drewactual

howdy folks. I won't be here long, I promise- I seek your assistance and then I'll get back to my world of diesel's.

I bought my daughter a 2000 xj (4.0 limited, auto) at her request and for her 16th. it's what she wanted... (the gods of mud and sweat bless her)... went through all the majors with it, and it checked out 'alright'. put a new alternator on it, new water pump, timing chain, cat back exhaust, radiator (3 row aluminum) + cap and thorough flush using restore and restore plus (if you're not familiar with that process, approach with caution- but a better cleaning of the cooling system can't be had).

She overheated the thing- not a little, but badly- running it HARD with a pile of teenage flesh installed in all seats and in the back with a/c kicking in 95+* south of mason dixon weather... she is SUCH a ditz, and I reckon I wasted the hour and a half i spent teaching her basics.

i've little doubt the head was cracked, and possibly already cracked when I got the thing- but CERTAINLY now, as well as head gaskets (without ANY doubt) at this point...

my question to the pro's that can only be found in forums such as these: who makes the good/better/best aftermarket heads for these things? I'm not going back with a standard 0331 S VIN head- they're weak in casting... and.. who makes the good/better/best upper gasket kit? Studs or bolts preferred for these things? how common do the blocks warp (decks) during these events on this engine requiring machining?

It's parked under the gantry right now, and i'm going to start stripping her down this afternoon. I really appreciate forums, and have come to rely on the expertise and willingness of folks to share it to old shade tree guys like myself over the years. Please pardon my brief interruption here, and know I'll share what I know if I see it's beneficial for y'all...

thanks in advance! (and by the way- 'searching' using this platform is freakin' confusing!!!)

drewactual

well gents- I have a head located and negotiated and possibly the gaskets, too...

i have the top end stripped down and will gank the head off tomorrow (loaned my impact and will retrieve it in the a.m.)...

looking the job over, this is actually maybe the easiest I've ever been tasked with... I'll yank it with the manifold still attached using the winch/gantry... will give me time to get that surface spotless and polished before the head lands.

I'm going to take a wild shot in the dark the decks are fine on the block. i'm also certain, at this point, the water pump is bad- which i can't say was or wasn't the cause of the gaskets blowing- it was brand spanking new about two months ago when it was installed.

BucklenutZ

I baught a Clearwater new cast head for mine, good ol 0331 heads HAHA oh yeah, dont forget to buy new head bolts. Also I went ahead and rebuilding mine now because if antifreeze was in the oil no doubt the bearings have some damage and oil pressure will be low. At least for mine that was the case. Good luck

drewactual

thank you for the response, sir. do these engines prefer studs over bolts?

bobpat

I also have 200o, replaced the head with a J&C head? thinks that right, also go with new bolts there is a trick I found on this forum to cut the ends off of 3 of the old bolts and use a guides for the new head, it worked great so you don't mar up the new gasket the head is heavy and awkward to move. I have pics in my folder good luck not a bad job to due.. except that most aft drivers side stud lol

DFlintstone

Me thinks normally it's a stud for some reason. Doubt your coil packs mount there, something probably should. I re-used head bolts for quite a while before I found you are only suppose to stretch them twice. By the book, there should be paint on them if they have been re-used. Guessing, asking for that stretch/torque for a third time statistically can be a problem.

The 4.O DOES need sealant on the threads of at least one head bolt. Don't miss that !

Hommersimpson

Studs will always clamp tighter then bolts..

Hommersimpson

btw: Just my 2 cent and 40 years experience.. If you know she ran hot.. hot.. like Really HOT.. use the motor for a core..and get another.. dont spend money on this one..

SIPLOWGUY

I went the Clearwater route on my 01. I was overdue for an exhaust system and the flanges on the cats were rusted beyond hope so I did that too. I also put new lifters, push rods and rocker arms. All went well and truck runs good now!

extrashaky

Don't blame her. It's quite likely it overheated because the 0331 head was already cracked and was losing coolant. It would have been beyond her knowledge unless she had been active in the XJ community for a while and knew what to look for.

It sounds like you also didn't know what to look for, but don't blame yourself either. If you don't already know about the problem in these specific years, the bulletproof reputation of the 4.0L up to the point they put the 0331 on it causes people to let down their guard. You have to know about the problem to avoid it, and most people don't find out about the problem until they have already fallen into the trap and come here looking for answers.

Your story is actually pretty common. We get new 0331 failure stories a few times a month. One guy even posted about overheating his on the way home from buying it. A lot of '00s and '01s go up for sale when the crack starts showing symptoms and the owner just wants to get out from under it. They do a quick cooling system refresh and oil change to mask some of the symptoms long enough to unload it on someone else.

Clearwater is your best bet for a replacement head. You don't need the "performance" version. It will arrive ready to bolt on. Also, either get a 2000 factory service manual (available for download _here_ for $8) or find one of the DIYs to make sure you don't miss anything and have the correct torque specs and torquing sequence.

