MNOE

Where do I go from here? 03 WJ. They wanted to charge 500 just to pull the head to tell me what was wrong, and another 5 to put it back together because they don't have the parts to replace anyhow. I left in my jeep needless to say.

dave1123

First of all, I can't believe you have a cracked cylinder head, not with just and idle stumble. Refresh my memory. Did you do a compression test? Is coolant disappearing from the reservoir at and alarming rate? Do you have coolant in the oil? Does the tailpipe steam or have lots of water dripping out of it? These are signs of a cracked head.

If you DO have a head problem, contact Odessa Cylinder Heads in Clearwater, FL. Their heavy casting is warranteed for 60 months against cracking.

Their full address is;
Odessa Cylinder Heads
5100 Ulmerton Rd, Suite 2
Clearwater, FL, 33760
727-299-9058

You may have some burnt valves, but I doubt your head is cracked.

MNOE

I do lose coolant but slow. And according to the dealer its leaking into cylinders 1&5. They pushed air into it and it came out the rad cap

dave1123

That could just be a bad head gasket. Usually these heads crack between #3 and #4. It may be WARPED, however. I guess a teardown it the only real way to tell. This is labor intensive because of the manifolds. They're a PITA to remove/install. The top bolts a easy-peasy, but the bottom ones are a nightmare. One of the rear head bolts won't clear the cowl and has to be removed WITH the head.

Long story short, find yourself a good mechanic you can trust and DON'T go to the dealer. If you and/or your buddies do it, watch out for pinching the wire harness that goes behind the head. The head weighs 78 lbs and the Odessa head weighs 85 lbs. If you buy the Odessa head, PM me and I'll tell you something to watch out for.

MNOE

Yea I have a neighbor that's a mechanic. Says he'd do it for 700 out the door including parts. I'm hoping he gets in there though and its just the gasket. Save me some money. I'd do it myself but have never been that far into an engine. Plus I stay pretty busy these days so time is a factor as well. I don't really like having to pay someone else to do things when I am pretty mechanically inclined but hey, it is what it is I guess.

SeriousOffroad

Don't throw money at it until you know exactly what the problem is, otherwise you'll continue to throw money at it.

Pulling the head is a simple process, D.I.Y.

MNOE

So the update, It was def a cracked head. Got her back up, an runnin awesome. Mechanic even charged up my ac for me

XJwonders

glad u got that solved.

Fred/N0AZZ

Did you get a head from Odessa?

MNOE

No. Got it from a local trusted parts yard. Never had issues with anything ive gotten from them before, so I don't see why spend the extra money for reman or new. Picked up the old one, had a local guy shave the head for me (for 35$) and swapped it out with the old one.

dave1123

I'll bet you never checked or refaced the valves, did you?

MNOE

I wasn't the one who put it in. Mech next door ive known awhile did it for me. He said everything looked good though. Why? Future issue? Or is that just one of those thing that's good to do since you already have it apart.

dave1123

Yeah, it's just good insurance against future issues. When I did my new head, I put a new set of lifters in it just for the same reason. I didn't want to have to take it apart again if I didn't have to.

MNOE

Ah I see, thanks dave. Fingers crossed for the future. Lemmie ask a question though. Ive been fighting with an AC not getting very cold awhile now. thought maybe it was a low refrig issue but the mech filled it within range with his tank and guage after fixing the head and its cool but not cold. Suggestions?

dave1123

Here's something you can do. Evacuate it, change the filter/drier, pump it down, and refill it. It's possible there's some air in the system. Do you have R134A in it? Unfortunatly, that stuff doesn't work as well as the old R12 did.

Just offhand I don't remember what year your jeep is.