atomic13

My son has a stock 2000 Jeep XJ 6 cyl. 2 wheeled drive. Auto trans with 114000 miles. He wants to put an upgraded exhaust on it.


He wants to increase the performance on a budget.


He wants to put a header and exhaust on it.


First other then making is sound cool, will it do anything for the performance?


He found these headers:
http://www.protuninglab.com/hds-jc91...id=87012368578


What is your opinion on them?


Second, He is on a budget and has to spend his money on things that will make the biggest increase in performance for the best price. So what would your suggest?


I know about cold air intakes and bigger throttle bodies but just need to know what it will take to increase his performance for the lease amount of money.


Thanks for any info.

andrewmp6

I would pass on that one its way too cheap and on a unknown site.Look at http://www.seriousoffroadproducts.co...NIFOLD-GASKETS and exhaust kit http://performance-curve.com/84-01ch...ailpipe-1.aspx

atomic13

andrewmp6


It says that this header will only fit 1991-1998. Ours is a 2000. I guess I will have to contact them to see if it will fit.

Dumajones

Do you know if it has California's emissions? cause if it does, those headers in the link are for 91-99 will not work if you have California emissions. The 2000-2001 have two precats that come right off the exhaust header if you have Cali specs.
here is a pic of 2000-2001 California emission setup



If he has Cali emissions setup you need to get this kind of header



I had to get this^^^^^^^^^ kind for my 2000 even though I have just federal emissions system on my 2000.

Here is a pic of my systemVVVVVV



And here is a pic of the kind I had to getVVVV



Here are some links to the headers that will work. Headers for the 00-01 get expensive fast.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jeep-Cherokee-4-0L-2000-06-Stainless-Steel-Exhaust-Headers-/201154322233?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2ed5bb5f39&vxp=mtrhttp://www.ebay.com/itm/17660-02-Rugged-Ridge-Steel-Exhaust-Header-Jeep-Wrangler-Cherokee-2000-2006-4-0L-/400760527167?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5d4f30593f&vxp=mtrhttp://www.ebay.com/itm/BANKS-TORQUE-TUBE-HEADER-2000-01-JEEP-CHEROKEE-4-0-/130521388230?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item1e63ae54c6&vxp=mtr
Hope this helps

extrashaky

Damn. Dumajones beat me to it. I'll leave this here anyway...

It won't. Here are a few things you need to know about the exhaust on the 2000.

First, there were two major versions of the exhaust that year, the California emissions version and the 49-state EPA version. The CA version looks like this:



What you will notice is that the manifolds are two pieces that feed into a y-shaped downpipe. In the CA version, that downpipe has two small catalytic converters. There are four O2 sensors, two in the manifolds and two in the downpipe. There is also a third "main" catalytic converter under the truck, which leads most of us to refer to the front cats as "precats."

The EPA version does not have the precats, and it only has two O2 sensors, both of which are under the truck. The manifolds are the same, but the EPA downpipe looks like this:


(Imagine that turned the same direction as the precatted downpipe above.)

Now let's look at the header you linked to:



As you can see, that's not a direct fit, because it has a single collector and expects to connect to a single downpipe lower down in the engine bay. In fact, NO header made for '99 and prior will directly bolt onto a 2000 or 2001. If you have the EPA version, it may be possible to make something like that fit by making a custom downpipe for it, but it would probably be more trouble than it's worth. If you have the CA version, forget it. Even if it were legal to delete the precats, the computer would be expecting signals from the O2 sensors and wouldn't play nice without those precats in there.

Because of this setup, your header choices are limited. I have a set of Banks Torque Tubes on mine:




As you can see, the pipes curl around to make a direct fit with the downpipe. The header is pricey (retail $450+), but I'm very happy with it. If you don't want to pay for Banks, there is also a thread here that has a number of other headers listed that are supposed to be direct fit for the 2000:

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f11/a...ffered-502290/

As for other exhaust mods, you can replace your main cat under the truck with a high flow cat for anywhere from $30 up to $200. If you have the CA version, you can also replace those precats up front, but that costs about $750, so it's really not worth it.

Then look at cat-back exhausts. And I'll tell you, with the exhausts, you get what you pay for. The cheap loud mufflers generally sound like crap. People on here get all hard for Flowmasters, but those make the Jeep sound like an unmuffled lawn mower. To get the deep low rumble the truck deserves, you're going to have to step up to a Banks or Gibson cat-back.

One other thing you need to know about the 2000s is that in addition to the major differences between the CA and EPA versions, there is also variation in how each of those is set up. From the downpipe, there's a crossover pipe that goes into the main cat that goes into the muffler. On some 2000s, each of those sections is joined with the next by a flange that simply bolts the pieces together. On others, those sections are welded or clamped together without flanges. You probably want to climb up under the Jeep and see if you have flanges, and where, because knowing that will help you figure out what version of a catalytic converter and cat-back you want to buy. I have flanges, so I opted for all bolt-ons, but not everyone has that option.

