warthog

I tried to search for my prior thread about the misfire but couldn't find it.

98 XJ 4.0L 4wd

Quick History :

The CE light came on for a Cylinder 1 misfire, I changed or cleaned all the normal items then did a compression test. Cylinder 1 had 90 psi while the rest were adveraging 160. I had overheated the engine in the past when mu Efan wasnt working up to par. So i figured it would be a small leak in the head gasket or something wrong with the a valve.

The past three afternoons:

I pulled the head and took it to the machine shop. He imediately said there was a crack in cylinder 2. Without magnafluxing it. I couldn't see it and told him that wasn't even my problm cylinder. Anyway, he then found a crack in cylinder 1 in between the two vavles. deffinetly could see that one. After that, he told me there was nothing he could do and gave me a phone number to a guy 2 hours away that had the same head ready to be installed. Picked up the head and put it all back together last night and now it idles like a kitten. Man i was nervous when i turned the key.

Just wanted to let people know that if you have a misfire and low compression, it could be a cracked head. I am not sure how often that is the case but it happened to me. Be prepared. I took some pics of the crack with my phone but don't really know how to upload them onto the computer, will try tonight.

Oh and a cylinder head job is fairly simple and if you do it yourself you will save around 700 bucks.

And total cost of everything was right around $400.00

Good luck to everyone with a misfire and or low compression

If anyone needs any specific info, let me know