This car has 190k miles and absolutely no check engine lights and a leaky driveshaft seal on the transmission. Got some engine pics with the sludge coming out of the valve cover. This poor Jeep has been used and abused. I plan on fixing the valve cover first. I will take pics to show what 10k mile oci with conventional does to an engine. Might be good, who knows. Also the pcv system has never been replaced.
2000 Jeep Cherokee project car
- Thread starter Jetsfan421
- Start date
Looks like the coolant is a rusty disaster.
First thing I'd do is get a can of Gunk and go to the self service car wash to clean that engine. https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/5182289/cleaning-a-new-4-0-v6 You don't want all that grit falling into the engine when removing the valve cover.
Originally Posted by Chris142
Looks like the coolant is a rusty disaster.
It sure is. For some God awful reason someone put dexcool in this puppy back ten years ago. It's got a new radiator, actually on it's 3rd. Not sure how many flushes this poor thing is going to need.
Looks like the coolant is a rusty disaster.
It sure is. For some God awful reason someone put dexcool in this puppy back ten years ago. It's got a new radiator, actually on it's 3rd. Not sure how many flushes this poor thing is going to need.
Originally Posted by Jetsfan421
Originally Posted by Chris142
Looks like the coolant is a rusty disaster.
It sure is. For some God awful reason someone put dexcool in this puppy back ten years ago. It's got a new radiator, actually on it's 3rd. Not sure how many flushes this poor thing is going to need.
Not that Dexcool is a bad coolant.....
Originally Posted by Chris142
Looks like the coolant is a rusty disaster.
It sure is. For some God awful reason someone put dexcool in this puppy back ten years ago. It's got a new radiator, actually on it's 3rd. Not sure how many flushes this poor thing is going to need.
Not that Dexcool is a bad coolant.....
What does the rest of it look like?
Subscribed.
I assume the engine is the 4.0 engine? Possible issues are cracked piston skirts and #331 casting head that can crack.
Teeves substandard brake calipers.
Teeves substandard brake calipers.
Originally Posted by Donald
I assume the engine is the 4.0 engine? Possible issues are cracked piston skirts and #331 casting head that can crack.
Teeves substandard brake calipers.
Didn't have those on the Cherokee XJ.
I assume the engine is the 4.0 engine? Possible issues are cracked piston skirts and #331 casting head that can crack.
Teeves substandard brake calipers.
Didn't have those on the Cherokee XJ.
As they say, "It ain't the Dexcool's fault".
Dexcool DOES NOT go into systems which are exposed to the atmosphere.
The reservoir's cap is merely a flap. It only keeps bugs out.....BIG bugs.
Here's my sister's '99 XJ with ~150K on it's odo. Jug dino OC specials of varying brands using 5K OCI's.
New VC gasket kit from Fel-Pro included 19 hard plastic things which served as sealers for the bolts. I was surprised they worked.
The rubber grommets were shrunken, embrittled and leaking so I broke the elbow (front) and PCV orifice (rear) to R&R them.
I also bought the PCV to intake manifold hard line for $8 as I thought I'd use that much in solvents to clean the old one.
New cap, rotor, wires and plugs. New hoses too.
When the parents of the college bound girl opened the hood at 171K they both gasped, "How clean the engine is!".
Also, clean your diffy-ques.
Unscrew the trannie drain and 1 gallon of Dex/Merc exits. She had the NP242 and it takes the same juice.
What are those bridges shared by each cylinder's intake and exhaust rocker arms?
Dexcool DOES NOT go into systems which are exposed to the atmosphere.
The reservoir's cap is merely a flap. It only keeps bugs out.....BIG bugs.
Here's my sister's '99 XJ with ~150K on it's odo. Jug dino OC specials of varying brands using 5K OCI's.
New VC gasket kit from Fel-Pro included 19 hard plastic things which served as sealers for the bolts. I was surprised they worked.
The rubber grommets were shrunken, embrittled and leaking so I broke the elbow (front) and PCV orifice (rear) to R&R them.
I also bought the PCV to intake manifold hard line for $8 as I thought I'd use that much in solvents to clean the old one.
New cap, rotor, wires and plugs. New hoses too.
When the parents of the college bound girl opened the hood at 171K they both gasped, "How clean the engine is!".
Also, clean your diffy-ques.
Unscrew the trannie drain and 1 gallon of Dex/Merc exits. She had the NP242 and it takes the same juice.
What are those bridges shared by each cylinder's intake and exhaust rocker arms?
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Why 10 k for a clean up ?????? Personally after doing a similar project on my sons jeep we did
2K twice with QSAD and Bosch filters
Cleaned up nicely
5W30 QSAD ran and started well in Minn. Winters
Be sure to make sure your tire diameters are all the same ,,, we had a front differential failure as my son replaced the front tires and not the rears = disaster for full time FWD.