Did she overheat it to the point that the bottom end is making noise? If so, I would stop right here and consider an overhaul or a replacement motor. If you replace it with a used motor out of another 2000, go ahead and replace the 0331 preemptively so that you don't end up in this situation again.

drewactual

thanks for all the pointers, gents!

yeah, I'm worried about the condition of other items in that chunk of steel that might not have liked the temperature too much... I actually priced dropping a rebuilt long block in there but it really just comes down to cost... I just ain't got it right now.. I'm hoping the head swap does it justice enough to get her to graduation- at what point I'll be happy.

it'll never see boost, and i don't think the 4.0 generates enough pressure to relly be a concern for using studs... i come from heavily boosted diesel world, where my engine sees as much as 55psi of boost (well, could- i've buried it one time since it was built), and it is certainly studded- but those head gaskets? I refuse to lip and wire + stud that marrying surface- because gaskets are hella less expensive and easy to replace than heads, pistons, rods, or cranks. the gasket is the last sacrifice before really bad (interesting, but bad) things happen.

after stripping the top yesterday, I don't like the looks of the intake manifold (appears to have hairline crack at mounting flange leading edge cylinder one) and the brand new water pump is highly suspect.... I don't like the gunk deposits on the head and inside the valve covers, and i know that engine can't possibly produce the heat to cause that (more the oil I used than the engine's capability- it has a indefinite heat cycle of more than 310* and a flash of 460*), which tells me this engine has been treated poorly for a lot longer than we've owned it. Also, the manifold had what appeared to be a generic cheaply made gasket on it that extended well outside of the marrying area- suggesting the dealer we bought it from did some down and dirty quick fixing to it prior to sell.... the rig was picked up by grandpappy up north and brought down here (south) for the kids birthday, and so she wouldn't see it prior (and so they could get involved in the caper)... i simply wouldn't have bought it with all the little things that added up to troouble- but, having trusted someone who isn't a gear head and working with what I had, I figured it would get her until graduation... I guess this is either a setback or that particular plan giving up the ghost, no?

drewactual

we were typing at about the same time... much of this I think I covered in former post- but some I didn't... here ya go:

it overheated between Iron Mountain MI and Columbus OH, where it was slapped on a trailer and taken to Wheeling WV- my brother in law flushed it and slapped a new 'stat in it... it didn't misbehave for a good while- then it did about two months ago when she rolled it into the driveway saying "it's making a funny whooshing noise", which was the electric fan... I waited and then peeked in the rad, where i saw some nasty fluid- so, I went ahead and picked up an aluminum three row, new water pump, new hoses, yet another new stat, timing chain (I was right there w/ the pump, so why not?)... I then realized the cap sent with the radiator was a 12# cap, so, I swapped out to a 16# cap (which was bad out of the box)- requiring another 16# cap (couldn't find an 18# cap)... it ran perfect- I mean it budged up to just under 210 on the dial and held... it would go slightly over while sitting in traffic and running a/c wide open in the 95~100* summer here, but that is all...

I had suspected a cracked head or a leaking headgasket from the very beginning.... flipping through forums confirmed my suspicion by simply comparing the issues we've encountered... I had planned on swapping heads- but wanted to wait, quite frankly, until the weather is cooler.

now here is the curiosity: now knowing I had a 16# cap on the system and realizing it needed an 18#, I knew it would blow off quicker when/if it got hot... that 2 pound difference (2.5* a #) should have allowed 5* more temp before boiling... knowing the temp runs @ 210 on this thing, and knowing we're at sea level (212* boiling point) that 5* would be a big difference... I mean 16# should disallow boiling until 252*, and the 18# to 257*- IF the system is truly closed... it held pressure just fine (airlift tool held 1bar for over an hour, or when I took it off)... so... the only reason that coolant/water mix could have boiled is (wait for it)- a freakin' bad cap, which it's been my experience is something that is getting worse, not better- as many as three out of five are bad out of the box, and no matter how much you spend on them individually...

I get the crack allows combustion in the cooling system... if not that, it certainly pressurizes it... I also get tha the engine consumes enough juice through that crack (if it penetrates the jacket) to make it magically disappear but not enough to cause the exhaust to tattle on it or massive loss of coolant.......... in short, it didn't seem that bad- and something I could punt until fall... I had visions of setting the flatscreen on the cab of that thing and watching football, drinking beer, and twirling wrenches this fall.... looks like that ain't gonna happen.

I'll keep you gents posted if'n ya have any interest in this saga.... I'm not mad at the kid, but I would have really appreciated if she had looked the fluids over before throwing the key over- and she didn't... but she is just a kid... not really her fault.

drewactual

oh... SNAP... I wrote a friggin' book and never typed what I meant to:

no noise from bottom end.. I sought that noise, and heard none of it.. this doesn't mean the bearings didn't get beat up, but they're still allowing twirling without audible complaint..

I use a particular oil compound that has served my purposes VERY well, proven through laboratory analysis of used oil, and though many pass it off as snake oil or marketing, there absolutely is something to it... the two companies aren't related- but Scheaffer's 9000 supreme in ten parts to 1 part Archoil 9100... i've never used anything slicker or tougher (sheer strength is unbelievable- it just straight up CLINGS to hard parts)... that engine was running this combo when she heated it... it hadn't been in there long enough to displace the deposits, but- it was in there long enough to cram itself in the important places...

the stuff works....... I pulled a turbo and insepcted the shafts on two sets- one running without and the other running always, and with same miles used in similar if not same conditions... these turbos are off a med duty diesel and see temps north of 1500* commonly, and dang near always above 1k* in regular use... the non compound use was scarred, the one with compounds looked good as new...

DFlintstone

Aircroil, not Kriol?

drewactual

archoil.... of the 9100 flavor... turbo seals are perfect... turbo shafts have zero oil coking on them whereas the one w/o (and running roltella t6) coked like nobody's concern... the stuff ain't cheap by any stretch of the imagination- I wouldn't use it if I didn't see the results myself.