I have an 88 Cherokee and aside from the minor electrical fine points, I'm quite familiar with them mechanically.


She used to own a Mini S and although the car was a blast for her, repairing it was like having a Porsche or Ferrari repaired. The last straw was needing to have the clutch replaced so instead of getting raped for that we simply sold it.


Being Jeep parts are cheap and me working on them is actually doable she is wanting to get one.


I have been seeing some very nice 2000 and 2001 Cherokee's around but I hesitate to look at them because of the known head and exhaust issues.


One of my questions is, are these issues a given and by owning one guarantees that you will need to replace them?


If so, at what mileage range are these issues known to pop up?


Also, are there any 2000-2001 owners here that have had zero issues?


And last, did all 4.0L those two years have the bad head and exhaust parts or were there some 4.0L that did not. If not all, how can I tell one from the other?


Thanks

 

You know, I've got a 95 and I had a cracked head, so it's not only those two years. IF you get a cracked head it's a pretty straightforward fix and parts aren't too bad...I would look at condition and not worry about heads.

 

The head on the 00-01 can crack at 60k or 260k it all depends how the owners have taken care of it.What causes the head to crack is a lack of maintenance and driving a jeep that is over heating.Some people do no maintenance but a oil change and wonder why their car breaks down on them.

 

What he said. But if you find a really clean one with no rust...I would take a chance. Worst case you've got a weekend header/manifold swap or a trip to the mechanic. But after that you've got a sweet ride. Too bad about the mini, it's an awesome car with a terrible service record. All the car mags are ditching them now because of all the repairs. I drive one and loved it but ended up with a fiat abarth instead. 10k miles so far without a problem...knock wood.

 

My concern on a 2000 or 2001 is that it HAD a cracked head in the past and someone ran it with coolant in the crankcase.

 

That is false. I followed the scheduled maintenance religiously, and mine still cracked. You will find a rather large and growing number of other people here who did the same and had the same result. The 0331 head had a casting flaw that can make it crack for no reason whatsoever, regardless of how it was maintained.

All 2000 and 2001 XJs came with the original 0331 head with the casting flaw. There's no getting around that.

While it is not a given that the head will crack, and there are several members here still running strong with their original 0331 heads, the problem is that you can't have 100% confidence in it. If I were buying another 2000 that still had its 0331 head, I would simply plan from the beginning to replace it with a Clearwater head so that I wouldn't be wondering if/when it was going to go. If you buy one and decide not to preemptively replace the head, just watch it like a hawk and be ready to swap it at the first sign of a head issue.

As for the exhaust, I assume you're talking about the CA emissions with the four O2 sensors and three catalytic converters. This is not really a problem unless you want to modify the vehicle. The front cats do not fail that often, although when they do, it can be pretty expensive to replace them. Where you run into issues is that the two-manifold configuration limits your options for installing headers, and it's difficult to modify the exhaust itself because the computer is looking for the signals from all those O2 sensors to run correctly. If you're not looking to mod the exhaust, you may never have an issue.

The good news is that not all XJs in those years had the CA emissions. CA emissions was standard nationwide in 2001 (all 2001 XJs have the extra cats). In 2000, however, CA emissions was only standard in California. Throughout the rest of the country, you could order the XJ with CA emissions or with EPA emissions, which had a twin down pipe with no cats in place of the forward catalytic converters and only two oxygen sensors. So you can't go by where it's located. The only way to know is to poke your noggin under the hood and look to see if it has the extra cats.

You might wonder why someone in Mississippi or Virginia or Minnesota would order a 2000 XJ with CA emissions. It's because of the way stupid Chrysler marketed it. They marketed the EPA emissions as "49-state emissions," since it couldn't be sold in California. The CA emissions configuration was marketed as "50-state emissions" because it could be sold anywhere. "50-state" sounds better than "49-state," so people thought they were getting a better vehicle that could go more places.

If you're not planning to modify the exhaust, I really wouldn't let the emissions version sway your decision. Your biggest concerns should be the 0331 head and how much rust it has underneath.

ETA: If I were looking for another XJ today, I would probably look for a 1997 to 1999. These had the same body style as the 2000, but without any of the undesirable features of the 2000-2001s. The 1999 was the best year of all, because it had the upgraded intake manifold. It was essentially the best of the old XJs and the best of the new ones, without any of the drawbacks.

 

I bought my '01 Cherokee last October because it was well-maintained and rust-free. It has 148k on the 0331 head and still runs great. I sold my '00 Wrangler Sport (same engine, same head) to buy the Cherokee, and it had 168k on it when I sold it. My daughter is still driving my first '00 Wrangler Sport, and it currently has 178k trouble-free miles. I suppose I have been somewhat lucky on that so far, but bottom line, I wouldn't be afraid to buy one of the later Cherokees just because of the potential head issue if you find one in great condition equipped like you want it.

 

Extrashaky did you buy your jeep new or did you buy it used and how many miles was on it ?

 

I bought it brand new in June, 2000. And again, I followed the maintenance requirements to the letter. It cracked anyway.

I should also add that I have never wheeled it. It was a daily driver, and most of the miles on it are highway miles. I kept it completely stock up until the time the engine went.

 

I can't say for certain how the person treated my '00 xj before I bought it, but my 0331 head just cracked about 2 weeks ago with 162k on the clock. JUST finished replacing it yesterday and it wasn't bad at all. I also replaced a lot of old parts with new shiny parts since I was down in the engine.

But man, when it cracked, it cracked good. It looks like a 3 or 3.5 inch crack . Pretty sure it happened when I was getting on the highway and I got on the throttle pretty hard. Not positive though.

So just look under the oil cap and see if you see any green , check the coolant bottle for gross coolant, check the oil for milkiness And buy the one with the least amount of rust.

 

The crack in the head can be fixed with cold stitching if you can find anyone that still does it.