I blew a head gasket on my 1988 4.0 6cyl xj and was just wondering how difficult its going to be to replace it myself? I went out and bought a whole gasket kit because I figured I might as well do everything while I have it apart, is there anything special I should know before I do it? Or anything to look out for or any tips to make it easier? I'm not an expert but I do all my own work on my jeep and haven't messed up anything yet Thanks for all the help!

 

Don't have any spare bolts/parts when you go to turn the motor over

 

make sure you need to replace the head gasket is the first step

 

Just take your time and make sure your clearly label everything. I maked all the wires and hose ends with masking tape and a little note saying where it went and put all the bolts and stuff in seperate plastic bags. When you go to put it back together make sure to tighten all the bolts in the correct order and to the torque specified. When I did it he hardest part was just sitting the head back down on the block squarely without disrupting the gasket.

 

If you're sure it's the head gasket, here are some write-ups:

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f140/...cement-598875/
http://www.xjtalk.com/showthread.php?t=7055
http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f11/h...ite-up-235621/

 

Thanks for all the input guys, I'll have to check out those links now!