KennyG

Well guys, I got lucky for a long time, but... Yep, it's broke. I bought this truck several years ago with 130k and a blown head gasket. Oddly enough, not cracked. I had the head shaved "a bit", and did a little "clean-up" with a Standard Abrasives port-n-polish kit and it's been a superb dialy driver/grocery getter! But at 210k... not so lucky this time. Out of nowhere, and in the middle of nowhere, the overheating issue developed. I managed to keep it topped off and nursed it home. I removed the thermostat, tried some K&W sealer, and managed to milk a few extra days out of her until I could get my other ride up and legal like. So now, the head's off and got a plainly visible crack between two rocker bosses (probably more, but at this point, why look any harder). Well, I got a complete reman assembly from the machine shop along with the gasket set and head bolts for $600 (it helps to know people), and the resurection process is about to begin. I'm about two bolts away from having the oil pan off. I'm thinking a bottom end inspection is in order since it DOES have 200k miles, and got water in the oil. I'll probably throw in an oil pump and put 'er back together (assuming no significant damage), after all, even overheating and pumping watered down oil, she still pushed 30 psi oil pressure and never skipped a beat. It'll still be next weekend probably before I get it all back together, 'cause I've still got some other pieces/parts to pick up. It looks like the rockers and bridges suffered a bit from the excess heat and water... hopefully they took the brunt of the damage. Keep your fingers crossed, and wish me luck... (at least it's nice weather here in sunny Florida to be workin' outside)

CCKen

While you have the head off do yourself a favor and pull the lifters out and inspect the cam lobe surface of the lifters for damage. If any lifter is excessively worn or damaged (line them up side-by-side for comparison) the respective cam lobe(s) may be shot.

Also, inspect the rocker pivots for excessive wear.

Carry on....

CCKen

Pic of severly worn lifter on the right.

Moncheche

+1 on replacing the lifters now.

Ask me how I know.

My 2000 had a reman on it when I bought it. It cracked at the repair. Went with a brand new head from clearwater and I couldn't be happier.

Best of luck.

KennyG

Thanks for the reminder Guys... don't know how lifters slipped my mind. Well, I have subsequently pulled and inspected all twelve lifters with (fortunately) no surprises. All wear appears normal and even, but now IS the right time for a fresh set. Everything inside the oil pan looks good, so I'm thinking a fresh oil pump and a new pan gasket, and we'll be back on the top end in no time. Looking like rain for the rest of today, so maybe tomorrow... Would like to be back on the road by the weekend. I've got an out of town trip coming up in a couple of weeks and I'd like to have my baby back before then. I know I "can" drive my other car, but I just don't feel as comfortable on the road and neither does my wife! (she really likes the Cherokee!)

CCKen

What's encouraging about the lifters looking good is that the cam isn't ate up. Recommend going with a fresh set of lifters.

Use assembly lube on the cam lobe/lifter face and motor oil on the rest of the lifter. Don't try to 'pump them up' before install.

RTorrez1

I would strongly suggest on checking out the rod bearing since you knew it was leaking water into the oils and kept driving it a few days after over heating it. Coolant in you oil is real bad news for the bearing and can and will cause the to fail prematurely.

Firestorm500

You got it down that far, why not just yank the rest of it out and rebuild the whole thing?

Nothing missed, no worries.

KennyG

Right now, time and money are putting a damper on things. Forced to "borrow money from family" just to get this far with it. Was out of work for awhile, so now starting working again I need my dependable transportation. My other car is an old Ford Falcon "project" car. Worn out six, with a three speed column shifted manual. It's fun to drive, and gets plenty of thumb's up's whenever I drive it... but it ain't in real great shape and being worn out the gas milage and performance are seriously lacking. I wouldn't feel comfortable going on a 100 mile road trip with it! My Jeep is just too good of a truck to even think about parting with, and it still ran great right up until I pulled the head off. I'm a long time hot rod car guy, that has built some outrageous engines and have thought about building a stroked inline for my Jeep... but it just ain't in the cards right now!

KennyG

Just an update. Everything went back together smoothly, and I got her fired up and running (weather and some other hangups delayed me a bit, but I finally got it done). Runs great, but the temp gauge still rose quicker that I thought it should. This prompted me to investigate things a little deeper and brought me to the source of all evil... the water pump impeller appears to have been replaced with a saw blade! Curious because, I mean I've seen impeller blades rust away before, but this one doesn't appear "rusted"... it looks like the folded over vanes are just"gone"... Strange, that water pump was replaced maybe two or three years back because of leakage (never got hot, just left a puddle), and I always kept good coolant in her. Guessing just a poor quality pump, I mean, I guess it happens that way... but the first time I've ever seen it.