Blown motor? Cracked head? Head gasket?

[Cobrajay]

Well, I went wheeling for the first time. A bunch of us took a trip to PA (rauschs creek). Jeep performed great until the end. Somehow all the water i had in the radiator just vanished. Didn't have any smoke or overheating allllll day. I was on the last trail and got stuck on some rocks and I over heated and I waited and cooled down and took off after that. A little while after, I hear a tick coming from the motor. Only ticks when I give it gas. The tick eventually gets louder as I give it gas and when we leave, I jump on the HW and it died and never started back up. I think I blew the head gasket or possibly damaged the head (cracked). I filled up the radiator today and tried starting it but got nothing. I had power and fuel but as far as spark..well....I pull all plugs and two or three of them had water on them. I started breaking down the motor and these are the pics so far....

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o166/Cobrajay/jhg.jpg
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o166/Cobrajay/utf.jpg
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o166/Cobrajay/jgfr.jpg
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o166/Cobrajay/ydr.jpg
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o166/Cobrajay/mn.jpg
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o166/Cobrajay/hnfed.jpg

:thumbdown:

[BlueXJ]

Don't look too good. Pull the head and see if the cylinders have water in them. I have heard of an internal hydro lock but never have seen one.

[Cobrajay]

Water sitting on top of the pistons....lots of water
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o166/Cobrajay/iujn.jpg
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o166/Cobrajay/ouin.jpg
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o166/Cobrajay/iunh.jpg
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o166/Cobrajay/ergt.jpg
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o166/Cobrajay/asdf.jpg
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o166/Cobrajay/ioun.jpg

The cylinder walls are perfect. The pistons are clean. Two pistons are these marks on them. Don't know what its from. I turned the crank and all pistons move just fine. Dropping the heads and the manifold off tomorrow. I hope the heads come out ok.

[BlueXJ]

Good luck, but that seems like more than just a blown head gasket. When you have the head at the machine shop make sure they magnaflux it to check for cracks.
Let us know what they have to say about it.

[Melissa]

This brings back nightmares for me, good luck Cobrajay

[Mudderoy]

Good luck, but that seems like more than just a blown head gasket. When you have the head at the machine shop make sure they magnaflux it to check for cracks.
Let us know what they have to say about it.

Isn't it possible that he hydro-locked? Shouldn't he have a close look at those rods?

[xj4life2]

Good luck, but that seems like more than just a blown head gasket. When you have the head at the machine shop make sure they magnaflux it to check for cracks.
Let us know what they have to say about it.

Excellent advice right there , I too have heard of internal hydrolock but in my years have never seen one. I probably would pull the pan and check out the bottom end also

[alwaysxj]

good luck does not look good. but i would say that the head gasket is bad.

[ol"blue]

I also suggest checking out the bottom end.
I know it's too late now, but any time a HG or cracked head is suspected I do a coolant system pressure test. And before a teardown I do a compression test if possible as a diagnostic aid. JMO
And good luck.http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss68/DLHTURBO/beerchug.gif

[2000XJ]

Are you going to repair this or replace the engine?

[Cobrajay]

Are you going to repair this or replace the engine?

I'm not sure. I'm going to take a look at the bottom end tomorrow morning. Dropping the head off to get checked out and the manifold to get cleaned out.

[Mudderoy]

I'm not sure. I'm going to take a look at the bottom end tomorrow morning. Dropping the head off to get checked out and the manifold to get cleaned out.

I know this is going to cost you more than you have, murphy's law, but it would be a great time to replace the intake with a 99+ intake. ebay usually has them for $90.

[Cobrajay]

I know this is going to cost you more than you have, murphy's law, but it would be a great time to replace the intake with a 99+ intake. ebay usually has them for $90.

Really? Are they that much better? Whats the difference? I'll do it

[Cobrajay]

Well, talked to the guys at the machine shop. The head is all F'd up...warped and ALL the valves are bent. He said he's never seen a head in such bad shape. So bad that they are discolored. He said "Honestly Jay, I can rebuild it for you for $100 but if you did this much damage to the head, you most likely fried the piston rings, bearings ex ex and I should look into a rebuild or local junkyard" I said it makes no sense to take the risk in rebuilding the head and putting everything back together to find out 2k miles down the road and something let loose. I agreed so now I'm on the lookout for another motor. I was thinking of a stroker but F that....wayyyyy to much money. I want way more power for that kind of money but hey...its only a 6 i guess. A simple 4.0 motor will do it for me. I might get some head work tho and maybe a header, intake, TB spacer while im at it.

