Sinking Creek 4WD Association

I'll try to make a long story short: Buddy told me a few days ago his radiator (97 4.0 xj) had exploded and he overheated. He called me about an hour ago and said he had replaced the rad and tried to drive home; made it 30mi and started billowing white smoke...........got towed home.

I'm going to replace the head gasket for him this weekend (have never done so), I can obviously follow directions but any tips or things to look for or replace while I'm at it?

Thanks

hahaha he called me on way home but i ignored it cause of that thing he did with that janitor

ill help ya rant (whether or not thats a good thing i dunno....)

definitely write down what you're doing and/or take pictures as you go. It's hard to remember everything. You should also replace all the coolant hoses, fuel lines, and vacuum lines that are hard to reach (if any). There was tons of rubber under the intake manifold on my car that I couldn't get to very easily, so I replaced it regardless of the condition.

I did a head swap in my BMW last May in 18 hours with a friend, but we both pretty much knew what we were doing and we worked non stop. I'd plan a whole weekend for the job.


Oh yea, and drain the block (coolant) before you pull the head. You don't want to fill the cylinder bores with coolant when it comes off.

Also, replace all the intake and exhaust manifold gaskets.

tsmall07 wrote:definitely write down what you're doing and/or take pictures as you go. It's hard to remember everything. You should also replace all the coolant hoses, fuel lines, and vacuum lines that are hard to reach (if any). There was tons of rubber under the intake manifold on my car that I couldn't get to very easily, so I replaced it regardless of the condition.

I did a head swap in my BMW last May in 18 hours with a friend, but we both pretty much knew what we were doing and we worked non stop. I'd plan a whole weekend for the job.


Oh yea, and drain the block (coolant) before you pull the head. You don't want to fill the cylinder bores with coolant when it comes off.

Also, replace all the intake and exhaust manifold gaskets.

whelp we started at 10 and by 12 we found out it wasn't the head gasket. #2 cylinder had a chunk out of it . Already found a local 95 4.0 with 84k for $450 so we'll either just swap the block and run his 97 head or run the whole 95 if the brackets and wiring is the same.

new head bolts!!! and i would get the head shaved why its off ya may have warped it! make sure ya get new head bolts and torque them the way the book says! you bont want to do this two times like i did cause of the head bolts!

csult wrote:new head bolts!!! and i would get the head shaved why its off ya may have warped it! make sure ya get new head bolts and torque them the way the book says! you bont want to do this two times like i did cause of the head bolts!

Will probably have a machine shop check the head for squareness and check the #2 valve seats since the 95 engine we found is OBD1 and the 97 is OBD2. The head bolts were unpainted so they should be ok for another use.

You don't have to replace the head bolts on every engine. Some use bolts that don't stretch. I also recommend Baldwin Performance in Christiansburg for milling the head. They did mine (aluminum inline six) and washed it really well for like $40. I can't remember the exact amount, but it was around there. They do really good work as well.

You should be able to fill that chunk out of the block with bondo and run it.

if the bolts are TTY (Torque to Yield), you need to replace them ... replace them with new ones ... its cheap insurance.