I looked at your thread and you said you had a bad rad cap and it was leaking all summer. Hottest time of the year little to no coolant. There is your problem.

 

Nice.

 

I'll give ya $500 for it

 

Ha! 500! How about add one more 0 and u got it! Really though, I see some of u dont critisize me for thinking about possibly gettn rid of it already,unlike Mr. superglue that says im an idiot. I agree that I may get 2 or three hundred thousand miles out of it,but there is also the possibility that I could have a cracked head tomorrow. I dont like the feeling it gives me,driving around in a vehicle like that. I like to have confidence and reliance that I will get to point B and back,and not have to worry in the back of my mind if IM gonna be facing this problem or not.

 

Could be....but seeing as it cracked 2 weeks ago im pretty sure it was due to heating up and cooling down because its 2 deg here. Thats when I started smelling coolant burning. But it was always good on coolant, i made sure it was topped off everytime I took it out. What I forgot to mention was I probably drove it ten times that whole 3 -4 month summer period since I bought a streetbike.

 

the head on my 2000 lasted about 190,000 miles. My waterpump went out and I really cooked the motor. I agree with everyone saying that cooling system maintenance is key. Mine never would have cracked if I hadn't run it superhot.

 

You could die tomorrow but the chances of that happening are very slim because you take case of yourself. Do you go through life thinking " I can die at any moment?"
You are making it seem like engine heads crack out of the blue, they crack because they overheat. And it's not like you don't know when you Jeep is overheating, you have a temp gauge right on the dash. The people that have had cracked 0331 heads neglected their Jeep. Take care of your Jeep and it will take care of you. btw I have a 2001 XJ and the head is the least of my worries. If your Jeep is nice, I think it would be very stupid to sell if for something that "may" happen.

 

You could have damaged the head during the summer and the warming up a cooling down during the winter just exposed the already damaged head.
btw, I live in Nebraska and I got my 2001 XJ from Kansas. If the head was going to crack from warming up a cooling down I think it would have done it already.

 

People worry too much about it. Just take care of it like you should and you'll be gravy. I've owned two XJs; the first being an '01 and my current a '00. Neither of which have had any issue with a cracking head. It's all in the maintenance, homie!

 

Who would wanna pay $5000 for a vehicle that possibly would need a head replacement soon. LOL..... Its your vehicle you can do as you wish with it, any vehicle has the potential to breakdown without proper maintenance, there are some cost effective alternatives to the 0331 head issues, Alabama Cylinder Head, 2003-06 4.0 head.

 

Alright Im keeping it. Maybe im overreacting. I do like the cherokee. I found a local 4 wheel drive shop that will install a bds 2" lift kit for 400$. Thats kit and labor. Ill throw some 30'' tires on the stock 16'' rims and call it good

 

I have a 2000 XJ with 208,000 miles and have had no problems with the head

 

haha good choice...u started lookin at everyone else badass lifted jeeps and said to hell with it...i got an 01 ...had some minor issues but its like anyone says maintain maintain maintain....i pop the hood once a week and give her a bath....that way she will know i care about her

 

Thats good to know 98, I will look forward to getting that many or more miles out of mine. Im thinking about upgrading the radiator,changing all hoses,and doing a new water pump just for precaution.

 

Doing preventative stuff like that always is a good idea. If I had the cash I would start rebuilding my 98 from the ground up just to keep it original and running perfectly.