After I removed the head ... see anything I should be worried about?
08-29-2017, 10:01 PM
#1
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Year: 1999
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0 I6
After I removed the head ... see anything I should be worried about?
All,
I removed the head from my 1999 Sport (155,000) in order to change a blown head gasket.
Machine shop cleaned and resurfaced head. Said it was about 1/10,000 (?) off. Picking it up tomorrow.
I took picks of cylinder heads after removal and they are below. Can you tell anything from the pics? Don't have any experience looking at engines broken down to this point. Could use another set of eyes.
I removed the head from my 1999 Sport (155,000) in order to change a blown head gasket.
Machine shop cleaned and resurfaced head. Said it was about 1/10,000 (?) off. Picking it up tomorrow.
I took picks of cylinder heads after removal and they are below. Can you tell anything from the pics? Don't have any experience looking at engines broken down to this point. Could use another set of eyes.
08-29-2017, 10:56 PM
#2
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Year: 1998 Classic (I'll get it running soon....) and 02 Grand
Model: Cherokee (XJ)
Engine: 4.0
Well, I haven't gone over the pictures with a magnifying glass, so I might have missed something, but here goes:
1. Looks good. No cracks that I can see. Nothing more to be said.
2. You need a razor blade and some patience to clean up that block. Get busy! You also have some gunk in your cylinders that needs cleanup, particularly on the walls. Careful work with a razor blade here. You don't want to scratch the walls. To be extra careful, take a file and round the corners of the blade before you use it. It will be the corners that do any gouging, and you must avoid that. Use a vacuum frequently to pick up the stuff you scrape off. You don't want it down in your water or oil passages, and you don't want it down in your piston rings. The inside of an engine should be almost sterile. Junk is death.
3. Once you have it running, make sure you do the basic tune-up stuff. Plugs, wires. Run some injector cleaner through the tank. One of the mods here recommends BK44. (I can never remember if it's tjwalker or Cruiser54) Also, do the steam cleaning routine.
4. The MMM (Marvel Mystery Oil) treatment is good for your rings. Do it after you get the clean up done.
- I don't see anything that concerns me about the condition of your engine.
- I see a bunch of clean up that needs to be done.
- I see some cylinders have run richer than others, judging by the carbon buildup.
- I see an opportunity to do the MMM treatment, which is good.
1. Looks good. No cracks that I can see. Nothing more to be said.
2. You need a razor blade and some patience to clean up that block. Get busy! You also have some gunk in your cylinders that needs cleanup, particularly on the walls. Careful work with a razor blade here. You don't want to scratch the walls. To be extra careful, take a file and round the corners of the blade before you use it. It will be the corners that do any gouging, and you must avoid that. Use a vacuum frequently to pick up the stuff you scrape off. You don't want it down in your water or oil passages, and you don't want it down in your piston rings. The inside of an engine should be almost sterile. Junk is death.
3. Once you have it running, make sure you do the basic tune-up stuff. Plugs, wires. Run some injector cleaner through the tank. One of the mods here recommends BK44. (I can never remember if it's tjwalker or Cruiser54) Also, do the steam cleaning routine.
4. The MMM (Marvel Mystery Oil) treatment is good for your rings. Do it after you get the clean up done.
08-30-2017, 09:55 AM
#3
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Year: 1997
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0L
Is cylinder #2 still smooth? Looks to have more up and down wear than the others? May be nothing more than the angle, but still curious. Aside from that, nothing jumps out at me.
08-30-2017, 11:07 AM
#4
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Year: 1999
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0 I6
Well, I haven't gone over the pictures with a magnifying glass, so I might have missed something, but here goes:
1. Looks good. No cracks that I can see. Nothing more to be said.
2. You need a razor blade and some patience to clean up that block. Get busy! You also have some gunk in your cylinders that needs cleanup, particularly on the walls. Careful work with a razor blade here. You don't want to scratch the walls. To be extra careful, take a file and round the corners of the blade before you use it. It will be the corners that do any gouging, and you must avoid that. Use a vacuum frequently to pick up the stuff you scrape off. You don't want it down in your water or oil passages, and you don't want it down in your piston rings. The inside of an engine should be almost sterile. Junk is death.
3. Once you have it running, make sure you do the basic tune-up stuff. Plugs, wires. Run some injector cleaner through the tank. One of the mods here recommends BK44. (I can never remember if it's tjwalker or Cruiser54) Also, do the steam cleaning routine.
4. The MMM (Marvel Mystery Oil) treatment is good for your rings. Do it after you get the clean up done.
- I don't see anything that concerns me about the condition of your engine.
- I see a bunch of clean up that needs to be done.
- I see some cylinders have run richer than others, judging by the carbon buildup.
- I see an opportunity to do the MMM treatment, which is good.
1. Looks good. No cracks that I can see. Nothing more to be said.
2. You need a razor blade and some patience to clean up that block. Get busy! You also have some gunk in your cylinders that needs cleanup, particularly on the walls. Careful work with a razor blade here. You don't want to scratch the walls. To be extra careful, take a file and round the corners of the blade before you use it. It will be the corners that do any gouging, and you must avoid that. Use a vacuum frequently to pick up the stuff you scrape off. You don't want it down in your water or oil passages, and you don't want it down in your piston rings. The inside of an engine should be almost sterile. Junk is death.
3. Once you have it running, make sure you do the basic tune-up stuff. Plugs, wires. Run some injector cleaner through the tank. One of the mods here recommends BK44. (I can never remember if it's tjwalker or Cruiser54) Also, do the steam cleaning routine.
4. The MMM (Marvel Mystery Oil) treatment is good for your rings. Do it after you get the clean up done.
08-30-2017, 11:07 AM
#5
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Year: 1999
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0 I6
08-30-2017, 06:25 PM
#6
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Year: 1998 Classic (I'll get it running soon....) and 02 Grand
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While you have it open, it would not hurt to poke a micrometer in there and see how your cylinder wear looks.
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02-16-2019, 05:28 PM
#8
CF Veteran
If you blew a head gasket that might be coolant scorches and not carbon so much. You certainly want to get that baby to sit nice and clean on the block so clean clean clean. Mine was shiny as a hiney, pistons, cyls, and the head done at a shop. Bit of scotchbrite scrubber, some brake cleaner, and a whole lot of finger work. Like hours of it. Next you want to read the FSM about the 3 step torque process. Oh and perhaps most importantly you want NEW head bolts and clean holes. There is one bolt up front that you have to coat with locktite. Again, the FSM for the correct sequencing. Something was amiss in the first place to make the gasket fail so you have to be real careful cleaning, new bolts, and torque sequence. -
02-16-2019, 06:57 PM
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Year: 90,84
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Engine: 4.0,2.5
Looking again at your pics, the piston skirt wouldn't make scoring marks that high up, would be rings. No harm in putting some penatrant like PB blaster in there, or even Kemtool. Move the piston up and down some with the crank pulley bolt. Once any crap has had a good chance to dissolve in the solvent, add some thick oil engine or even 90W, then rotate the piston up, then down to leave any deposits on the cylinder wall where you can wipe them off. Repeat. If your rings are just gummed up there is some chance of removing that. Wipe all the cylinders with engine oil before you bolt it back up.
Last edited by DFlintstone; 02-16-2019 at 07:07 PM.
02-17-2019, 12:50 PM
#10
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You guys do realize his last post is from August 30th, 2017? All I can say is I appreciate the pics to look at ....but I do not think he is gonna see your advice. 
02-17-2019, 01:05 PM
#11
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ROFL! That'll teach me not to surf while drinking.
02-17-2019, 01:07 PM
#12
Seasoned Member