Cracked Head

Took my jeep into the shop because it was running rough and kept getting hot.

Now I have a cracked head and weak radiator. I know this shop must be frothing at the mouth waiting to give me the bill.

Is it possible to fix a cracked head?
If not any one have one lying around, 97 cly 4.0 ?

It's always something.


Walking,
Ken

Wow

That is the first cracked head i have heard of on a 4.0. Must have gotten it scorching hot to do that!! Is possible to repair, but only as a last resort i would recommend. Are you sure it is cracked? If was something that is known to happen then that would give that diagnosis more credibility. Is awfully easy to just say that when they aren't really sure. Then, if you did get it that hot, i would not trust the rest of the engine either..... Sounds like you might have been close to the siezing-pistons range-

How Cracked

Yes heads are repairable and I have done one but only because there wasn't a rebuild available (we're talking big rigs). The junkyard is full of heads in great condition that only require a few tools and a couple of hours to take off. The 2.5l are a little prone to cracking so don't feel as if it's something out of the ordinary. What condition is the oil in? If the oil didn't break down in the heat and there aren't metal particles in it and the piston bores look good when you have it apart then by all means slap a new head on and keep rolling. If it's a good shop that you can trust then they will let you know just how much you need to rebuild.

My 89 had a cracked valve so I took the head off and took it to a machine shop. They cleaned the head and found that the seat was cracked. They tried to replace the seat but the head kept cracking. (This all happened after a major overheat due to a cracked bottle). I ended up buying a new head for $300 off the internet. Bolted the new one on and everything works great. Get yourself a good repair manual and the procedure is all listed right there. Takes some time to do it, but it's not as bad as it looks...

We see a lot of cracked heads on the newer styly 4.0s in our shop they seem to be cracking at the # 3 and #4 cylinder. I wounld call Chrysler and bitch they might help you out.

FWIW, I picked up a remanned head at AutoZone last fall for $199 plus core. Complete with valves.

It's about a 6 hour job with hand tools.

Hum i wonder if the guys at autozone could tell the difrenc between a non HO head and an HO head. then i could swap out to a bter intake and TB easier and get a better flowing head.