Don't know if I am in need of this yet but what would the normal cost be for a new head gasket installed at a repair shop for 96 XJ?
Ended up with fluid completely gone in my engine...don't know where it went yet.

 

About $900.00 in the shop I work in ...North Jersey
More if the head is cracked and needs to be replaced

 

dont bother taking it to a shop, just do it yourself. it can easily be done in a weekend and cost under $200 depending on part costs

 

The gasket itself is not expensive at all. Mostly you are paying for the labor when you take it to a shop. Bout $900 sounds about right.

Should do it yourself. It's not that intensive and should only take you a day. I swapped one out along with the intake(was cracked) on my first Jeep and I had no experience but oil changes up to that point. Might as well do the valve cover gasket (about $30) while you are in there too....they tend to leak over time, and even the newest of our XJ's aren't too new.

 

If you think you can handle this yourself, do it. I've done many a head gasket repair, and it appears doing one on a Cherokee is quite easy, in fact it's even better that these are cam-in-block motors vs. OHC, whereby with the latter you have a timing belt to contend with.

If you have the head pulled off, either by a shop or if you do it yourself, have the head (if it's OK) shaved about .010" (ten thousanths), or so, to clean it up. Over time the head surface can warp some, even cast iron ones, and it's a good idea to do a clean up pass on it, in fact my theory is that's the RIGHT way to do a head gasket repair. To each their own, though.

If you decide to do it yourself, I'm sure the folks in this forum could walk you through it with blow by blow accounts.

By the wat, if you pull it off yourself and have it resurfaced, often times it's OK to leave the manifolds (yes, both of them) on the head, as some shops can still resurface the head depending upon what equipment they have. Don't forget NAPA warehouses often times have machine shops, which can come in handy on a Saturday morning (just call ahead).

Only special tool you need for this job is a torque wrench.


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OOoops...a bit more than we thought. The Thermostat is gone, water pump, and the radiator is full of crud.

 

mine did the same thing. i replaced the thermostat, and coolant. and did a very thorough coolant flush, and it took care of the problem. to do the flush i just used the lower radiator hose, as i was changing it at the time anyway. i would not use the petcock on the radiator cause its plastic, and will prolly break.