As for other performance enhancements, there's not a whole lot you can do to improve a stock 4.0L (short of a stroker kit). One good mod that actually gets results is to upgrade the fuel injectors to a set that has four holes in each injector instead of one. That doesn't give you any additional power, but many people have seen improved fuel economy from the better atomization of the fuel. Search this site and you'll find all the info you could want on that.

Another good mod is to install a wiring harness with relays for the headlights. Over time the resistance increases in the stock wiring, and the headlights get very, very dim. Installing an aftermarket headlight harness is cheap and easy and will bring the headlights almost back to their original brightness.

Honestly I wouldn't bother with a cold air intake on a stock 4.0L. A drop-in air filter in the stock airbox is probably a better choice. A bored throttle body might improve throttle response a little, but it's not going to give you a big boost in power. Don't bother with throttle body spacers. They're a joke that do nothing but whistle and make your Jeep sound stupid.

If you haven't done a cooling system overhaul on this thing, you should consider it. The 2000s were fitted with a defective 0331 head casting that cracks very easily. You need to keep the cooling system in top notch shape, and even then there's no guarantee the thing won't crack. One of the major sources of overheating in these things is a failed fan clutch. The water jackets also fill up with crud over time, so a flush never hurts.

Considering that you have the crack-prone head, I would strongly suggest making it a regular practice to send oil samples out to Blackstone or a similar lab for analysis at each oil change. The analysis only costs $25, and it will alert you if you have developed a head problem long before it has a chance to damage the bearings. It's cheap insurance that will tell you a lot about how the engine is wearing.

Welcome to the club. The 2000 definitely has its own set of quirks.

Dumajones

What we said ^^^^^ lol

atomic13

Thanks guys great info. Now I'm sweating the whole cracked head deal. No problems as of now.


Thanks

Dumajones

Yes It did but just a little,nothing to write home about lol. then I went 2.5 cat back exhaust and a 62mm throttle body with the cowl spectra cold air intake, That is what you have to do if you want to feel anything worth a dam. You have to let the 4.0l breathe to feel any in the seat of the pants feel. Here is some reading you can do

http://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/en...ing-true-lies/

Dumajones

Here is how my jeep sounds with all that set up

Jrozar

I run a stainless steel banks ceramic coated on one and a gibson stainless steel ceramic coated on another both with 62mm throttle bodies, and new exhaust from the header back with a magna flow cat and on one the banks monster pipe and the other a Walker SS Quiet.

Yes I have had performance increases..

My suggestion is buy quality the first time if you plan to keep the vehicle.

extrashaky

After seeing Dumajones' post above, I wanted to add one more thing. You'll notice that there are basically two styles of headers for the 2000. If you look closely at the Torque Tubes, Rugged Ridge and other curly headers, you'll see that the pipes that curl around are longer than the other pipes. These unequal length pipes are supposed to help increase torque. They also give the Jeep's exhaust note more of a rumble and less of a drone.

The other style is mostly equal length pipes, or close to equal. Those will likely flow more freely, possibly giving you hp gains at higher RPM at the expense of torque. This engine has no shortage of torque, though, so you probably wouldn't miss any loss you experience. However, if paired with a cheap exhaust, the equal length header is going to make the truck sound even more like a lawn mower.

Equal and unequal length headers have their proponents and detractors. Personally, I think the Torque Tubes sound freakin' awesome. But then, I've got $1,263.46 in my exhaust from one end to the other, so it bloody well better sound good.

Dumajones

Is your 2000 losing coolent and you have no clue where its going?? if not then im sure you are fine not all 2000 with the 0331 head will crack. Just don't over heat that 0331 head. open the oil filler cap and look for this VVVV


If you do not see this then you should be fine if your oil pressure is good and no magic water loss is happening. just don't over heat it and do regular oil changes/ and keep the cooling system on regular maintenance.

My head went, trust me I know to much about the 0331 head issue...lol

extrashaky

I had the unexplained coolant loss, but I never got that milky crap under the filler cap even at the very end when my oil level rose between changes and my oil pressure dropped to zero. After going through all that, I don't trust my (or anyone else's) ability to detect the problem early with 100% accuracy.

That's why I suggested the oil analysis. I now do it on both my vehicles, but I particularly think it's important on an XJ with an 0331 head.

Dumajones

I agree but the cap is a good start and watch for magic water loss. mine only had magic water loss, no junk on cap. It even would hold pressure when it was tested. I found out after you shut the motor off and let it sit for like 15mins you could look under the oil cap, look between the 3-4 rockers and you could see the water sweating out of a small crack.





It would sweat the water into the oil as the jeep sat.. so yes if you can get the oil checked for coolant in the oil that would be good.

cruiser54

Duma is like the QVC of CF.