breakthecycle128

I'm a current 93 XJ owner. Pro's of the 2001 XJ I'm looking at- 4.0 (I'm driving the 2.5), great interior and body condition, reasonably price (he's asking 3200, I would offer around 2700). Cons- there is an issue with the 4 wheel drive- it's making a sort of winding sound (any ideas here?), it has 167,000 miles- my 93' has 260,000 so I don't find this too troubling. Its an auto- I would really miss having a manual.

I bring this up to ask-

- How major of a concern should I have with the 4x4 issue? I don't know much about 4 wheel drive- my 93 is RWD

- Does the price seem reasonable to you guys?

- any common issues with 2001 XJs?

Thanks for any input.

xjmuddigger

i would offer 2500 dependin on conditions,and about the 4wd its more than likely the bearing where the front driveshaft is on the t-case,i need to replace mine as well,but i unbolted my front driveshaft and it took the weight of the bearing and stopped it from makin noise

breakthecycle128

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breakthecycle128

Good to know. I can't imagine the bearing being too expensive either- I'll have to look into that. The way those damn used car lots work I should probably start at 2000 and see what happens. Someone probably got 1500 as a trade in.

LazyEyedPsycho

Bought a 4 door '01 classic and love it! If the 4x4 is making noise don't go above $2500 as you're gonna have to fix it soon...

aj6

with 167k on it, ask him if any of the cooling sys has been replace!!!!!!

your going to get a lot of "0331 head' bashing.. 99 00 and 01 heads where not casted right and had probs yes.. BUT! the head and the intake had the best flow out of all the years ;] .. as long you up keep your cooling and dont let it over heat youll have a happy 4.0l

with 167k offering $2700 sounds good

breakthecycle128

good call on the cooling system! I've heard that about the heads- what do you mean by head bashing? Any added risk of cracking?

00jeepXJ

The 99-01 years with the 0331 head castings like to crack... in the middle...randomly or if you over heated it. But like it was said. Keep up on the cooling system and make sure that it is in good condition and it will work for you. I have a 00 and LOVE mine.

tjwalker

Actually, the 99 heads are fine (0630) It is the 00-01 heads (0331) that are suspect.

They have a casting defect between cylinders 3-4 which can result in cracking, ESPECIALLY with an overheat.

Will all 0331 heads crack? Absolutely not. But this forum and all other forums I frequent are littered with threads of ones that have. And if not caught soon enough, coolant will mix with the oil and toast the bearings in the engine.

I don't consider this info "bashing", rather it is a fact about a very weak component on the 00-01 Cherokee.

Good info = Good decisions.

breakthecycle128

Is there a replacement head available to ease the concern of busting the bearings in the engine? I imagine this would be fairly costly but seems like it may be a wise preventative measure. I understand replacing the head with one from an earlier model is not a good idea. I also understand that keeping up with the cooling system may be prevention enough.

repair

Hi neighbor....OReilly auto parts has the upgraded heads......so does a lot of other people.

tjwalker

Alabama Cylinder Head and Clearwater Cylinder Head both sell a beefed up head which is a good replacement for the 0331 head. About $400 give or take.

Or you can source a Jeep 0331 head 2003 and newer (from Grand/Wrangler). In 03, Jeep sourced their heads from TUPY in Brazil. These heads were redesigned and are fine. The way to tell if an 0331 head is a TUPY is to look between cylinders 3-4 and you will see the word TUPY stamped there.

OttawaXJ

The best thing about the 2001 with the car lots is you can lean underneath and poke around then turn around and give them a list of problems you have with it and say, I'll give you 2 grand. Then your bargaining seems credible. But as your poking around make sure you mention the casting.

You could use that in your negociations too, a buddy of mine said to the sales guy "Well its going to cost me 1000$ when that head goes so how about i give you 1500$ less than your asking" then he was able to move up from there. Worked out well, I think he paid like 800-900$ less than sticker and sticker was only about 3g.

breakthecycle128

Thanks for the info on the replacement cylinder heads. Good to know. I just went and test drove it. With the exception of the 4x4 winding noise, I only noticed minor issues- the driver side front window doesn't quite go all the way up... looks like that last tooth on the gear is bad. And the front speakers don't work. I brought these things up to the dealer and also that the aftermarket trailer hitch is beat to hell which indicates some heavy use and of course, heavy wear. I told him I'd think it over, consult my father (a mechanic) and get back to him tomorrow. Also, he told me it was dripping a little bit of oil when he got it a week ago. It wasn't leaking anything today. I'm thinking of offering him 2200 cash. I bet he bites.

breakthecycle128

On a side note, I sure would miss looking at my gauges through my oversized airbag-less steering wheel. The steering wheel felt so tiny in the 01. Not exactly going to make or break the deal tho.