1997 Jeep Cherokee Country AT 2wd 4.0L. I paid $1,500 for the jeep. The guy told me that the head was rebuilt. It has under 240,000 miles on it. The interior is in great condition, only a small tear in the driver's seat. It has new tires and the exterior is in fairly good condition too.

When I bought it the motor was powerful and ran smoothly. Transmission didn't slip, but it was the original transmission.

While on the way to my girlfriend's parent's house for Christmas the head gasket blew. My mechanic got around to looking at it today and informed me that it looked to him that the previous owner was aware of this problem and put something in the motor to keep it going until it sold. I've driven the Jeep no more than 60 miles. Pretty sure I had the wool pulled over my eyes despite the guy seeming a pretty legit Jeep enthusiast (heavily modified JK, yadda).

I wanted a little guidance in my new options. I'm still in school living in dorms, so I have no garage to DIY much.

My mechanic quoted me $1,000-$1,200 to replace the head gasket. With it being that much I started looking at swapping the motor. I've seen them on ebay and other websites for anywhere between $600 and $2,000. There is a local yard that offers the motor for $300 shipped to my door, but it isn't rebuilt and would more than likely have many miles on it. I don't want to swap a 175,000 mile motor into my truck only to have 175,000 mile problems that I just paid to have put in. I have no idea about labor costs, but "my mechanic" is actually my girlfriend's parent's neighbor who has been handling all of their cars for years.


I've got a small emergency cushion saved in a bank account with right around $2,000 in it sitting around for a day like this.


With the transmission being the original ~240,000 transmission, would it be worth it to replace the motor? Could this be done for under $2,000? Would it be a good idea to have the engine replaced? I am perfectly okay with dumping another $1,500 or so into it to recoup my entire investment if possible. However I'm pretty sure replacing the engine and trans would total a fair amount over $2,000.

Or should I just sell the Jeep as is with a blown head gasket.

 

Does the guy that sold it to you live far away?

What are your feelings on arson?

 

He lives ~4 miles from my dorm. Waiting to talk to my mechanic more tomorrow so I get all my facts straight before making the call...but the previous owner is definitely going to hear from me. Heh.

 

Man I'm sorry to hear that, hopefully the previous owner is a stand up guy. Good for you being a college kid with that kind of safety fund.

 

I like the arson idea sounds right up my alley I mean... but anyways how are your own mechanical skills?

 

Being that you are in school, does your school have an auto engineering type class?
If it does(and it has a shop) sometimes the shop professor/instructor will let the students do the work on it for you for parts, and pizza. If you happen to know any of the maintnance staff they may be of some help too.

 

I'm fairly mechanically inclined. Rebuilt/swapped a new motor into my 91 Accord back when I was 16, was guided by a popular (at the time) Honda Accord forum. I've always done as much work as possible myself on my cars. As long as I've got a good forum to search through I'm set.


Unfortunately not.



I've been on the lookout for a lower mileage engine/transmission. I found one with radiator/ac compressor/starter/alternator for $1,000. Still gotta figure out labor costs.

Edit: I have also found a close by engine/trans combo with 120k on CL for $450. Hm.

 

craigslist are a bunch of crooks and thieves.. be weary on mileage "quotes"

How much you need to spend depends on how much money you are willing to spend...

If it was me.. i would just replace the head gasket.. assuming no damage was done.. and you can flush out your engine oil/coolant depending on what was contaminated.. this would be the cheapest route if you were willing to tackle it yourself..

i havent pulled the head on a 4.0 so im not 100 percent sure of what special tools, if any, it would require.. other than a torque wrench and a general set of tools/sockets..

any mechanically inclined buddies around?

edit: pb blaster for any exhaust bolts would be a huge plus... snapping off an exhaust bolt can make or break this job... if you cant extract it yourself.. taking it to a machine shop would be your only other option.. then a little head work would be convienient!

 

That is a very handsome question. You're my kind of people.

 

Look for a running parts car. I always have had better luck with something that was in an accident or something that needed something little and the mechanic told the lady it needed something more than it was worth.

 

I have a cushion of $2,000...but ideally I'd like to spend as close to $1,500 as possible. All of my mechanically inclined friends who have the resources to do this kinda stuff have all recently graduated and moved away. I looked up what is involved in replacing the head gasket here - http://www.xjtalk.com/showthread.php?t=7055 - it looks like a little more than I'm comfortable doing given my current situation. (car is in northern GA, lots of fields and cows around, pretty far away from my school, about 500 miles from my home, at my girlfriend's parent's house)


I hadn't thought of this.

 

if it didn't toast the bearings or cause any other damage, change the gasket yourself and drive it while looking for a replacement

it should not cost $1200 to swap a gasket on a 4.0

 

I was thinking the same thing. I'm going to talk more to him tomorrow. I want to say he may have said that hinting towards swapping the motor. I forgot a large portion of what he said after he told me I had a blown head gasket, heh.

 

I blew an entire engine. Started searching on craigslist. Here is where I'm at now. https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/90-...y-91-a-181505/

 

if you've got a torque wrench and about 300 bucks for gaskets (head,valve cover,and intake/exhaust), head bolts, thread locker, and permatex for the thermostat, you can diy in about four to six hours. keeping the pushrods in order front to rear with a cardboard box with holes punched/drilled in it is a big help. it looks and sounds waaaaay harder than it really is. if your head isn't cracked.