Firestorm500

It sounds OK for now. The most important thing to watch for is unexplained coolant loss, and/or milky oil.

Not every 0331 cracks, but enough do that it's a trend.

gary s

And for that Chrysler should be footing the bill,or at the very least providing a very good discount on a new head.

cherokeewilson

thanks firestorm i will def keep an eye on it. i just bought it last week but im already experienceing poor idle, CEL, and misfiring. this sucks lol LOVE MY JEEP but should have gotten a 99 haha

XJeepin23

m

413maxwedge

On your stated oil psi its not really clear what you mean for the 13- 20 psi, but to clear it up, 13 psi @ 600 rpm and 37-75 psi @ 1600+ rpm is what is called for. Now if your oil pump has say 120,000 miles on it plus other wear throughout the motor ,will also drop oil psi, just as too clear up that slightly lower oil pressure does not always indicate a cracked head.Also number 4 bubble's in coolant this show's that exhaust gases are entering coolant chambers not coolant in combustion chamber, otherwise you read up pretty good on the subject just copied down some stuff wrong. nice job ,Also the poor idle rough run CEL is more of the heat soak issue than cracked head.

413maxwedge

Then every single head would have to crack and not just some! I had one crack, big whup I replaced it and it's fine (see what regualar matainence does I caught it,plus this was before I even found out about the dreaded 0331 head).The other one, I've had no problem's with it, but I do still watch it.

413maxwedge

No and these syptoms don't always make for a cracked head.

Unleashed

Great info, thanks

ixta70

Damn today i turned on my 00- Cherokee and it started making weird noises, I'm guessing now it was misfiring. First thing I checked was the coolant, completely empty and I had just filled it up about a two weeks ago if not sooner than that. Probably about 200 miles or less. Well anyways I was trying to see where the noise was coming from and I found some of the "creamy-brown emulsion" stuff. This sucks! Now to determine exactly how bad the situation is.

gary s

Well this wasn't the 1st Jeep I bought new but it is my last,each year they just got cheaper and cheaper.My 2 1995 countrys, one of which I still have were the best ones so far followed by my 01 and my 98 GC which I still have too.
I understand what you mean by big whup but come on how long have they been building that engine? They got cheap and tried to save a buck so man up and fix your mistakes. And to add to that their now Fiats and you know that won't have a good ending

Kager2002

Good info!

viper_venom600gtsr

Of course Chrysler should be footing the bill as you suggested. Contrary to what someone suggested, I don't think that the process for the diagnosis of a cracked head falls under "regular maintenance". Most people take their cars to dealerships for "regular maintenance" and we all know how that turns out. For those of us that have a keen eye for the gauges and follow fluid levels by the centimeter, it would throw up flags that something's wrong but for the average Joe on the road this is impossible and unrealistic of us to expect. I have sentimental attachment to my XJ and am mechanically inclined and hence those are the only reasons I've kept it for as long as I have. If I were in the average person's shoes and had to pay a shop to do all the work, my XJ would probably have ended up in a JY under the Cash for Clunkers a long time ago. Outside of hardcore Jeep fans, I doubt somebody would return to buy another vehicle after going through all this.

twistedunibody01

I actually swapped my head out to a 96 ran a 96 exhaust and it runs fine! A few things you'd have to consider is the 96 exhaust doesn't have as many 02 sensors so before working it and mounting it up it needs to be brought to an muffler shop are "DIY" I fixed my 01 Cherokee like this a while back it cost a hole lot less with the same outcome as outing a few head are finding a used head off a 01 xj! For some odd reason "head problems" that's why every xj with that casting of the head is in the junk yard. Jj I mean it's really comman for that happening that's one reason I didn't wanna run that head again. Disadvantages of this swap is that it's cheaper but more time is taken and in almost any "junk" yard you can't find a full exhaust they scrap the cats off of almost every vechile. More work cheaper but better head like he says up in the thred a lil try to find one with less are really close to what your motors mileage is

ball buster

where do i find the 0331 number? I cant find anything on location. I have a 01 with 107k mi and just wanting to prep myself for the bad if it does have it

A2000cherokeexj

Stamped on the driver side top of head. Will be right by the edge of the valve cover. Might have to take wire brush if its caked in grease