Newbie doing the 0331 cracked cylinder head replacement

garrett2112

garrett2112

New Member
Joined
Dec 4, 2018
Messages
18
Location
Jacksonville, FL
First and foremost, thanks to the originator and the community who have made this forum so useful! I just picked up a 2002 TJ with almost 200k and a cracked head. I think I got a good deal but time will tell.

I just completed the removal of the head and ordered a Clearwater. A few thoughts and questions:

1) Taking the intake manifold off wasn't hard at all. I didn't have to evacuate the AC; didn't have to take off the fender. We'll see how torquing them goes.

2) I was surprised, after all my reading and scrolling, that I was stunned by the coolant drain plug. Somewhere between a 1/4" and 3/8" socket drive?? I was able to fabricate a tool to try to open it, but it didn't withstand the torque needed to remove. I removed the bottom radiator hose, but that wasn't enough, so I placed buckets all underneath, and this happened...

20181208_102444.jpg


3) The oil was super milky, but that was expected.

20181208_080936.jpg


4) I assume that this is the crack....

20181208_103110.jpg



My concerns and questions are:

-The head cracked 10 months ago and has been sitting. Is this no bueno? Anything I need to do because of that?
-It has 200k, anything I should do while I am in this deep besides thorough scrubbing and cleaning? Headers look good; just gonna brush them down and paint. Gonna change spark plugs. Has a brand new radiator. Has always had routine maintenance done at a dealership.
-Is there any other damage that could have resulted from the head being cracked? It only overheated once or twice, but never severe. (This is my ex's Jeep, so I know the history. She's nice, no ex's jokes lol)

Thanks in advance! Hope to be a part of the community.

Best,
g
 
garrett2112 said:
-The head cracked 10 months ago and has been sitting. Is this no bueno? Anything I need to do because of that?
Click to expand...

Nope.

garrett2112 said:
-It has 200k, anything I should do while I am in this deep besides thorough scrubbing and cleaning? Headers look good; just gonna brush them down and paint. Gonna change spark plugs. Has a brand new radiator. Has always had routine maintenance done at a dealership.
Click to expand...

Yeah, if it was me, while I was in there I would replace the O2 sensors (since they should all be replaced around 80k miles following this thread as a guideline:
The Official Jeep Wrangler TJ Oxygen (O2) Sensor Thread

With that amount of miles, there should be no question at all that it's time to overhaul your cooling system, especially if you have no knowledge of when it was last done. It's cheap, it's good routine maintenance, and while you're in there, I think you'd be stupid not to do it. You can use this thread as a guideline for the parts you'll need: Jeep Wrangler TJ Cooling System Overhaul FAQ

garrett2112 said:
-Is there any other damage that could have resulted from the head being cracked? It only overheated once or twice, but never severe. (This is my ex's Jeep, so I know the history. She's nice, no ex's jokes lol)
Click to expand...

There shouldn't be any, no. Unless it overheated on a severe scale where it was running at an extreme temp for a prolonged period of time (and you didn't immediately shut it off), then there shouldn't be anything to worry about.
 
Thank you all. The radiator was just replaced literally a few days before it first overheated. My guess is that they didn't burp the coolant, which triggered the head crack.
 
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