So I was just at my friends house. We were sitting in my XJ and the ignition was on but the engine wasn't running. My friend leaves and I start up my XJ and it starts to run at like 200 rpm and it doesn't matter how far I pushed the gas pedal to the floor. Then it finally comes back up to 700 rpm but its running extremely rough like violently shaking. And my throttle response is not very good. Any idea what this could be? I need my XJ for work and I'm kind of afraid it won't start tomorrow. Thanks guys

 

Anyone? I have a bad feeling that my fantastic 0331 head has cracked. I'll check the oil when I get home from work today. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

air, fuel, spark, compression. the things an engine needs to run. id want to get it on a code reader to see if you can get an idea of some direction to go in. it sounds like there may be a fuel delivery issue of some sort, weather sensor or mechanism related i dont know. you mentioned the 0331 head, hows coolant and oil look? if they arent mixed then thats obviously a good thing. like i said, before working too hard at this: code reader. then id say if inconclusive, start looking over the basics like ignition components- are they getting proper voltage? are grounds good? what about plugs, wires, cap, rotor, TPS, IAC, o2 sensor. all in good working order?

 

Alright so my nightmares have come true. My 0331 head is cracked. I have coolant in my oil. Now that I have stopped crying to my wallet, what cylinder head do you guys recommend. I'd rather get a new one since I feel it will be a lot stronger. How long can I drive my jeep like this. Will I notice anything bad or things to get worse

 

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/bes...-0331-a-91806/

 

So I've decided on a Clearwater head. Will they come with everything I need to install it? I probably won't install it myself since I work at a repair shop anyway. How long can I still drive it around before I need to be nervous about something else going bad?

 

Water/coolant and bearings dont mix. get it replaced ASAP otherwise you are looking at replacing main bearings while you are at it.

 

Fantastic. More money going into this Jeep. It never ends. Thanks for your help guys

 

Just get it fixed soon. It takes less than a day to do a head swap.

 

Your initial symptom seemed more like a TPS issue. I had no running issues when my cyl head cracked. I also went with Clearwater and it is a solid unit. It comes complete except for the two little dowels which you need when mounting the intake manifold. You'll know which ones I'm talking about when you remove the head.

 

Don't drive it at all. And drain the oil as soon as you can. Like OleBlue said "Water/coolant and bearings dont mix. get it replaced ASAP otherwise you are looking at replacing main bearings while you are at it". The longer you leave the oil filled with coolant sitting in the pan the worse off you will be.

 

It might be a cracked head. It might not be. I don't know yet. I need some off time to check things out. It could be a head gasket. Again I don't know yet. My coolant doesn't look milky and my oil doesn't look that milky today. I don't have an oil loss or a coolant loss and it is sounding like a sensor issue or something along those lines

 

Personally I still wouldn't even start it until I knew for sure.

 

Dump your coolant and your oil and inspect both closely.

 

I really do need to do a coolant flush. I've put so many different types of coolant in it and I know that was a bad idea. When I can ill do a coolant flush and ill change my oil