Hi everybody im new to this site and I have recently bought a jeep Cherokee xj 4.0l and would like a bit of help diagnosing a problem.. I drove my jeep home with a leak in the radiator and she started to over heat and make a tapping noise from somewhere under the bonnet so I pulled over and refilled the radiator and let her cool down. Tried starting again but had alot of trouble starting but eventually did. She then idled differently like its not running on all pistons, also white smoke and oil coming from exhaust, there's no discolouration of oil on the dipstick but the oil is all the way up the dipstick ? Can anybody help ?

 

you my friend have a blown head gasket, not a hard job but judging from the question you asked it might be beyond your capabilities.

 

What year is your jeep ?

 

Thanks mate, any idea how much a shop would charge ??

 

I have no idea, but be aware that if you have a 2000-2001 Cherokee your cylinder head might also be cracked which will add to the cost to fix your problem.

 

It's hard to say what you have, but it would help to know what year your XJ is.

 

I had a shop quote me $1100

 

Just to change the gasket ?

 

white smoke, dead cylinders, he's leaking coolant but most likely he has the dreaded cracked head that year was known for. Start thinking about replacing the head, you'll not like it if you do the gasket and the problem remains.

 

Larry just remember most shops charge 80 bucks plus a hour of labor now.And replacing a head gasket isn't a super fast job if you do it right.

 

I have a 98 model, do you think I'm safe for the cracked head ?

 

98? Iron horse, you should be safe. SHOULD be, can't guarantee, but at least it is NOT known for the head defect that was mentioned in earlier posts. THAT one would be real cause for concern. Just pull it, and check it, as long as it's off you might want to take another day or two and bring it to the machine shop have them check it for cracks, mill it, and rebuild it and get your compression back, or just order one from Ebay all done for a few bucks. And change the lifters!, two huge performance boosters for the price of a gasket job. Otherwise, you should also be ok just to fix the gasket.

 

Any head can crack,But the 00-01 got a updated head that had a design flaw that made it crack easier then the rest of them.

 

It's the 0331 head that's the problem, correct? A reman 0630 on an '01 should be solid, right?

 

Not sure myself, there may be some on here that could tell you that. I myself would do my own due diligence before embarking.