I have a 98 XJ that I have owned for a long time that my son is driving now I am looking for a second XJ for my other boy. I have been looking at mostly 97-99 models but I found a pretty good deal on a 2001 with 140,000 miles. I hear there can be potential head problems. What is the problem and is there something I can look for. Is it worth worrying about?


The one I am looking at is bone stock that looks like it was a grocery getter. Is the head issue more prevalent on units that are driven hard or 4wheeled?


Thanks

 

No not really, but a lot of extra emissions gear on the 2001 plus it has the LPD30 in it.

 

The 0331 head has been known to crack more than the other heads used on the 4.0L. I've had two 2001 models and have never had an issue.

Fred is correct, much more emissions. Two exhaust manifolds instead of just one large manifold also.

 

Thanks for the replies. I did some searching through the forums and found lots of topics about this. I feel as long as I know what to watch for I would be comfortable getting a 2001 for the right price even if I had to replace the head down the road. This one is out of town and I am relying on my Mom to look at it for me. I just want to make sure we are starting with a good one. I will check the oil and coolant. It is a nice clean 2 owner limited that is bone stock. I like starting with something that no one has messed with yet.

 

Not all 0331 heads crack. Mine did, and I don't wheel and really didn't abuse it, nor did I ever overheat it. If I had it to do over again, I would still buy the Jeep, but I would have been sending off oil samples to Blackstone every oil change to watch for changes in the engine. It would have been nice to be ahead of the problem rather than having to react to it.

As for the emissions, in 2001 Chrysler only offered the California emissions package for sale throughout the country. This version of the exhaust has three catalytic converters and four O2 sensors. The two "pre-cats" are in the down pipe just below the exhaust manifold, making it necessary to use the two-piece manifold that comes out to two outlets rather than collecting into one pipe.

It works fine. What it means for you on a practical level is that if you ever want to put a header on the truck, your options are limited. You can't install a cheap APN header on it. Even if it were legal to remove the pre-cats to make an exhaust that would fit the cheaper pre-2000 headers, the computer is expecting correct data from all four of those O2 sensors. So it wouldn't even work. You're "stuck" with the really short Borla header or the Torque Tubes-style curly headers. I put "stuck" in quotes, though, because I love my Torque Tubes so much that I personally don't think it's a drawback.

Also, although a lot of people like to replace their catalytic converters with high-flow models, on the 2001 the replacement pre-cats are unusually expensive. We're talking in the $800 range, as opposed to as little as $30 for a high-flow rear cat. So you're pretty much stuck with the stock pre-cats unless you're willing to shell out some coin.

The 2001 is very likely to have a low-pinion front axle. It works fine, but you might run into problems if you want to lift it or need ground clearance.

If it's a Limited, it likely has a Chrysler 8.25 rear end and ABS brakes. That's not a bad axle. If you wanted to put a snorkel on it, you would run into problems with the ABS module being in the way under the hood. The 2001 also had the window washer bottle inside the driver's side fender, which also gets in the way.

The Limited had the Infinity sound system, which was okay. It includes the little door tweeters, but it has no crossovers because that was handled by the Infinity amp. The 5.25" speakers in the doors like to rot and stop working. If that happens, the tweeters may also stop working because they are wired in with the doors speakers. Replacing those door speakers is an issue because it's a 2 ohm system, and almost everything available these days is 4 ohm and would cause an impedance mismatch if you used them. So if the sound system has problems, you will likely just want to plan to replace the whole thing.

The Limited also had leather interior and an overhead console, which to me were both worth the price of the upgrade. And it had the faux wood trim paneling inside, which I could take or leave.

Did the '98 have spark plug wires? The 2001 doesn't. It has a coil rail that mounts directly on the spark plugs. If you ever end up replacing your head, you have to replace it with one that is compatible with the coil rail or plan to make new brackets to hold the coil rail in place. There's not much to a tune-up.

And the '00 and '01 had the rounded intake manifolds that allegedly flow better than the older ones.

All in all it's not a bad truck, especially if you're planning to keep it stock. I'm building mine out because I already have it, so it's costing me money to overcome a few of these minor limitations.

 

the Chrysler 8.25 didn't come with abs until the liberty, at least that's what I've always heard. Mine has the 8.25 and doesn't have the abs but mines a 99 sport.

 

I may have become confused. I'll have to go look under my Jeep when I get back in town.

I know that mine originally had ABS. I had to have the rear axle replaced back when I knew a lot less about the XJ and was having to trust a mechanic to do all of it. I'm pretty sure it has an 8.25 under it now, so I just assumed that the 8.25 came with ABS. Now you have me thinking that stinker that replaced it just swapped in a Chrysler axle and disconnected the ABS.

 

I would thank him (or her). I would take a 8.25 without abs over the Dana turdy five anyday. I personally don't care for abs just another thing to break in my opinion. also it's not like the abs of newer vehicles you have to keep that in mind.

 

Most of the heads that cracked was from being drove while it overheated.If it was taking care of it should be ok.