Hey folks. I've got a stock 2001 XJ Sport with about 160k miles. It's got the awesome 0331 head thats nice and cracked and the awesome low oil pressure issue that plagues my model year. I just bought the Jeep and it overheated on me and I shut if off immediately and pushed it to my house. I was on my street when the dash binged at me and I saw the temp in the red. I inspected the engine and found the dreaded brown gunk in the coolant system. Previous owner had tried the Bars Bandaid on this poor XJ. No wonder I got it for almost 2 grand below blue book.

Heres what I'm not sure about.

1.Should I just replace the entire engine? (with a NON 0331 equipped engine and what model year engines can I bolt in my '01 XJ)

or

2. Throw a NON 0331 head on it and se what happens? (where to get a non 0331 head that will bolt on)

Thanks in advance for any and all help with this. This is my first Jeep.

 

Update: Got a new cylinder head, not an 0331 and had the engine rebuilt from the bottom up.

 

Replaced the entire brake system last week. Master cylinder, lines, drums, rotors...everything. Got a full size spare to fit inside the cab, a 31 at that. With the stock retainer hardware too. It's a tight squeeze and humps the ceiling speaker pretty bad but I don't care, needs a new headliner anyway. Just an update to the xj. Still going strong two years later. Bumpers on the way now too.

 

Good to hear it is running well and still on the road!

 

Sounds like a win to me!

A lot of people give up too easily on these oldies.

 

That Jeep will love you forever for the care you provided to it. True passion between man and machine.

 

Thanks! She's never felt better to drive.
Indeed. I've thought about getting a new truck many times but something about this XJ just keeps me around.

For sure!

 

thats the xj love im the same way with mine. pisses me off but no matter what i keep it around as its usually cheap to fix and mostly easy. glad to hear you still got yours if it was any other car its usually toast. kinda sad these are the last breed of cars that stay around and arent disposable. but glad its going still how does it drive since you replaced the brake system? im gonna replace some parts on mine in the future as im sure the brakes are causing alot of my wobble due to maybe a bad brake line or warped brake rotor.

 

I don't like any new 4x4s out there other than a few America never gets (79 series Land Cruiser 4.5 turbo diesel) so ill just keep fixing this XJ. The XJ is unique as it's a very light vehicle that is running solid front and rear axles. The wheelbase at 101in is pretty ideal for off-roading too. Lots of other reasons too.

The brakes are good. I didn't realize how bad they were. A testament to Jeep. They worked ok and stopped me fine. The new system is stronger and more linear. The pulling while braking is gone. Braking vibrations are gone. The track bar had an issue with the lower bolt and wasn't secure so that shored up now as well. I like how it can feel like a new vehicle and make you fall for it all over again with some shiny new parts. I put my sway bar back on too, that definitely tightened up the feel of the jeep.

I've got a new cat back ordered, gonna be a few weeks before that arrives. That'll clear up the leak and noise from the exhaust. The rear tailpipe has a few holes in it before the rear axle. I might dynomat the interior when I do the headliner. I'm relocating the ceiling speakers somewhere else. My spare hits one of them.

Jcr front bumper is coming and I may get the rear too. Why not. The engine was rebuilt with a brand new non 0331 head two years ago and there's barely any real rust for the age. I think I'm in this for the long haul.

 

how did you fix the track bar? im sure mine may be loose and such and could use some attention. and sounds like you got a project ahead of you lol do not take short cuts or itll bite back in the future. speaking of future i plan to overhaul my front end basically and was just curious on how yours went and what you did. i was gonna get a front end rebuild kit, redo the brake system excluding the master cylinder and brake booster and put new lines in. then new shocks and hopefully bfg all terrains. im not going all out but just a weekend warrior basically as its my daily driver.

 

I was thinking "Oh he fixed that fast". Didn't notice there was a two year gap between the first two post lol. How long did you drive it with a cracked head?

 

The track bar solution was a shorter bolt actually. Not sure why there was a long bolt that didn't have enough threads to tighten.

As for the project ahead of me, I feel like I'm about 80% of the way through. It's already got a full OME lift and BFGs, sway bar discos and a beefier track bar.

I was going to make a new thread but this one was still here so I went with it. Lol.

It had a cracked head long before I bought it. Drove it for about 6 months before it got a new head and bottom end rebuild.

 

What are the symptoms of a cracked head?

 

Probably the most apparent one is an unexplained loss of coolant. That is because the cracked head is allowing the coolant to seep into cylinder head. Your losing coolant but it remains unseen. Kinda like internal bleeding.

If you let a cracked head go long enough it will lead to low oil as pressure as the coolant in the oil will destroy your bearings.

If you have an 00-01 and look thru the oil fill cap. You sometimes can see if your head is cracked. You most likely will witness a fracture with coolant seepage around it. Although, this method is not full proof. Taking the valve cover off is best. The 0331 heads crack between cylinder 3 and 4, that is where you look.

 

Another symptom is overheating. Sometimes you see coolant in the oil, or oil in the coolant.