mortuar
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Cibolo, TX
Hello everyone - I apologize up front for this long winded thread....
I'm new to this forum but have been creeping around for a while. I picked up a 97 XJ recently knowing that it had cooling system issues that were likely related to freeze plugs... but didn't know the extent. Got it home, did a coolant system pressure check, leaks galore - but the main leak was on the back of the engine and I couldn't get to it.
I decided to take the largest step I've ever taken in automotive/mechanics and pull the engine/trans/tcase. The engine would have been good enough for the freeze plugs... but I noticed the transmission and tcase were both leaking and needed new seals anyway, so I pulled it all at once.
Now that I have the engine on the stand finally, I have a few questions for you guys and would like to get some opinions on where to go from here -
1. Now that the engine is out, I'm seeing more freeze plugs than were sent to me in the kit. I also noticed two smaller threaded plugs - any ideas what those are for? (sorry if that's a stupid question) They also sent me 4 brass and one stainless steel plug... so I'm thinking maybe I got the wrong 'brass freeze plug kit' from the store.
2. Two of the freeze plugs (or maybe they are some other kind of plug) sit directly behind the motor mount plate on the engine stand (right behind where the bell housing attached to the block). Any ideas on getting to those while it's on the stand?
3. I'm going to definitely pull the pan and valve cover and go through those areas - looking for wear and other issues and replacing gaskets... but the Jeep didn't show any signs of compression loss before I pulled the engine. It's got ~225k miles on the odometer, never rebuilt though it looks like they've redone the head gasket at some point. Are there any other things I should look at or just replace by default (in regards to cam, crank, bearings, etc)?
I guess my biggest internal battle right now is figuring out if I should pull everything and fully rebuild the engine - taking the block to the machine shop. To be honest, if the engine wasn't leaking coolant I wouldn't have pulled it at all. I could literally slap new freeze plugs on it, redo the leaking seals/gaskets, and throw it back in... but I figured it was worth asking people who have worked on these engines a lot more than I have.
The tl;dr is this... I've pulled an engine with ~225k miles on it to fix leaks and replace seals/gaskets/freeze plugs as well as other low hanging fruit. What else should I replace? Should I tear this all the way down and have it machined or should I just inspect it and close it all back up (never removing the head)?
Thanks in advance for any advice you may have. I've never done this much work (this is the first engine I've ever pulled from a vehicle) and feel sort of overwhelmed... but excited to have the experience.
I'm new to this forum but have been creeping around for a while. I picked up a 97 XJ recently knowing that it had cooling system issues that were likely related to freeze plugs... but didn't know the extent. Got it home, did a coolant system pressure check, leaks galore - but the main leak was on the back of the engine and I couldn't get to it.
I decided to take the largest step I've ever taken in automotive/mechanics and pull the engine/trans/tcase. The engine would have been good enough for the freeze plugs... but I noticed the transmission and tcase were both leaking and needed new seals anyway, so I pulled it all at once.
Now that I have the engine on the stand finally, I have a few questions for you guys and would like to get some opinions on where to go from here -
1. Now that the engine is out, I'm seeing more freeze plugs than were sent to me in the kit. I also noticed two smaller threaded plugs - any ideas what those are for? (sorry if that's a stupid question) They also sent me 4 brass and one stainless steel plug... so I'm thinking maybe I got the wrong 'brass freeze plug kit' from the store.
2. Two of the freeze plugs (or maybe they are some other kind of plug) sit directly behind the motor mount plate on the engine stand (right behind where the bell housing attached to the block). Any ideas on getting to those while it's on the stand?
3. I'm going to definitely pull the pan and valve cover and go through those areas - looking for wear and other issues and replacing gaskets... but the Jeep didn't show any signs of compression loss before I pulled the engine. It's got ~225k miles on the odometer, never rebuilt though it looks like they've redone the head gasket at some point. Are there any other things I should look at or just replace by default (in regards to cam, crank, bearings, etc)?
I guess my biggest internal battle right now is figuring out if I should pull everything and fully rebuild the engine - taking the block to the machine shop. To be honest, if the engine wasn't leaking coolant I wouldn't have pulled it at all. I could literally slap new freeze plugs on it, redo the leaking seals/gaskets, and throw it back in... but I figured it was worth asking people who have worked on these engines a lot more than I have.
The tl;dr is this... I've pulled an engine with ~225k miles on it to fix leaks and replace seals/gaskets/freeze plugs as well as other low hanging fruit. What else should I replace? Should I tear this all the way down and have it machined or should I just inspect it and close it all back up (never removing the head)?
Thanks in advance for any advice you may have. I've never done this much work (this is the first engine I've ever pulled from a vehicle) and feel sort of overwhelmed... but excited to have the experience.
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