Tested

Well I took a good look at pulling the head on my 93 today. Yea I'm thinking I might as well just pull the whole engine and rebuild it.

A bunch of the hoses are brittle and the gaskets are starting to go. I figured I might as well since I'm gonna be in there. At least that way I know what I'm getting and that the engine has been redone right.

I'm wanting to do it myself just so I can get the practice and can see how the thing really works.

Any thoughts or advice? How many hours am I looking at? Anything I should do ahead of time? What kinda parts should I plan on replacing.

finneys98xj

you are a smart man the head is a pain with the motor still in.

okcjeeper

Yeah lable everything and get plenty of zip lock bags in various sizes to put pieces in. Keep track of where things go and take photos since the engine will be out for some time.

Last time I rebuilt an SBC350 it took me a month but I couldn't dedicate a whole lot of time in one sitting.

offroadnut36

hours????? how many hours are you looking at???? bro if you had an entire free week to work on it then it would take one week of working from when you get up to when you go to sleep. although i have wanted to do what you are going to do. Goodluck!

jpdocdave

the head on a 4.0 is one of the easier heads to replace. once everything is off the manifold side it is ready to come out.

why is the head coming off? that might help in advice on the whole engine. i would not pull the motor to change the head. 4.0's if maintained will never need a rebuild.

i do this for a living, so i'm not trying to tell you this cuz pulling the motor is too much work, its not that hard, but not worth it if you just need to change the head gasket.

pulling the head takes me 1 1/2 to 2 hrs in a shop, so in one evening at home it can be off, make sure you don't skip on the machine shop, have it tested and machined. and one evening you're back in business.

1badz

I pulled the heads off my LT1 (still in the car) in 3 hours... idk why you would need a whole week to pull the motor in a jeep lol..

Programbo

I just replaced the head gasket on my '94 a couple of months ago and while it was a pain it wasn`t super horrible and I think pulling the whole engine would be a LOT harder..I basically replaced the head gasket by myself with standard hand tools with about 10 hours labor...My advice is the same as okcjeeper..Label everything carefully..And place all loose parts in seperate bags also carefully labeled..I also made sure to lay out the valve components in the correct order off to the side to insure replacing them back where they started.

okcjeeper

The main thing is when you get ready to pull it have an extra hand to lift it out. Also replace the studs at the same time. Clean the surfaces really well and clean that inside a bit while it's off. Also a good time to clean the head up of any unwanted goop. Make sure you get the best head gasket you can get and use some RTV in a couple spots to hold the gasket in place. Get the Felpro PermaTorque Severe Duty gasket. Do the same thing for the valve cover gasket. Also take that valve cover to the car way and clean it out with a pressure washer as much as you can.

Tested

Thanks for the advice guys. I pulled the valve cover earlier and it looked to me that it was gonna be a major pain to pulle the head with the engine in. I also noticed that many of the hoses and plastic parts are brittle and so I'm thinking that while I'm at it I may just rebuild the whole thing.

That way I know for a fact that everything is clean and that it is all in a good working order. Some of the trips I plan on taking will have me a ways back from civilization and I'd sure hate to have a major problem.

Tested

The head is coming off so I can get it it magnafluxed. My wife decided to drive it for a few miles on the freeway while it was overheating due to a bad water pump.

Took it to a mechanic and he said that at a min. the gasket was bad but that in his opinion the head was cracked.

jpdocdave

oohh, could be cracked.

Tested

yea that's why I'm curious to get into it and see what the rest of the engine looks like. If it is to bad I may end up just replacing the whole thing.

jpdocdave

around your year they had some cracked head issues, but the blocks never go bad unless they are beat and a rod goes through the pan. cracked head is understandable, but i still wouldn't pull the motor. replace the head and it will still go for 300k

oh yeah, i've heard a couple stories where heads even magnafluxed ok, but were cracked, and the owner did the gasket 2 or 3 times till figuring it out.

XJdude2000

i took mine off in just under three hours (while the motor was in) it was my first head removal.....this is from start to head off and clean, cylinders cleaned and oiled so no to rust and intake cleaned....... so it is not hard at all. but if you are no mechanically inclined i may be able to see how it could be a pain in the ***.........it is very simple....

zjrog

I've done 2 4.0 heads now, and its not that hard. Just have an extra pair of hands to lift it out and put it back...