New to me 2000 XJ Sport engine work

Hey everyone I just bought another XJ. This is my second one as I sold (kicking myself) my 89 sport a couple years ago. Anyway, I really like this one. She's really clean with no rust to speak of and 183,000 miles on the clock. She did have the notorious leaks from the rear main, valve cover, oil filter adapter so I decided to take her to a local shop that I trust who's done high quality work for me before. I'm getting lazy in my old age and don't do much except change oil anymore, lol. Well what started as a rear main job has turned into a much larger project. The shop owner (Fellow XJ Owner) recommended we pull the engine out and properly fix all the oil seals among other things. I stopped by the shop today to check on the progress and the motor looks amazing! These guys have completely cleaned and re-painted my engine and all brackets/components to include the intake manifold (silver). They discovered that the head gasket was leaking oil at the rear of the block and the timing chain was pretty worn as well as the water pump leaking. So I'm getting the motor re-painted, new head gasket, new water pump, new high flow oil pump, new timing chain, thermostat, valve cover gasket, oil pan gasket, spark plugs, and rear main seal done for $1200. I think it's a very fair price and hope that this will keep my engine in good shape for the long haul. The mechanic said the internals of the motor are in very good shape and that someone definitely kept up the oil changes so I feel good about the motor. Feel free to let me know what you think about the work I'm having done. Thanks guys

Skip the high flow oil pump. Most are junk. A stock oil pump should be good for another 183,000 miles, or so.

it's not a bad idea to do a simple overhaul like this, but i question the "head gasket leaking oil" diagnosis.
there arent any pressurized oil galleys between the block and the head, it's more likely seepage from a valve cover gasket. though it's a no-brainer to pull the head to look at the cylinders since the engine is out of the vehicle.
no harm in using the hi-flow pump really, as long as there isnt any significant price increase increase over stock.
hope you get another 183K out of it!

Yeah I was kinda wondering the same thing about the oil leaking from the head but I was actually glad to change it out anyway since the engine was out and the labor/parts involved where minimal. This way I have peace of mind regarding the head gasket.

They checked over the head thoroughly I'd assume? Want to make sure that bad boy isn't cracked. You should make sure you stay on top of anything that could cause it to overheat, given the issues with 00-01 heads.

Yes I specifically asked them to look for cracks due to the issues with the heads and they said it looks great. I'm not sure I've ever had a head gasket leaking oil externally but even if it was just the valve cover I have peace of mind now regarding the head and gasket.

If you had it down that far it was worth it anyway for peace of mind.

I would have changed the head if it's the original 0331.

winterbeater said:

I would have changed the head if it's the original 0331.

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I agree with winterbeater and he speaks from experience.

My theory is if a stock 0331 head from an 00-01 XJ comes off the engine, it doesn't go back on.

That 0331 head can bite you......a replacement head would cost around $500 and would give you MORE peace of mind.

How big of a problem is the head really? I saw a poll on another forum in which less than 20% of owners had a cracked head at any mileage. So over 80% of the heads have yet to fail with mileage of over 200K.

RNMCGUIRE said:

How big of a problem is the head really? I saw a poll on another forum in which less than 20% of owners had a cracked head at any mileage. So over 80% of the heads have yet to fail with mileage of over 200K.

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No one really knows the answer. Like a time bomb.:firedevil