The 99' was the last year for the good cylinder head that didnt crack and also the first year for the upgraded intake manifold. You cant go wrong with a 4.0 either way, however try to steer clear of a 00-01' unless you plan on swapping the head eventually. Also steer clear of older cherokees with the 2.8l and also any 4cyl cherokees, you want a 4.0.

 

I'm going to play the contrarian card here

I think the head cracking issue is vastly overdone.
Even if 100% of 2000-2001's cracked, so what? What does this cost to fix? $1000?
You will drop $5000 EASY into a used Jeep.
Probably even more if it's early 90s (20 years old)
Refreshing a suspension can easily cost $2000.
TIRES cost $1000. Yey no one screams about buying an XJ with bald tires.
Why don't people freak out about this?

I just bought an XJ for $2200. I forecast I will have spent $7000-8000 when I am done, just to have a STOCK driver that's been revamped and refreshed.

Find a nice XJ that's been well maintained. This will save you thousands compared to a cracked head. The head crack is a drop in the bucket compared to all the money you will pour into a poorly maintained XJ.
I'd buy a 2000-2001 in a heartbeat over some POS XJ that doesn't have head issues, but will cost $8000-$10000 to make right. (All prices quotes are assuming you take major jobs to a mechanic).

 

99 is the best year if you have a manual trans high pinion dif is a nice thing to have plus no head cracking issues. The shifter has no direct 1st gear engagement like the 00-01 models, which for me has been the only downfall I have found with my 99 with an automatic.

 

Can you explain what this means?

 

I just wanted to comment on this part of what you said. In of itself the head cracking issue is not major. The problem is most of the vehicles that have this problem are not repaired quickly enough and the coolant in the oil does major damage, requiring a complete engine rebuild. This will cost far more than $1000.
It is one of the most common reasons someone is selling their 00-01 and usually they mask the problem and sell to an unsuspecting buyer who is then left with a heap of trouble. I have read a lot of threads here on the forum of just this type of deseptiveness. People buy their jeep and then discover a couple months later the head is cracked- and probably has been for a while. But by this time the damage is done and they're going to have a couple thousand dollars in replacing the engine... or they too mask the problem and try to unload it to someone else.

But this is not to say there isn't a deal out there to be had. If I found a clean 00-01 with zero rust or cosmetic issues and it was dirt cheap (<$1500) I would consider it- knowing I would probably have to replace the motor.

That said, I still vote for my '97 Country edition with leather, tow package, and skid plates. I've owned a 92 and the main points for me to want to upgrade to the '97+ are the full front door glass and cup holders.

The comments above are just my opinion and I'm not looking to start any debate.

 

How can you tell if the head is cracked? What am I looking for?

 

Coolant in the oil causing it to look milky is one way

 

Or you could buy an '01 Limited with cracked head for dirt cheap ($1,200)

Put an '05 head on it ($260)
Build a LS Trussed 8.25 ($500)
Build a tough HP D30 (Ongoing , say $500)

and have a good head, strong rear, HP front, bigger u joints, better intake, and no distributor for dirt cheap.

00-01 can be a steal because you can get much more Jeep, newer, nicer, lower mileage that you just have to put a lil work into

 

It means when u look at the shifter the pattern is
P-R-N-D-3-2/1 instead of
P-R-N-D-3-2-1
the gear selecter does not have a dedicated first gear instead first and second gear are the same spot on the shifter. This has been a problem for me in snow in 4low on a steep decent. The computer decides to shift into 2nd gear long before redline causing excessive speed.

 

I haven't seen an '00-'01 model, but from he said, I'm guessing that on automatics on those years, there's a selection for 1st gear. In previous years, the low gear selection is labelled "1-2", meaning that you cannot chose to go directly to 1st gear. If you were travelling down a hill and dropped it into 2nd to control your speed, if you go slow enough, the tranny will automatically drop you into 1st, which I've heard can be a violent, unexpected action. Conversely, if you are climbing in 1st, your tranny can suddenly switch to 2nd without any warning.

