WJCO's Build Thread, 1999 WJ

I hope you don’t need a new engine, but that’s what I’d do, if it came to it. I think it would be worth it, with all the other stuff you’ve done to it. I hope the head work fixed it.


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Hope that fixed your issue opposed to getting another engine. Good luck in a few days!

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You have great patience! Hopefully this is the fix! I had a similar problem years ago that turned out to be an air bubble in the rear of the block and heads. Could not get the engine temp down. Ended up putting bleeder valves in the rear head freeze out plugs to bleed the air out. This became evident when I measured the amount of fluid I was getting out on drain down compared to factory spec.
Keeping my fingers crossed for you!


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You have great patience! Hopefully this is the fix! I had a similar problem years ago that turned out to be an air bubble in the rear of the block and heads. Could not get the engine temp down. Ended up putting bleeder valves in the rear head freeze out plugs to bleed the air out. This became evident when I measured the amount of fluid I was getting out on drain down compared to factory spec.
Keeping my fingers crossed for you!


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Interesting, for sure.
 
Ummm, yeah, fuck that ^^

Agree! F that! Hope that bill isn’t a waste of $.

Me too.

You have great patience! Hopefully this is the fix! I had a similar problem years ago that turned out to be an air bubble in the rear of the block and heads. Could not get the engine temp down. Ended up putting bleeder valves in the rear head freeze out plugs to bleed the air out. This became evident when I measured the amount of fluid I was getting out on drain down compared to factory spec.
Keeping my fingers crossed for you!


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Interesting, for sure.

Crazy that you found that.

I hope that does it! Looking forward to that “all is good” post!

We all could do what is pictured, the trick is putting it all back together. Good luck Doug


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I could see a warped head but enough to cause a problem ‘should’ have given you more indication. Hopefully it is and you’re back to normal.


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I hope so too. I'm actually a little more confident that it was a leaking gasket. The mechanic gave me the old gaskets today. These are MLS gaskets and I didn't see any burn marks from the fire ring into the water jackets. I took a look around the web at other 4.7L failed head gaskets and several show the failed area as the black gasket coating missing between the cylinder and water jacket. There's a spot on mine that looks just like the other pictures I found. No burn marks, but gasket coating is missing. We shall see.

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My son blew the head gasket in his little race car and this is the pic he sent me so you may be all fixed I hope



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I hope so. That pic of yours is a composite gasket and definitely easier to see when material is breached which that one is for sure. On the MLS gaskets, usually the steel is burnt where the leak is but I don't see any of that on mine. But I really hope the missing black material is the breach.
 
We'll, the WJ has certainly seen better days. The shop got the new head gaskets on and the milled heads back from the machine shop. Just running in the tech's bay, the temps were climbing beyond 230F. I paid them for their time and picked up the Jeep. In the 3 mile drive home with a cold engine, the temps rose quickly and reached at least 240F and I had to pull over 3 times just to avoid overheating it. The engine block has to be cracked as it's the only thing left. I'm really debating parting it out or selling it just for the mods. I may buy another WJ and swap parts over, but that will be very time-consuming. Not sure what I'm going to do at this point. Parts and labor for a new engine is an option but very $$$ and I just gambled a bunch hoping the upper end repair would fix it. I could do it myself but there is a ton of time involved and I barely have any of that as it is. I'm on my 5th beer, so hopefully a clear answer will enter my head.

Idling:
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So Bummed for you. Whats your estimated cost on finding a new block, swaping parts and rebuilding?

Honestly, a reputable junkyard Motor with a warranty may only be 500-1000, but labor is like 20 hours or so. If I had the time and an extra vehicle, cost wouldn't be an issue. But time is very limited, so paying someone would be about 2k to do it. If I got a reman motor, just the parts would be 2.5k or more. So I'm really trying to decide if it's worth the cost or not. There's always the 'start over' option as well with a JK or JL, but hell, a used JKUR is almost as much as a new JL. Not sure what I'm going to do. If someone offered me 10k for the WJ just for the mods, I may take it. Not sure yet.
 
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