Have '99 Grnd cherokee 4.7, and engine headgasket is cracked according to my auto mechanic friend. He told me it's not really bad now but it will only get worse.
He told me water(more of steam) is getting mixed up with engine oil and eventually engine needs to be swapped.
He quoted me of engine swap for around $3000.
I bet I am gonna end up spending more than $3000 fixing my car.
I need some opinions/ideas as what I should do with my car.
Should I just sell/trade-in the car while the problem isn't serious or fix it up?
Another question is even if I get new-used engine, will it guarantee me of long years? I don't want to spend big bucks and face the same problem in 1-2 years again.
I thought about trading in my car for 2000/2001 Land Rover.
How is the Land Rover? I looked up some reviews and it has better ratings compared to Jeep Grnd cherokee.
So I'd appreciate any feedbacks from car experts here.
Thank you so much for your time and help in advance.
Happy new year fellas.
2006-12-31 14:55:26 · 12 answers · asked by Speedy0379 1 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Car Makes ➔ Jeep
I am not even sure how the headgasket got cracked. Anyways, I heard that in order to replace/fix headgasket, the engine needs to be taken out and taken apart. I am not expert mechanical guru so don't quote me on this one tho. I've been keeping good maintenance on my car but I'd never expected something like this would happen to engine.
2006-12-31 15:05:51 · update #1
after reading about a dozen questions i see that most of the replies are inaccurate or wrong, even if you are getting the advice of a pro who is he an a or a d student , did he hit 60 home runs or 6 there is no rating system in this industry, just because someone wears a uniform or owns a repair shop doesn't mean he is smart or honest so get at least 3 opinions and estimates, now to the problem at hand, jeeps with 4.0 engines are some of the best suvs ever made bar none, jeeps with ,4.7,5.2,5.9 are some of the worst ever made without going into a 60 page book if you have not been running synthetic oil in your engine and it is over 60k get rid of it, these engines are sludge prone and are weak in the crankshaft and connecting rod area most of them are lucky to make it to 100k, cheapest fix is probablly one of the block sealers such as b&w or blue devil and u must follow the directions to the t, all! of the antifreeze must flushed out then follow directions, one trick that has worked well for me is after you have drained out the sealer remove the thermostadt and the upper radiator hose at the radiator then reinstall the thermostadt housing,put a hair blow dryer in the upper radiator hose set it on low setting and leave it overnight this cures the sealer and gives you a much better chance at a succesfull repair after employing this tactic i went from a 50% to a 90% sucess rate also it really important to pull spark plugs on cylinder with bad gasket,ask your tech which one,this repair is temporary may last 5k or 50k then take your jeep and trade it on one of those 4.0s that go for 400k , oh by the way i did hit .377 w 62 hr one year, good luck
2006-12-31 21:18:32 · answer #1 · answered by sherri w 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1st, Land Rover has historically had poor reliability, far worse than the Jeep. About your head gasket issue you should understand that the headgasket will be an expensive repair. Your car has 2 headgaskets that must be changed. This involves removing both cylinder heads, sending both heads out to be checked for cracks and trueness (by a machine shop) and re-installing the heads with new gaskets. The problem is that if you authorize the head gasket repair they may find out that one of the heads is cracked and you will still have to pay for labor up to that point... that's a risky decision to make. Headgasket failure is usually caused by overheating so did your vehicle have an overheating problem or does it have that problem now?
An engine swap would be an easier repair than a headgasket. If your mechanic gets it from the junkyard then it could be installed the same day. Make sure that ANY overheating issues are adressed or you will be back with the same problem.
If the car doesn't overheat and have steam coming out of the exhaust... I would trade it in and just plead the 5th. Good luck.
2006-12-31 16:54:27 · answer #2 · answered by e e 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm not sure on the cost of a new headgasket but you don't need to swap out an engine because of a cracked headgasket. Just replace the headgasket and flush the coolant system, and change the engine oil and you should be fine. Since you own a jeep keep it they're good vehicles. What I would like to know is how you cracked the headgasket. Dragracing??????? or neglecting maintenance???????
2006-12-31 15:01:16 · answer #3 · answered by Bill S 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Do you mean the headgasket or the head is cracked? Either way it's a big dollar job. Replacing the head will be less expensive than an engine swap, but if it's been this way for a long time, other damage may have occured. If he's a friend, he's probably giving you good advice, but a second opinion wouldn't hurt.
2006-12-31 15:06:52 · answer #4 · answered by crazydave 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
#1check your oil regulary,if it looks milky you have a problem.Also have a hydrocarbon test done,cost about $25.00.If the oil fill cap is the only thing that has a milky goo attatched to it you may not have any problem at all.This is caused by condensation and very common.A hydrocarbon test should tell the story.If you do have a problem [RED-DEVIL] cooling system sealant will do the trick so you can unload her.Follow the directions on the can exactly.hope this helps.
2006-12-31 17:29:47 · answer #5 · answered by axel1667 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Go to your auto parts store. There is a new product out. It's glass, and it is a permanent repair. They will know what you are talking about. I think it's around 10.00 or less. Follow the directions to the letter.
2006-12-31 15:09:21 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
why not just replace the gaskets....1st off you have to do a compression test to see if it truly is the head gasket.......you can also have a leak from the intake manifold gasket as well
2006-12-31 15:01:35 · answer #7 · answered by steverednova 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
get someone to crash into the front of the vehicle destroying the engine and report it to your insurance company. get it fixed for under 500 bucks yeeeehawwwww!!!!!
2006-12-31 15:05:10 · answer #8 · answered by nikkelbubble 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
pull out the dipstick and see if there is water in your engine. if there is chances are you need a motor. also pull out the spark plugs and see if they are wet too.
2016-05-23 01:53:06 · answer #9 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
head gasket, or hair line crack in cylinder
2007-01-02 04:36:47 · answer #10 · answered by huw 4x4 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