[Mudderoy]

Really? Are they that much better? Whats the difference? I'll do it

Ours are angled and the 99+ is all curvy. The air flows better. I have read reports of 14 hp gain. Maybe someone else will jump in with their beliefs/experiences. If I could afford it I'd do it.

[COSXJFAN]

Yep, that is good advise there!! You best bet by far, is to get rid of that motor, and drop in a new one. Are you looking remanufactured short block, or junkyard jewel?? If it was me, unless I found a super sweet JYJ, I'd opt for a remmy SB. Let us know what you wind up doing, and best of luck!! HTH!!

[Mudderoy]

Well, talked to the guys at the machine shop. The head is all F'd up...warped and ALL the valves are bent. He said he's never seen a head in such bad shape. So bad that they are discolored. He said "Honestly Jay, I can rebuild it for you for $100 but if you did this much damage to the head, you most likely fried the piston rings, bearings ex ex and I should look into a rebuild or local junkyard" I said it makes no sense to take the risk in rebuilding the head and putting everything back together to find out 2k miles down the road and something let loose. I agreed so now I'm on the lookout for another motor. I was thinking of a stroker but F that....wayyyyy to much money. I want way more power for that kind of money but hey...its only a 6 i guess. A simple 4.0 motor will do it for me. I might get some head work tho and maybe a header, intake, TB spacer while im at it.

A donor motor would probably be the cheapest route. Is this a daily driver? If so and depending on how much time and budget you have I would probably rebuild the donor motor. bearings, rings, valve job, new timing chain, maybe a new cam. Nothing fancy but at least you would know what you had.

Of course you could get a donor, and then tear down the broken engine, get the block checked, and start building a stroker.

BTW, there is a series of about 6 shows on powerblock "Trucks!" that they build an old 4.0L out of their Cheep Cherokee into a stroker. :link: (http://www.jeepstrokers.com/cheepjeep/)

[ol"blue]

Ours are angled and the 99+ is all curvy. The air flows better. I have read reports of 14 hp gain. Maybe someone else will jump in with their beliefs/experiences. If I could afford it I'd do it.

I've read that it improves throttle response as well as all around drive-ability, and increases HP and Torque.

[Melissa]

A donor motor would probably be the cheapest route. Is this a daily driver? If so and depending on how much time and budget you have I would probably rebuild the donor motor. bearings, rings, valve job, new timing chain, maybe a new cam. Nothing fancy but at least you would know what you had.


I agree, if you get a donor, go through it!!

Me the idiot, bought a "guarnteed" donor motor for my 93, now $3,000 later, my Jeep is running great, but I could have bought a crate motor and had it put in, for less than I am into a donor motor with 100,000 miles on it. All this because I took their word for it, and never had it gone through, like I should have :sad0147:

[Cobrajay]

I would love to do a stroker but I don't have that kind of money and if I did, I would just do a 350 swap. I know the swap is much more but I would rather dump that kinda cash into a setup I really want. This is my DD and sharing my GF's POS Galant isn't fun. I need my sidekick back. I'm going with a Junkyard engine right now. $400 for the motor and it has 64k miles. Looks clean so I believe them about the miles. I'm keeping the old motor so I can open her up and learn how it works more in detail. Also, I will port and polish the old head bcuz its garbage now and I need it to learn how to do the port and polish job. Once I have it down pretty well, I will pull the newer head and do that one. Can anyone suggest a cam? I wanna put one in the newer motor. New oil pump and motor mounts too while im at it. Also the gaskets

[Mudderoy]

I would love to do a stroker but I don't have that kind of money and if I did, I would just do a 350 swap. I know the swap is much more but I would rather dump that kinda cash into a setup I really want. This is my DD and sharing my GF's POS Galant isn't fun. I need my sidekick back. I'm going with a Junkyard engine right now. $400 for the motor and it has 64k miles. Looks clean so I believe them about the miles. I'm keeping the old motor so I can open her up and learn how it works more in detail. Also, I will port and polish the old head bcuz its garbage now and I need it to learn how to do the port and polish job. Once I have it down pretty well, I will pull the newer head and do that one. Can anyone suggest a cam? I wanna put one in the newer motor. New oil pump and motor mounts too while im at it. Also the gaskets

Sounds like a good gamble. I hope you get lucky and it works out.

I think when I can afford it I'm going to start buying some parts, to build my stroker. I'd like to work on it slowly and have it ready for the "some day" swap.