Jeep woes, and I dont know what to do with it..

[Jarhead1775]

How soon are you needing this? Honestly?

I am "upgrading" my 2000 Wrangler to an LS motor as soon as I get an LS engine or get a hair up my a** to pull it out. The 4.0 has 125,000 ish miles on it. Runs great.

I replaced the cam sensor,crank sensor, oil pump drive and oil pump about 3 months ago. The pump was for insurance purposes mainly. It is a Speed Pro Hi Volume pump and pick up. I run Valvoline Syntech 10w30 in it and change it at 3000-3500 miles and have proof of such. It received new NGK plugs in the spring and an air filter at the last oil change. I run seafoam through the fuel system every couple of fill ups.

Edit: By as soon as I get the LS... means after Christmas-January time frame... not several months.

 

[Caleb]

So I'm driving my wife's Jeep (02 Jeep Gr. Cher. with the 4.0L) when it suddenly makes a loud ticking/knocking noise, motor shuts down, starts back for a second (VERY ROUGH, WONT MAKE IDLE), then dies again. Now it wont turn over. A buddy thinks oil pump failure/trashed motor.


And on top of that I have only found one used motor so far (I cant afford 4k for a new one), and they want $1,200, Yes ONE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS!


Anyone shed some light/help/got a lead on a motor? Im at a loss, and my financial situation isnt 100% great right now.


Worst part, we just paid it off in October!

Napa sells a rebuild 4.0L longblock for $1600...2002 grand cherokees had the 4.0L?

 

[mcolford]

Napa sells a rebuild 4.0L longblock for $1600...2002 grand cherokees had the 4.0L?

Yes, 4.0L

 

[mcolford]

How soon are you needing this? Honestly?

I am "upgrading" my 2000 Wrangler to an LS motor as soon as I get an LS engine or get a hair up my a** to pull it out. The 4.0 has 125,000 ish miles on it. Runs great.

I replaced the cam sensor,crank sensor, oil pump drive and oil pump about 3 months ago. The pump was for insurance purposes mainly. It is a Speed Pro Hi Volume pump and pick up. I run Valvoline Syntech 10w30 in it and change it at 3000-3500 miles and have proof of such. It received new NGK plugs in the spring and an air filter at the last oil change. I run seafoam through the fuel system every couple of fill ups.

Edit: By as soon as I get the LS... means after Christmas-January time frame... not several months.

Dang... My back is against the wall to have this car done this week. Its my wife's daily driver...

 

[rhinoabe]

I have a 92 Cherokee 145,000 miles and the wife has a 2004 Grand Cherokee 189,000 and my two nephews have Wranglers.One of the Wranglers a 2000 broke a piston skirt at 45,000 miles.Other than that. Gas and Go.

 

[Stang51d]

It's time to take the 4.0 out and put in a good old small block chevy.

 

[Already Gone]

So I'm driving my wife's Jeep (02 Jeep Gr. Cher. with the 4.0L) when it suddenly makes a loud ticking/knocking noise, motor shuts down, starts back for a second (VERY ROUGH, WONT MAKE IDLE), then dies again. Now it wont turn over. A buddy thinks oil pump failure/trashed motor.

Sorry about your problems with the Jeep. Unfortunately, I cant really tell you what has happened or what to do. With my experience with cars and trucks I can lend you some advice on what "I" would do if this happened to me.

1) Look at the positive. The car is 100% payed off. LKQ would maybe give you 400 bucks for the car. You can find Cherokees of all different prices and conditions cheap on Craigslist. Without knowing your fincial situation, I would assume that the "$1200" cost for a replacement engine is salty. Maybe you could consider finding a good running jeep on craigs for about $1500, swap out the good parts of your broken jeep, (like a recently replaced alternator, battery, tires, etc) and scrap the broken jeep for maybe $350-400 or more at lkq. Then you would have less then 1k into running transportation. Because now, you are down one car.

If you dont have extra cash right now to buy another jeep. (And again, we are talking running, reliable for less then $1500), maybe put a post on craigslist for $5-600 on that jeep and try to sell it out right in AS-IS condtion. People buy cars for scrap and parting out. And that would be more then what lkq would probably give you. You may be suprised. Do that for a week or so and then cut your losses and take it in for scrap. then you may have bout $400 for a car.

Try to save up another $600 or so and find yourself a nice $1000 car on craigslist. You maybe able to barter some things. if cash inst there. Decient transportation can be found for $1k - $1500 on craigs. Remember we are talking transportation.

