hil210

Alright so I just bought a 2001 jeep cherokee sport 2wd. I read reviews on it before purchase all stating it was a great vehicle. Now that I have gone more in depth I realized I have the dreaded 0331 casting. I got it at a pretty decent price and low mileage for a 13 year old vehicle. Not sure if I should just go back and try to sell it now reading about the possibility of the broken/cracked head unit. This blows because it is in really great shape. I just am not mechanically inclined and I do not want this to be a money pit.

DenimDean

Look at the oil. If it looks like chocolate milk then you probably have a cracked head. Disappearing coolant is another sign

Radi

Are you worried that it's cracked now, or that it might in the future?
If the coolant and oil are clean and you aren't losing any coolant, chances are it's OK.
Chances are also that it will stay that way. Reading here you'd think they all crack, lol. They don't. Keep the cooling system in good shape, don't overheat it.
If perchance you DO pop the head at some point, replacements are readily available and it's a DIY job to swap them. Not worth losing sleep over. Enjoy the Jeep!

CrawdadSlim

Bummer. No reason to keep it. Every head on those cracks everyone knows that. You'll have to pay someone to haul it off.

DenimDean

Complete and utter bs

Firestorm500

Well, not totally.

The 0331 head does have a known casting flaw and many do crack during the vehicles' lifetime. Often due to no fault of the owner.

Drive it and enjoy it. Cross the cracked head issue when and if it happens.

CrawdadSlim

I own a 2000. Thanx 4 the support haha.

DenimDean

So the means that every single one has a cracked head? Hmm thanks for the wisdom. Seems kind of funny that there was no recall though...

I know better than continue any further with you so I'm done.

To the OP, check the oil and go from there

hil210

Hey DenimDean I checked the oil just from the dipstick as of now, and it does not look milky. It does not seem to be losing any coolant either only had it for about two weeks. It has not over heated and the oil pressure stays at about 40-50 when on the hwy. At idle it holds at about 20.

Radi I am worried about in the future maybe even now because I am not positive if it does have a cracked head, as there is no way I can tell if the previous owner did any work to it. And the "carfax" did not say anything about the repairs. I know not all of them crack but im kinda low on cash (who isn't). I have already repalced the ac compressor and the belt.

CrawdadSlim

ROFL.

DenimDean

CrawdadSlim

I was joking OP. You really have nothing to worry about as long as you maintain it like I know you will.

southsidecatac

So, you went out and bought the jeep and then started reading this forum and probably a few others. Now you're convinced of a few things: your head is junk, you have to use rotella and the only spark plug worth a damn is NGK. well, rest easy partner, all is not lost and you can have the freedom of choice for plugs and oil. Here's the only fact you need.... Any old vehicle is going to have component failure. If you bought a dodge Dakota you'd be worried about a transmission right now. Just maintain the jeep and fix it when it breaks. Cuz it will. It's old. The good news is that they made a gazillion of them and parts are cheap.

andrewmp6

If you take care of the coolant system and drive it normal you should have nothing to worry about.Some people on here have high miles on a 00/01 with no problems.The cracked heads we hear about on here are mostly due to previous owners not doing any up keep and first sign of a problem sold it faster and cheap.

caronaxtr

I've got a 2001, 98,000 miles. Runs great, no issues to worry about. Don't worry about the cracked head comments. Just do routine maintenance watch your gauges & enjoy it.

Our XJ's are a blast & a hell of a good vehicle for being 13 years old or older.

Don't give it another thought....