I have decided to let this forum decide the path of my repair;

I purchased a 1997 jeep Cherokee. The body was in great condition and the previous owner said it overheated. Well i lowballed her and towed it home. i tear apart the engine and pull the head off and deliver it to my local machine shop which i am almost a regular there. The machinist calls me up and says the bolt hole in the cooling water jacket has a small crack and he does not recommend proceeding with the head rebuild. Well shoot, there goes a quick fix.

I manage to locate a 1996 jeep Cherokee that apparently had a "good engine". I managed to tow it away for free! Well I start tearing it down with the intention of swapping engines completely. When i remove the radiator on the 96 i find that there is a total of 4 quarts of coolant in the entire system!

Now my question is this; do i install the complete engine from the 96 or do i remove the cylinder head and install it on my 97?

I know i am probably leaving out details but you guys are experts and will remind me of those parts.

thanks in advance.

 

If the rest of the 97 looks good. Take head off 96 have checked and install on 97

 

The 97 piston tops and the cylinder walls had no scoring whatsoever and the engine had oil in it when I checked it. I have read that blocks can crack but I don't see any visible leaks or cracks from the freeze plugs either. The 96 engine has some sort of freeze plug repair in it as well

 

X2. Remember to check for the old style temp sending unit in the back of the head and find a good plug for it before installing the head.

 

If it were mine, I'd refresh the head from the 96 and install it on the 97. Then, it my leisure, go thru the 96 and make it a spare bullet for the 97. If something unexpected happens to your DD, it's nice to have a spare engine waiting in the wings!

 

See the below picture of the 97 cylinder it appears to have a piece of the Piston scuffed off onto the cylinder? How do I proceed?

 

Pull that piston out and see just how bad the scoring is. You may get by just cleaning it up and making sure the rings float in the grooves.

 

I just bought a replacement engine for a couple hundred bucks on Craigslist and swapped it in it's been running great