2) If you are set on keeping the car, and there is nothing wrong with that. I would avoid all the "speculation" that friends and the interent are going to give you. All of the "it may be this, or I bet its that" can get you frustrated. I recommend taking it to a quality mechanic or a friend that is a mechanic and ask if they could find the problem "on the side" and give them $100 bucks to tell you what it may or may not need. Maybe the could do it at your house, come over on a weekend, etc. If there are condtions that would indicate a "blown engine" it should be rather easy figure out. Then you will know exactly where you stand. And you can make a plan from there.

3) assuming its the worse and then engine is toast. you are going to have a lot of money in parts and labor to get it running again. Way more then the value of the car. There is nothing wrong with driving a car that you put more money into it then its worth, but just dont get mad when it costs some good change. It the jeep has a lot of work done to it, it may be worth spending $3k to get a new engine put into it. YEah, you can go buy another Cherokee for $3k but you dont know the car. The engine will have 150k miles are more, and you will be putting yourself in the same risk group you were in before the orginal went down.

Take a bit of time, and find out where you are financially. That will help you out with some of your decisions. If you are mechanically inclined and can do work yourself, gain you some more wiggle room on things. Establish where you are, seek facts, and go one step at a time.

 

[Caleb]

just put another 4.0L engine in...I'm sure we can help you find one

Edit:

88 4.0L complete motor des moines ia
anyone need a motor out of an 88? odometer says 170k, but i don't know if its the original motor. motor harness, motor, accessories and all included. runs super smooth...sounds way better than the motor in my 98. im probably going to pull it next week once i get the mj home. let me know, for now its staying in the truck because its easier to store there

$125 with all included. im also open to offers

 

[mcolford]

Dropped the oil pan this evening, and I found some metal in the pan, and the timing chain is VERY VERY LOOSE! Which tells me the timing gear got mangled (Im assuming timing chain slacked out, jumped a hair, and demolished the gear. But all pistons are intact, rods are all there... To say I am in a good mood is an under statement.

I have never messed with timing, but I guess that changes this weekend!

EDIT: Just looked again, and #3 piston is TRASHED!

Anyone in the 46947 open that knows this stuff?

 

[Butch627]

There are a number of off road and Jeep forums out there. The biggest is pirate4x4. There are also local 4x4 forums. I suggest you do some searching on them. You may find a used engine at a reasonable price and you can get info from guys who are very familiar with the 4.0 engine. There is a jeep owners thread on here, by posting there you may get some good leads

 

[koenig clone]

Jeep Forum - Jeep Enthusiast Network my second favorite forum. great info on there about everything jeep. my cherokee has 200k and runs like a champ! i bought my son a grand cherokee, did some really crazy things for a bit. a bad crankshaft position sensor can make a jeep do really odd things. replaced two on his.

 

[terrehautian]

If it is anything but a XJ, can't go wrong with JF.

If it is an XJ, I prefer NAXJA.

 

[churchmouse]

Dropped the oil pan this evening, and I found some metal in the pan, and the timing chain is VERY VERY LOOSE! Which tells me the timing gear got mangled (Im assuming timing chain slacked out, jumped a hair, and demolished the gear. But all pistons are intact, rods are all there... To say I am in a good mood is an under statement.

I have never messed with timing, but I guess that changes this weekend!

EDIT: Just looked again, and #3 piston is TRASHED!

Anyone in the 46947 open that knows this stuff?

Sorry to hear this. I felt there was more damage as it was locked up.
Pull it (engine) and put something else in the hole.

 

[mcolford]

Are there any Indiana (local) Jeep forums?

 

[terrehautian]

jpfrog is one, but I am not on it.
www.indyorv.com is one, but I am not on it

North American XJ Association is somewhat Indiana based, it has a midwest section and there is a lot of Indiana people on it, but good people.

 

[Caleb]

Dropped the oil pan this evening, and I found some metal in the pan, and the timing chain is VERY VERY LOOSE! Which tells me the timing gear got mangled (Im assuming timing chain slacked out, jumped a hair, and demolished the gear. But all pistons are intact, rods are all there... To say I am in a good mood is an under statement.

I have never messed with timing, but I guess that changes this weekend!

EDIT: Just looked again, and #3 piston is TRASHED!

Anyone in the 46947 open that knows this stuff?

Sorry to hear that...wish I could fix that for you, although I could help depending how far away you are located.

 

[mcolford]

Sorry to hear that...wish I could fix that for you, although I could help depending how far away you are located.

You are close to 4 hours away...

 

[S8MS-01904]

The 4.0L engine was "changed" in the model year '99, so if you need another block, use '99 and up as a switchero. Also, grab the computer when dealing with "junkyard" replacements.

 

[CindyE]

not open today, but this place in Burlington might be able to give you some ideas: E & K Sales, Inc. | Burlington, IN

 

[terrehautian]

Also Grand Cherokee's have different blocks then regular Cherokee's.