Ran it for for 3 years while he was at college sadly it died a terrible death by vandalism on campus alcohol was involved,,,,,,,,,,
2K twice with QSAD and Bosch filters
Cleaned up nicely
5W30 QSAD ran and started well in Minn. Winters
Be sure to make sure your tire diameters are all the same ,,, we had a front differential failure as my son replaced the front tires and not the rears = disaster for full time FWD.
Ran it for for 3 years while he was at college sadly it died a terrible death by vandalism on campus alcohol was involved,,,,,,,,,,
That's about what the inside of my ‘98 4.0 looked like. The 4.0 is a pretty tough engine, but I would watch out for overheating issues-the factory 1 row radiator is too small, and mine tried to commit hari-kari recently when stuck in a traffic jam in 95F weather for 2 hours, got so hot the engine wouldn't even turn over. Fortunately was OK after cooling off for an hour or so, after vaporizing 2 quarts of MaxLife 10W40!
Make sure it has a good fan clutch - they only last a year or two, and an in tact fan shroud.
I bet the head itself is clean inside, it's just a leaky valve cover picking up dirt and stuff.
Also, these engines NEED the coolant changed every 3 years. Otherwise they will corrode the cooling system horribly.
I bet the head itself is clean inside, it's just a leaky valve cover picking up dirt and stuff.
Also, these engines NEED the coolant changed every 3 years. Otherwise they will corrode the cooling system horribly.
I bought a '93 GC with 225k on it in far worse shape, and it responded well to unorthodox fixes such as over-tightening the head (slowly, carefully) until a real fix could be done, and the engine is monstrously sturdy. Mine consumed 1/2 qt coolant per day and 1-2 qts of oil per week when I drove it home, and after minor work it dropped to about a cup of coolant/month and about the same for oil. I have much respect for that block of iron.
-m
-m
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
The 4.0L engine in these are typically good engines. However, 2000 & 2001 have defective heads that like to crack. Look into 0331 heads online.
Don't expect it to be real reliable and cheap to own. They're older cars, things wear out, and things can stack on top of each other.
Their cooling systems are sub-standard as mentioned above. Fan clutches do not last long. Take out the thermostat and bolt the housing back on, and flush it really good with the hose. Then replace the thermostat and fill with new coolant. Drive for a while and change it again.
Check all the suspension, again things wear out. The front driveshaft is greaseable too.
Just use Champion copper spark plugs in it.
The exhaust manifolds like to crack too.
Don't expect it to be real reliable and cheap to own. They're older cars, things wear out, and things can stack on top of each other.
Their cooling systems are sub-standard as mentioned above. Fan clutches do not last long. Take out the thermostat and bolt the housing back on, and flush it really good with the hose. Then replace the thermostat and fill with new coolant. Drive for a while and change it again.
Check all the suspension, again things wear out. The front driveshaft is greaseable too.
Just use Champion copper spark plugs in it.
The exhaust manifolds like to crack too.
Sorry if I wasn't clear. This poor thing has been subject to 10k plus conventional changes over the last 11 or so years. It was my dad's daily driver until he upgraded. It was inherited from my deceased grandfather. It needs new leaf springs, back bumper, oil cap(yeah it just spins), pcv system, valve cover gasket, coolant flushed, oil system cleaned, new battery (pretty sure it 10+ years old), and a laundry list of little things like a broken driver's seat mount, and the headliner fell off. It's a 4.0 Cherokee with rwd. More pics will be coming.
Originally Posted by Nick1994
The exhaust manifolds like to crack too.
The 00+ (or 99+ WJ) 4.0s have two exhaust manifolds that go into a crossover. Luckily those don't crack. Unfortunately, the ports are different so you can't upgrade the older ones with the newer 2 piece exhaust manifolds.
The exhaust manifolds like to crack too.
The 00+ (or 99+ WJ) 4.0s have two exhaust manifolds that go into a crossover. Luckily those don't crack. Unfortunately, the ports are different so you can't upgrade the older ones with the newer 2 piece exhaust manifolds.
Update one year on!!! This thing came roaring back like a Phoenix today. I changed out the battery and the radiator fluid, changed the oil to Valvoline premium blue restore, and used one of my old stock supertech oil filters from back when wix made them. Poured in a whole bottle of heet with some fresh gas, primed the fuel pump and it cranked over after three ties. It was an emergency because my dad's Acadia thermostat locked up. In the process of changing that out now. Discovered his pcv tube to be cracked on that while taking the hoses and thermostat housing off. What a day!
Your just getting back now after a year from your last post? What ever happened to posting some pics?
How well did the valvoline blue restore work?
