2002 Grand Cherokee 0331 head tupy?

[kastein]

Since we have now heard of crummy heads later in the year and good ones earlier in the year, my bet is that there was no clear switch date, and they used whatever they had on hand when they needed it, and/or possibly some vehicles have already had the head replaced due to it failing. Before the TUPY info became common knowledge, a good number of vehicles probably received whatever 0331 donor head could be located, so basically IMO it's anyone's guess. Fortunately it's easy to see it through the oil filler cap so just check it and make your decision based on that.

I've never seen a junked vehicle I couldn't get the hood open on, except in yards where they stack the cars two high.

 

[metalman]

maybe I'm reading it wrong, but it seems like no one here has found a tupy head from before nov 01', and all the 2003's I've heard of had the tupy head, not sure of the month the production changed, but it was probably late summer/fall of 2002 at the latest, and I think april of 2002 for a vehicle with a known history is probably pretty solid, and I haven't heard of anything very definite outside those dates, some people still have problems with wrapping their head around a 2003 being built in october of 2002 for example

The brakes were kind of a random point, and very easily explained on an older jeep with someone swapping in loaded calipers on a brake job, all the loaded sets I've seen recently were akebonos, I just thought there might have been a connection.

Of course I'd always check a head before I pulled it, but with the number of yards that list online or track by build date now, and how consolidated junk yards have gotten in some parts of the country or yards that pull it for you and either won't check or will tell you anything to make a sale, its still worthwhile information before I drive two hours to pop the hood on a long shot vs a near sure thing, in my opinion