Hey there

Headgasket blew on my 2000 4.0, and while I was in there I found a small crack in the block on the face of the water pump mounting surface. So now I’ve decided to just look for a long block since I cannot just get my block rebuilt.

Ive searched and seen lots of companies and places online but honestly, I’m getting scared from all the horror stories from some of these guys, especially Mabbco Motors even though they seem to be the most reasonably priced.

has anyone had success with a replacement long block? If so what company did you use? Or would it be better to just grab a good core short block from the junker (rebuild that) and throw a Clearwater head on it?

thanks for the help

JP

reason I am not going stroker is a want to keep this within a budget. Unless the price is the same, thanks.

 

Bump to see if maybe someone had some advice before I pull the trigger on something.....

thanks guys

 

You have to look at the warranty these rebuild shops give you. The better shops give you the longest. My mechanic found me a short block for $875 with a 2 year/50K warranty which is incredible in my opinion, but IDK what shop he chose. We're going to refurbish my Clearwater head that has 50K miles on it. The only things the short block DOESN'T come with is an oil pump, oil pan, and lifters. I had previously bought all new valve gear (rockers, pivots, and pushrods) that I never got around to replacing, so with a new water pump and starter, I should have a brand new engine! The original has 253K miles on it, then it cracked a piston skirt.

I did some research including phone calls about a complete engine for my 2000 WJ to find out if they re-use the 0331 head and the answer I kept getting was "Everything is tested before we rebuild it and it gets rebuilt with whatever head it had on it when we get it." That did not give me a warm feeling at all.

I'll talk to him about which shop he is using.

 

I appreciate that. I thought about getting a remanded short block from mabbco and a Clearwater head. Then adding new lifters, push rods, a cam, etc. but I just wanted to get some input from others if they had a better luck somewhere else.

 

One thing I do want to pass on. The engine rebuilder says to absolutely use an engine oil with ZDDP in it because it's necessary for lubrication of the flat tappet lifters. Failure to do so voids the warranty! I guess most oils today don't have it in them because most engines have roller lifters in them now. This I wasn't aware of.

 

That's why a lot of us use diesel engine oils, such as Shell Rotella. They are just chock full of ZDDP. See Salad's famous oil thread if you want to do more reading on it.

JGravey, why not just buy a used motor locally, and have it rebuilt by a local shop? It would probably be cheaper, and you'd know what you have. Yes, there's some risk that you'll buy a turd that can't be rebuilt, but I think that risk is much lower than any of the reman companies. As far as I can tell from my research, they are all crap.

Your friendly local NAPA should be able to recommend a rebuilder. They usually know who's good and who's not.

 

I’ve only been in Arizona (Tucson) for about 5 years and haven’t had any experience with local engine builders. I have asked around and have only heard of 2 people that are good. With that said, I’ve been using Rotella for the high zinc and phosphate, and will be using delo400 for the break in. I decided to just roll the dice and buy a cookie cutter engine from rock auto. They were the most cost effective including shipping and the warranty is 3y/100k mile.

I appreciate the help, starting to get desperate and can’t wait any longer. The wife is super pissed after I just dumped $4500 on suspension, wheels/tires, and gears, now have to fork over another 2k for an engine. I’m a good $10k including the cost of the car in about 5 months. Talk about being cheap... yeah right. But now should be good for who knows.