She's dead, Jim!
 

The ol' 99 GC with 285k decided that last night was enough.

Started knocking, filled the crankcase with coolant and clattered to a locked up state.

The car is good with remarkably little wear so I am gonna drop a new(ish) engine in it and see if I cant get a few more years out of her.

Any pointers/pitfalls or "wish I would'a's "?

99 4.0 with the infamous 0331 head? Uh huh! If so, you got a lot of miles out of it before it cracked. Usually they crack at about 150K miles. If it's the 4.7, I never would have expected one to go that far.

Find an 02 or newer 4.0 or one with an aftermarket head.

yup o331 head


Where is the casting mark on the block? The guy from the engine shop needs it, and I can't find it. Spent two hours with a mirror, cell phone, and and inspection camera.

Not a happy guy right now.

The block casting number is on the driver's side of the block just underneath the first core (freeze) plug on the front of the engine. You'll probably need to remove the power steering bracket to see it.

Bing is a wonderful thing!

Dave my 4.7 has 229,000 and still doesn't use a drop of oil between changes and still breaks the tires loose on the 1-2 shift lol. Like we have talked about before its like anything boils down to how well they treated in their life before we got them. I was lucky and I bet the newer ones fall apart before they get as old as the WJ's and XJ's and still running.

Hey, Fred. I've got nothing against the 4.7 because I don't have any first hand knowledge or experience with them. All I know is a lot of people seem to have trouble with them and the fact that they are a new engine with powdered-metal parts has me concerned. When I went shopping for my WJ, I looked specifically for a 4.0 with the 242 because I trust them to last and give me good service. I didn't know about the 0331 head at the time. LOL.