The gasket did come free very easily and you can faintly see the crosshatching in the bores, as far as oil passages there is the typical sludge build up but it's not excessive, it's got 170k on it so what it's got seems about normal to me. There was no coolant in it when I took it apart but judging by the water jackets it doesn't seem to have had any sealant in it. I'll take more pics of the deck head and head gasket tomorrow. I'll also put a strait edge on the deck and on the head again. I'll clean up the surfaces to get a better look for other cracks.

 

Third coast I'm sorry the posts are confusing I'm using the mobile version of this site and it's not giving me any options to just reply to individual posts, every time I reply it's going strait to the bottom of the thread.

 

No, that is the way it works.

 

Oh ok thanks for clarifying, not only am I new here but it's also the first forum I've joined lol.

 

Welcome on board. This is probably one of the best Cherokee related forums. Lots of good info here on many topics and some to evaluate with caution. The thread at this location has useful info on heads:
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/00-...18922/index13/
There are also other related useful threads. Search for "heads" in search box - top of page, far right.

 

Thank you, I read some threads before joining and they seemed to be informative which is why I decided to join.

 

Well I went to a pull apart yard and picked up a head from a 97 XJ, brought it to work with me to clean the gaskets off and to put it in a parts washer, when I put it in there I decided I'd fill the ports up to check for valve leaks and found 3 that were leaking. Pulled a valve and it was pitted all to hell and back. The seat in the head will clean up with lapping another valve in so I think I'm going to try to pull valves out of my cracked head and lap them in. What do you guys think? I'm about out of money to spend on it right now.

 

 

 

 

 

Hey Brad. You are surely getting good stuff from, 3coast and others. I don't want to distract. Make sure it's not an 0331 head, that will help diagnose an"oddity?".

My (short) research dove-tales with the "worn cam" bearings, or the idea that coolant is nasty on bearing inserts. It's reported that 0331 failing CAN trash the engine. (tough pill for me to swallow though)

Reason I butted in.......Maybe bolt a nice bulletproof head on it and give it a go. If it turns out there is more trouble, throw that head on the replacement JY engine?

 

"Well I went to a pull apart yard and picked up a head from a 97 XJ, brought it to work with me to clean the gaskets off and to put it in a parts washer, when I put it in there I decided I'd fill the ports up to check for valve leaks and found 3 that were leaking. Pulled a valve and it was pitted all to hell and back. The seat in the head will clean up with lapping another valve in so I think I'm going to try to pull valves out of my cracked head and lap them in. What do you guys think? I'm about out of money to spend on it right now."

Whoops,didn't see that. You can put a fuel line from your variable speed, reversible drill chuck to the valve stem. Pulling gently, and changing speed and direction while applying valve grinding compound to the seat might stop that diesel from leaking around the valve seat. (Diesel can be sluggish to light). Hand lapping with a new gasket deserves new valve stem seals..........

 

I tried the drill idea and worked on one valve for about an hour and couldn't get it to seal, I took the head back to the pull apart and in now in search of another one.

 

Might be a little seepage is OK. Evenness across the board is nice to see. Leaving no grinding compound matters also. I've swapped valves to get a better seat. If there is a machine shop handy that will set you up for $10 a hole that would be nice also.