Go Manny!

 

Re: the last few posts

Manny - My condolences on your father's passing. My Dad is in his 70's, but is spry enough that his help is invaluable when messing around with my Jeep (and many other things). He also has a unique bond with my 2yr old daughter. I will be devastated when his time comes, so I seriously feel for you and your brother.

Glad to hear you're tackling the head! Good for you and good luck! I would definitely take it to a good machine shop (hopefully there is one near Lawrence ****ing Kansas.. ) - they can make sure it's not cracked and in spec for you so you know you're good to go.

My Dad put 400k original miles on his 94 XJ and the engine still ran great when he took it out of service - so these engines can and do go the distance. There may be more life left in yours than you'd think.

 

I have the intake and exhaust manifolds, valve cover, and everything else out of the way to pull the head.

I found that the lower manifold bolts weren't that hard to remove by snaking my hand under the exhaust manifold. I also didn't need to remove power steering pump, I only needed to pull out the three bolts holding it to the intake manifold. And I disconnected the fuel line and this allowed me to leave the fuel injectors on. Made things a little easier. I have the intake all the way off and the exhaust resting on the motor mount.

With the valve cover off, I could see that there was absolutely no sludge in the top end and everything looks great!

When putting everything back together, I need to remember to re-connect all the vacuum lines, the ground strap, the fuel line and fuel line support bracket, all electrical connectors including the o2 sensor, and probably a few more things I already forgot!

 

If you 'blew' the radiator, that is usually a cylinder to water passage leak. These usually get worse with heat, Cylinder pressure into water jacket so minimal coolant consumption unless in vacuum/idling. Due to corrosion of head gasket at this point. Close inspection of the head gasket will show a void. Maybe even and slight discoloration of the head surface where the leak is.
Usually the head is straight and flat.

Fix is new head gasket and head bolts. We like Victor Reinz/Mahle MLS head gasket and head bolts.

Get a 3 row CSF all metal radiator about $220 on Amazon. Before you change the radiator, add 1 bottle of Prestone radiator cleaner to coolant and drive for 1 week. This will clean the block. Drain and flush with water, fill with water and run and then drain again and change the radiator and fill with new coolant. We also like the Flowcooler water pump $100 or Gates $30.