weak points of the 4.0??? engine rebuild questions

[joe_peters]

stock radiator?

i believe the stock radiator on my 89(no a/c, no aux fan) was single core and could not keep up with cooling the engine during the summer at idle. replaced radiator, never a problem since.

sorry, but the stock set up was not up to the challenge on MY 89. only change i made back in the early 90's was the radiator

Some XJs were 2-core stock.

Mine is a single-core, came from the factory that way--I have only had one overheat issue when the fan clutch started to fail in the Jack-in-the-Box drive through. New fan clutch--admittedly a ZJ HD fan clutch--and it still works fine. Gets flushed with the 500 mile Prestone flush every two years, keeps things running pretty good.

 

[biztyke]

I highly recommend you buy a complete stroker kit from a reputable manufacturer because there is alot of science behind making it all work. People who try to reinvent the wheel typically lose a substantial investment in the process.

that's not true. i mean, it somewhat is. but if your going to build a stroker you better know the math behind it, in which case you would have no problem sourcing your own parts. it is not about reinventing the wheel, it is about reaching the same goal without costing an arm and a leg.

your basic stroker kit always contains 258 rods and crank, the only variable really is pistons and so long as you figure out your compression ratio choosing a piston is easy. beyond that you are gonna require the same know how whether you buy a kit or not because your still have to bore the cylinders and deck the block to reach your desired compression ratio.

in short, if you are planning a stroker you better do your research and understand how to come up with a workable "recipe" and then buy all the parts separately since you'll likely save yourself hundreds over the price of a kit.