a difference in selling value. Just but some stock bumpers back on it, clean the sliders up and leave them on it (or sell them separate), and list it as a clean XJ with a small lift and nice 31's. It should sell pretty easily. Hell, I'd even go so far as to put the stock flares back on it if you can find some.

I can program a key fob if you wanna come down this way.