Engine remanufacture or rebuild the head

[2360]

I got a $4000 quote to remanufacture my 4.0 L

Too much cashola for my tastes.

I'm thinking I could get away with rebuilding the head for a lot less.

 

My question is will a rebuilt head keep the engine going for a few more years?

 

Engine got 500,000 original kms.

Pushes blue at about 3-4000 rpm's and sometimes when I first drive away.

[Eagle]

500k kilometers is around 300k miles. At a minimum you are overdue for rod bearings and probably main bearings.

[terrawombat]

If I were in your position, I would look for someone that has a complete 4.0L for sale and it's still in the truck so that you can start it, hear it run, check oil pressure, compression, and make sure everything is in good working order. Most people will say to just go to a junkyard and purchase an engine, but they're generally more expensive than private party sellers and I've been burned twice on 4.0L engines that were supposedly 'good running engines' that turned out to have significant problems that required time/money to fix.

[kro10000]

Last time I checked, a rebuilt 4.0 was around $1500-$1800 through O'Reillys, it has a 3 year unlimited mileage warranty... just sayin

[dasbulliwagen]

I assume the price youre quoting us is with a reman engine and all labor to remove old engine and install new engine.... right? I was thinking you can get reman 4.0 engines WAY cheaper than that, but if you arent doing any labor yourself it could be in the ballpark. It pays too to get more than one quote for this job. Youd be suprised how much difference there can be between shops. Good luck.

[Eagle]

Don't forget the original poster is in Canada. However, the official exchange rate as of today is $1.03:$1.00, so it shouldn't make THAT much difference.

[2360]

Well I decided NOT go with the remanufactured engine. The estimate to remove and replace was about $3700 without tax and could be more depending on what they had to fix or replace.

 

Went to picknpull and pulled a head off an 86 Cherokee.

 

 

I started on this Cherokee, but once I took off the valve cover everything was coated with a thick layer of black yuk. I figured this isn't right. It was like it was burned on or something.

 

There was a blue 86 Cherokee (240,000 km's) in the next row which I took the head off. An interesting learning experience taking all that stuff apart.

I also grabbed a couple of front shocks and the exhaust manifold.

All that came to about $90. So far so good.

 

A quick question, if you're exhaust manifold is cracked what are some of the tell tale signs that it's cracked apart from a visable crack. I'm guessing it makes a certain noise.

 

Thanks for the input guys,

[gl1200aman]

The blue smoke could be from the valve stems or rings. Replacing the head with a good one, valve job better, may fix it. If not you may need to rebuild it. Last quote I got in WI. for a rebuilt installed was around $2100.

[Eagle]

Well I decided NOT go with the remanufactured engine. The estimate to remove and replace was about $3700 without tax and could be more depending on what they had to fix or replace.

 

Went to picknpull and pulled a head off an 86 Cherokee.

Something's not right, Mate. Your first post said you have a 4.0L. The 4.0L was not offered in 1986 ... it wasn't introduced until 1987.

[2360]

Something's not right, Mate. Your first post said you have a 4.0L. The 4.0L was not offered in 1986 ... it wasn't introduced until 1987.

 

Ahh, If I remember right that's what at picknpull guy wrote on the rear quarter of the Cherokee. Everything under the hood looked pretty identical to my Comanche.

I almost grabbed a electrical radiator fan that was located next to the prop. There was a date painted on it, I think it said Sept 21 88.

[terrawombat]

Ahh, If I remember right that's what at picknpull guy wrote on the rear quarter of the Cherokee. Everything under the hood looked pretty identical to my Comanche.

I almost grabbed a electrical radiator fan that was located next to the prop. There was a date painted on it, I think it said Sept 21 88.

 

For future reference, when at the junkyard, always look at the sticker on the right hand side on the firewall (see yellow highlighted box in the picture) for the vehicle year. It should say something like, "This vehicle conforms to emission levels for 19XX vehicles" or something along those lines. Sometimes the yards get the years wrong...a lot of yards don't care about properly organizing and categorizing their inventory.

 

[jimoshel]

I started on this Cherokee, but once I took off the valve cover everything was coated with a thick layer of black yuk. I figured this isn't right. It was like it was burned on or something.

 

Jeep factory installed rust preventative. Keeps the interior of the engine from rusting. :ack:

[wannabeMJ]

i got a quote early this year and it was 15 or 1600 to get an engine rebuilt including core deposit

[2360]

Something's not right, Mate. Your first post said you have a 4.0L. The 4.0L was not offered in 1986 ... it wasn't introduced until 1987.

 

My Comanche is an 88, however the parts I took were off a Cherokee.

I got my 4.0 L head of this Cherokee with this sticker on the door.

 

 

 

 

Grabbed the front shocks also, turned out they were Bilstein shocks. Went back the next day for the rears but they were gonzo.

[terrawombat]

Likely a 1987 Cherokee that was built in September of '86.

[Blue XJ]

Not that you need it anymore, but you should be able to have your motor rebuilt for less than $1500 at a local shop. At least thats the going rate around here. I built my stroker for about $2800 a few years ago. Neither of those prices include removal/installation though, I did that myself, since its pretty straight forward.