I have a 95 Sport that my sone drove into the ground and it still runs like a top but looks like hell.

Last week I bought a 2000 Sport for $900 off a neighbor. It has 180K on it and the original owner lives on the next street over. Both owners took good care of it and the 2nd only put 12k miles on it in 3 yrs.

Anyway, figuring it was the dreaded cracked head I went ahead and tore it down Sat, got a re-maned head Monday for $350 from a local reputable shop and installed it along with a new water pump, thermostat & housing, all new hoses, new injector O rings, plugs filters, etc. I got my dremel out and polished the injector holes on the intake and also on the fuel rail. Injectors slid right in.

I changed the oil and filter and added some Sea foam (you always wind up with some water draining down into the pan when you pop a head off). I also added Bars Leak cooling system flush to the radiator before I filled it with water.

Got in crossed my fingers and it fired up on the first crank. Sounded like a cement mixer for about 20sec then the oil pump got up to pressure and it quieted right down. Runs like a sewing machine. Got it up to temp, 195 and took it up the street about a mile and came back home. Perfect.

My only issue is that now I have a check engine light on... I checked all the connections, hoses and everything I can think of but the light stays on. Can I take it to Autozone or pep boys and have them run a diag or do I need to take it to a dealer? I have read that some people reset the computer on their XJ. How would I do that, Remove the battery cable?

Also, I ran out of daylight so I wasn't able to drain the cooling system and I wont be able to get to it until Friday. Will this harm anything? It wont be driven between now and then.

 

Most of the parts places (autozone, pep boys etc) will read the code for free. Get the actual code number from them, don't trust their description of what it means.
You can reset the light by disconnecting the battery for a while, if the fault remains it'll come back.

Friday's fine to drain the cooling system. The bars flush is pretty mild, harmless to rubber and aluminum, etc.

 

[QUOTE=xKHANx;1918451]I have a 95 Sport that my sone drove into the ground and it still runs like a top but looks like hell.


Got in crossed my fingers and it fired up on the first crank. Sounded like a cement mixer for about 20sec then the oil pump got up to pressure and it quieted right down. Runs like a sewing machine. Got it up to temp, 195 and took it up the street about a mile and came back home. Perfect.


What brand of oil filter did you use?

 

I put a Fram PH16 on it. The 2000 not on my sons old 1995.

 

I would run a mopar or motorcraft, wix, fram filters suck! the oil pump will suck the guts out and damage your engine, I've seen it happen a few times on mopar engines

 

Get rid of the Fram. Just change the filter for a Wix, Napa, or Mopar. Mopars are even sold at Walmart.

F*R*A*M = Forever Ruining Automotive Motors

 

I guess my main question is why did the OP put another 0331 head on it? The casting flaw is not removed by remanning.

Needed a TUPY head or new aftermarket.

2nd mistake was using an Orange Can Of Death.

 

The head I put on was a NH2 stamped head. The previous one was NH1. The area between 3 and 4 is definitely molded different than the NH1 I took off. Whether this is part of the shops reman process or not I do not know but it is definitely thicker in this area. If it fails, I have a 2yr warranty. /shrug

I never knew that about Fram filters. I have been using them for 30 years without an issue. Is this something that only happens when you put one on a Chrysler product?

Edit: I'll pick up a Wix or Mopar filter today. I am changing the oil out at 100 miles anyway.

 

Looks like it just needed to get used to the new parts as the Light disappeared after I took it a few miles to the gas station and filled it up. When I got back home I noticed the light was out. Started it up this morning to drive to work and still no light. Probably just needed to get the new air cleaned seated right.

 

Fram is crappy to begin with. They don't seem to know how to make an anti-drainback valve. The ADBV is especially on our Jeeps as the oil filter is mounted upside down.

 

TUPY head!