necron99

I'm new to the forum and new to the XJ club. Just bought a 2000 sport, and what do you know, I have a cracked head. Turns out this was one of the problems that made him sell it. Its not bad at all, and is on the exhaust side, not the engine side so I'm not worried about coolant eating away at my bearings. Changed the oil and no milkyness to be seen. Seems to be manifesting as coolant in the exhaust. Long story short, I ordered a heavy duty new head from Odessa cylinders ( I think its the same casting clearwater does) as even though its not bad, I plan on putting her through the paces and want the piece of mind of the beefed head.

Question,
Besides replacing all the head gaskets and bolts, is there anything else you would recommend replacing or upgrading while im at it. I figure while I'm in there I should try and sort out any other potential issues.

Its already going to be a long week of work, replacing all the steering with kevins offroad, zj tie rod, RE rear leafs, and get this, the guy I bought it from just replaced the transfer case, but they put a freaking 242 in it instead of the 231 it should have. I'm replacing it with a rebuilt 231, SYE, and tom woods driveline. Lucky I have a XJ buddy who was a mechanic and has a friend with a garage to work on her in.

Thanks, and expect a lot more posts from me

Kalali

When I did my head last summer, with the exception of the radiator I renewed the entire cooling system, e.g., water pump. thermostat, all hoses, fan clutch, etc. Parts are cheap.

kgm

The exhaust manifolds go pretty easy on these, so if its that far taken apart you may as well check it if not replace it if you have the budget for it.

Jealous of your budget

01SiennaXJ

^this. Also, take a close look at your rocker arms, push rods, and lifters while you are in there. My rocker arms were all extremely worn when I replaced my head so I had to replace those too.

01SiennaXJ

Edit: duplicate post

Thexjfiles

You ought to think twice about the 242....that is an awesome TC that can be left in full time without having to worry about dry patches on the road etc. during bad weather driving.

necron99

Parts are cheap, its the labor of taking everything apart that sucks! I agree, might as well make sure the cooling is updated too!

My buddy thats showing me the ropes mentioned that. It is spendy though, and I am already pushing it with the wife for more $$$ as it is. I may have to start doing all the house work as well as become her personal masseuse, chef, errand boy, and bar tender. We had been saving for a new rig for a while, and had about 4500 to spend on it. A small surprise inheritance showed up and put our price up to about 7000 with out a loan. YAY.

I'm just eeking buy right now and its looking like I might be around 8k when I am done with the xmas build. I'm hoping santa delivers me a new winch bumper or some sliders, but I'll be happy just to have the engine, steering and transfer case sorted.

Back on topic. Is the ceramic heads that mush better? And Is it worth getting one of the high flow headers. I'm hoping i can dump my 94 yoda ( Which is cherry, 305/700r4, small body lift) can use the money from that for more engine parts.

Oh yeah, definitely going to be inspecting as much as possible while I have everything taken apart. I want her as solid as possible. My wife uses the rig as a short commute DD, and she has already been through two fantastic catastrophic car and truck failures, so I want to make sure Xandi is hiding any little issues from me.

Already paid 50% deposit on a 231 rebuilt with a sye . You know anyone that is looking for a 242. I just happen to have one that only has a couple hundred miles on it from a rebuild. I'm gonna need all the help I can get to pay for this rig

Why I decided on the 231... The linkage had to be jury rigged just to be able to get it into 4lo, we fixed it, but I am just barely able to get into 2hi, NP231 is easier to come by with the bonus of about 20% more torq, its also what should have been in there and finally, Its what my buddies have and I want to be like the cool kids, though the really cool kids have 4:1 kits or 241's.

kgm

I bet you can get a few solid bucks for that 242. I have one, and I wouldn't mind having a spare if I had the cash for it. Ebay or craigslist could get you some $$