As I understand it, there's a simple mod to take care of this on the earlier models.

 

Looking solely for discolored oil is still not a sure way of telling. Like I mentioned, most people who are selling their XJ because of a cracked head will change the oil so it looks clean and fresh.
There is a simple test that an experienced mechanic can do which requires a kit which includes a chemical that turn from blue to green when exhaust gasses are present in the cooling system. Even that is not a 100%.
If I were looking to buy an 00-01 Cherokee (or TJ or WJ) I would need either: addmitting it has a cracked head, receipts that verify a different designed head was installed along with warranty on the engine, or a dirt cheap price. It's buyer beware otherwise.

 

Good luck telling a non-forum reading Cherokee seller that his 2000-2001 XJ with with about 80k-150k that has run perfectly for him is really just a POS ticking timebomb that is only worth $500 or so. Yea right.

 

I thought I saw a survey on this forum a few months back indicating ~10-12% of 2000-01 xj owners actually experienced the cracked head issue. If that's valid that's not a bad gamble especially if you buy a used one with a previous history of a well maintained cooling system. My 2000 had records of 4 previous coolant flushes in 140,000 miles as well as a recent water pump and thermostat replacement I sent an oil sample into black stone labs a few months back and coolant % was 0.00. Gave me a little piece of mind for like $25

 

I own both body styles now and here is my take on this. I am privvy to the '94 model year. It got the door beams for side impact, has a HO 4.0, and all the different options were there if you wanted them. Also is one of the first years of R134 AC, so the freon is the newer/cheaper stuff. And it was the last year before airbags(which I hate on a trail rig). I have now owned 2 '94's and wished I hadn't sold the last one. 94 still has OBDI, so three key ons and there are your codes. I just recently purchased a '00. It was $1400, had 170k, and needs some TLC stuff. I swapped my tires off the 94 cause its still being wrenched on. As far as the heads cracking, yes I know its an issue, and from what I have read, it was mid to late '00 to the end of production. Mine is close to mid '00, and I plan on keeping an eye on it. Even if the engine gets toasted, I would rebuild it, put the better head on it, and upgrade the heck out of it. I have been getting close to 20mpg out of it(with an AW4, LP30/8.25 setup on stock gears running 30" BFG AT KOs with no lift). The interior is awesome on these, as the cupholders actually hold a 20oz soda bottleor fast food large drink containers, as my '94 does not. I have two trouble codes in my '00 right now, and those are a little harder to diagnose than the '94s are. Overall if I had to buy(which this '00 was pretty cheap compared to the other '97-01 models here in my area, with less miles, and they wanted waaayyy more for)again, I would buy a '99. Seems they got a lot of bugs worked out of the 97 and 98 years, and it was the last year of the HP front axle. I would go '99 in the newer body style, '94 for the older. Just my experience with the years I have driven/owned.

Jeff

 

I just flushed mine, and the coolant looked like river water. The PO had told me when I was originally gonna buy it that it needed done. I doubt he did it, but I have been keeping a close eye on both the coolant and the oil. I am going to flush it again this spring when the weather gets warmer, as its getting colder now, so I am making sure its ready for winter. I plan to probably replace the water pump and thermostat this spring as well, so that those items are covered and I don't have any further issues. I took close to 10 gallons of what amounted to mud water to the recycling place, and the kids there acutally asked me how it was even still running. I told them that's why there was so much dirty water. He laughed and said that I would need to do it again(it was a quicky lube place), and I said, yup, gonna do it again this spring. Hopefully I don't have to use rocks again to clean out the overflow bottle. It took close to 30 mins to get the crap that was in there to where I could actually read the marks again. Cooling system flushes are really crucial to making sure you have heat, as well as preventing clogs in the water pump, heater core, radiator, head, and other areas where you really need the maximum flow and cooling effect of the water.