I am newe to the Cherokee crazy, having only had my 2000 classic for about a year. The entire time I have owned it I have always lost coolant. Not much mind you but have always lost it. I didnt think anything of it since I was running a 50/50 mix with water and thought it was just evaporating out of the overflow. So about 2 months ago my jeep overheated. I was low on fuel and just thought I was running a lean condition. Ever since that time the jeep has not been running right so I have not been driving it. I read the article about the 4.0 head having a cracking issue so I decided to investigate a bit. Today I pulled the valve cover to discover not only did I have a crack, but someone had tried to REPAIR it using RTV form a gasket. I guess it held a bit but when it let go you could see the crack in the head and it was large enough to stick the tip of a screwdriver into it. The RTV was scattered all over the inside of the cover and in the springs as well. Guess I will just chalk this up to poor knowledge on my part but I am very discouraged.
Anyway...just thought I would share. Dont know if it was the previous owner or the DEALERSHIP I purchased from but there are some really sneaky a-holes out there. I paid top dollar for this oversized paperweight.

 

That's a bummer....

 

I have an extra head with valves rockers and push rods laying around if you're interested... Also have a new valve cover gasket and the valve cover for it. Let me know if you still need a head and we can work something out.

I have A LOT of 4.0L engine parts laying around a Trans and a Transfercase

 

That really sucks! To bad it took so long for you to have it over heat on you or you could have gone back to the dealer and had them fix. Unfortunately after a year they can say that you caused the problem. Well anyways good luck on the repairs. Let us know how it goes.

 

What year is the head off of? I have a 2000 without the distributor.
Also...How durable are the lower ends of these engines. I have not put any miles on since the overheat a few months ago. Water did get into the oil but I was not running coolant at the time because I was trying to chase where the coolant was going. I dont mind swapping out a head and getting this thing back running but I am affraid there may be damage to the lower end. Still plenty of oil in the system and doesnt seem to make any additional noises.