I always hear terrible terrible things about the 0331 head in the 2000 Cherokees - but only from people who DON'T have a 2000! Are they really a big deal? I have a 2000 Cherokee and it's at 125k miles with no problems at all, and I don't plan on having any any time soon.

Have overheated the engine once off-roading, a lot of idling, with the AC on high, in 100+ degree weather, but after 10 mins it was fine.

Is there a certain time or mileage I should expect something? Or is this just hype?

 

Well, put it this way: I took mine into the shop, because I had a massive coolant leak (full bottle friday, 2 inches below fill line today) and I was fully expecting a cracked head because of this forum.

Turns out the radiator is shot. Thank god it's not the 1k repair I was expecting!

It's something to keep an eye out for, and maybe get checked, but it seems like the way the forum makes it out to be that it's just going to blow and nothing you can do will change that. I think there was a guy on another XJ forum who did a poll and only 14 people out of 100 had a cracked head.

 

they are known to crack. I have replaced a quite a few at work, not all of them are cracked tho.

 

Replacing a cylinder head is not beyond the skill set of most people who are willing to be patient and methodical in their work.

It's not like you have to pull the engine out of the vehicle or anything.

 

I have an 01 with 150k on it, and so far so good. From what I understand these dont just go bad. They more often go bad because of poor maintenance or overheating. It does seem to be the go to answer with a lot of members on the forum. The second you say you have rough idle, low coolant etc. the first answer that pops up for us 99 to 01 guys is a cracked head. Keep your oil changed, watch your coolant levels and keep an eye on the temp. If it goes above 210 without the fan kicking on pull off. A tow is much cheaper than replacing a new head and cooling system. There was another Jeep forum where a member took a poll on the cracking of this head and it happend with more XJ's than the other models with the same head. It also appeared to happen to a lot under 100k miles leading to a possible thought of bad casting of some and not all.

 

no not that common, i think ive said this to about every person thats said something about the 0331 heads on here lol, it wont really happen for no reason, the jeep has to overheat, or at least get really hot, dont let it overheat and your head is fine, trust me ive gone through the same thing, the first time i heard about it i freaked, i read up on ot ALOT and its not a big of a deal as people think, even if it does crack, heads on our jeeps arent the hardest things to replace

 

Well crap, I've got one cracked 0331 stock head. What do they say: Cracks happen! Be a believer and watch that head closely; or choose to replace all you r bearings if you don't. These are bad heads originally cast. Yes, there are the lucky ones that haven't had a problem yet. Too many of us have... A great truck, except the head 2000-2001.

 

idk. i have a 2000 with the 0331 head. ive overheated it many times. blew 2 radiators in 2 months. cracked the intake and blown the head gasket. head wasnt cracked but putting the head back on i over torqued the FL head bolt and cracked the block all the way down the side from the waterpump to the back of the block. replaced the motor. pulled the head and checked it and it seemed to be fine.

 

got a 2000.... with 148,000 i overheated it once... not that bad... all seems well so far "knock on wood"

 

I've got a 2001 with 128,700 and I have not problems like that at all.

 

I don't think it's all that big a deal. I think it's really just a matter of... the 0331 has a statistically better chance of going bad than the others. But that's like saying you have a better chance of winning the lottery because you bought tickets from the store where the previous two winners bought theirs.

It reminds me a lot of the old supercharged Ford 3.8 liters... I had one in a '90 Cougar that I had. The heads were aluminum and the blocks cast iron, and Ford hadn't compensated for that when they made the head gaskets, so they tended to rip themselves apart from the inside out. The general consensus was that it wasn't a question of if the head gasket would blow, it was a question of when. I researched it, watched it like a hawk, and was terribly paranoid because everything that I saw sold it like a death knell to that engine. And yet... it never, ever went bad on me. Despite my not even taking very good care of it.

So yeah... while it could potentially happen, I don't think it's anything to lose sleep over.