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Odessa cylinder head 0331 replacement

OutkastBoss

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Saint louis
Ok so i am having to get my engine rebuilt after my 0331 gave up and cracked in the usual place..

We have enough into this rig and intend to keep it for the long haul so a random used engine just wont do.
(dont want to end up having to swap engines more than once)

Unfortunately it seems all the rebuilt engine companies (at least the ones i talked to) reuse the stock 0331 heads that came on the 00-01's .

One of them (Jasper) even tried to tell me whoever told me there was a problem with those heads was trying to make $ off of me and that there was never a problem with the head it was the gasket used in the factory from those 2 years that caused those issues .. ( he was very rude).

So i decided id get the head in hand i want and then find a rebuilder to do it with a head i feel better about.

But Try as i might i couldn't find the 03+ (or was it 02?) heads with the TUPY stamped on them anywhere locally or on ebay.

Or even a 4.0 from those years running or not (at least locally)

So i have pulled the trigger on this from Odessa Cylinder Head
http://www.ebay.com/itm/170697825439?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:BIN&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2650

Seems like a small charge for peace of mind that my rebuild will last as long as it should.

Has anyone had experience with these ?

I searched but i didnt see any posts of anyone that had theirs on and tested for an extended period of time , just people asking about them.
 
Yes, I have had experience with this Company and I was very pleased.

The Company also goes by Clearwater Cylinder head. They are out of Clearwater Florida.

I purchased a set of remaned 3.7 heads from them for the Jeep Liberty last year. I had the heads in a reasonable amount of time.

They give you the 30 days to get the cores back... My rebuilder had the engine longer than that. I called the Company and talked to the lady there (Can't remember her name) and she said it was no problem and extended the core deadline. They were very nice.

4.0 head I haven't dealt with.


http://www.superpages.com/bp/Clearwater-FL/Odessa-Cylinder-Head-L2130357599.htm



http://cylinder-heads.com/Home__.html
 
Okay so the guy at Odessa was super nice and seemed to know his stuff.
He was shocked the guy at Jasper would say they weren't an issue and would actually reuse them.

He even mentioned the TUPY head as possibly a cheaper alternative to their head and told me they do not cast those (made in brazil) heads anymore so they can be harder to find and would pretty much not be found NEW..

He said that they use the old heads springs and other parts on various remanufactured heads that they fit on and scrap all the 0331 stock heads because "they are all junk"

He assured me that all their NEW heads are indeed new and have never been on any vehicle before..

Kind of makes sense to offset the cost of the head a bit it made theirs the cheaper of the 3 upgraded replacement heads for the 0331 i was able to find.

He mentioned that these constantly flow out the door and a flood of cracked (between 3rd and 4th) 0331's stream in .
 
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I bought a 0331 head from them. I bought through CCH as opposed to the oddessa ebay store because of a longer warranty. Same head I believe but I would rather spend the extra money(wasn't much money) to get a better warranty which I hope will end up being wasted money(meaning I won't have a problem again). They were VERY NICE and easy to deal with on the phone. I'd deal with them again in a heartbeat.
 
After having alot of trouble with the local shops not wanting to use the Odessa head for my rebuild (wtf?)

It seems like these guys are engine Swappers not rebuilders as they are getting their motors from a rebuilt distributor and swapping them in .
And like Jasper and anyone else thats reusing the Crappy origional 0331 heads they are saying there never was a problem and that the odessa head will void warranty.

I did find a Performance Shop that would do it on a "if we think its our fault warranty" for like 3,000 and the mechanic i was talking to had a 2000 cherokee that did the same thing so he was aware of the issue.
And AXLE BOY (a 4wd specialy shop) Was well aware of the issue and wanted 3,000 with a 1 year 12,000 mile warranty. to rebuild using the odessa head. (my best bet if i pay someone to rebuild).

After all these Large numbers and uninformed shops around here i think i may just swap in a motor myself (ive done it once for a friend) and return (or sell) the Odessa head. ( I still want a New rebuilt)
I did Find 2 companies that sell rebuilts that Note that they do not use the Stock head but New casting heads. (after i got my odessa head of course)

One was Engines Direct (an ebay seller) its 2,000 and has a 3 year 100,000 mile warranty http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-REMAN-JEEP-CHEROKEE-4-0-LITER-LONG-BLOCK-ENGINE-2000-2001?item=270928763306&cmd=ViewItem&_trksid=p5197.m7&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D4%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D6882004844407352030

The other is Powertrain Products inc. I like the deal enough that i think i may go this route and swap it in myself for 2,000 It has a 4 year million mile warranty Is a Complete Rebuilt and tested Motor and heres a part cut and pasted from the description:
"This engine comes with a new head installed that will not crack like the previous 331 casting does from jeep. "
http://www.powertrainproducts.net/tour-our-factory-s/795.htm
Seems like a better deal than Engines Direct and they have a real website (not just ebay)
On Powertrains site they have a "Tour our facility tab" that clearly explains the process of how they clean rebuild and test these..

Im thinking Powertrain if i swap it myself or Axle Boy if i dont ..
 
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Do some research on Titan before you pull the trigger(here and Jeepstrokers).

yea i remember doing some research on that site about strokers when i thought i might want one . and i kind of remember seeing alot of bad reviews on titan..

Pretty shure its going to be Drivetrain inc. or Axle Boy .
 
do not for any reason go with Titan, their recent stunt on here convinced me they are as untrustworthy as it gets. They registered two sockpuppet accounts on here to try and clean up their reputation by claiming to be happy customers and we busted them because they don't have the tech skills to hide that kind of thing.

I'd swap in a used motor - or pull yours (it just cracked the head, right? Hasn't blown up yet?), put new gaskets and bearings in it, drop the Odessa head on, and put it back in.
 
that's a pretty weak way for a company to behave.. I'm pretty shure the motors toast it was ran the way it was (smoking out the pipe reeking of coolant and knocking like a mofo ) on and off a trailer a few times until it actually died for good..

I kind of wanted to just put the odessa on a used low mileage but was having a hard time finding a known good one (from 2000 or 2001 for simplicity) Except a few that i felt ere overpriced and higher miles than i wanted

the fiancee likes the idea of a "new rebuilt" one with a warranty. Which I was not shure the warranty would be honored unless a shop does the install.

this led me to thinking of the last motor swap I was involved in and how much it kind of sucked.

I will be waiting about a week to get the cash together so in that time I'll be looking for a good low mileage used that I don't feel is overpriced. If I can find what I'm looking for I think I'll go that route. And swap it all myself.. (probably save quite a bit)
It would be nice to have a New Motor that i felt was reliable instead of motor that i dont know how it was treated though.

Under no Circumstances will i ever buy anything from Titan Btw
 
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wow yeah that sounds like it's toast!

The shortblocks are very similar across most years, they did do some improvements in the 95/96/97 timeframe. You could put a block made anytime after 91 (iirc, even earlier may work too) with your Odessa head and accessories/brackets/sensors into that jeep with no problems.
 
wow yeah that sounds like it's toast!

The shortblocks are very similar across most years, they did do some improvements in the 95/96/97 timeframe. You could put a block made anytime after 91 (iirc, even earlier may work too) with your Odessa head and accessories/brackets/sensors into that jeep with no problems.

Yea i beleive the short blocks i found had a Much wider Year range that they were supposed to work with now that you mention it .
 
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