Piston Ring Size for 2000 XJ

[Joev]

Lee got his parts so it's all downhill from here..Or is that uphill? Whatever the good one is. I'm sure nothing else could go wrong. Nice..Just jinxed us!!

 

[ghettocruiser]

Yeah sounds like he got all the right stuff now. Im gonna finish the rear main seal, put the piston rings on, slap in the pistons, get the pan back on, check the head over real good and if its ready to go drop the head on. Then replace the water pump, get the intake/exhuast manifolds back on, valve cover....and then maybe see what we got. I dont plan on leaving tonight until it can technically be started.

Ill update tomorrow with the progress.

J.

 

[imoverit]

Looking forward to getting this thing done, or at least close, tonight, should be a good time! Also, for any of you out there that live in the Downingtown/Coatesville area I highly recommend going to Courtesy Chrysler on Business 30 for your parts. Glenn is the parts manager and has really hooked me up with parts and pricing!

 

[Joev]

Glenn is the man. He is very knowlwedgable and works with us Jeep guys. Tonight shoiuld be cool. can't wait to hear crank up!!

 

[ghettocruiser]

Well...keeping with the theme of this project..another snag. I put in the rear main seal and reinstalled the rear main cap. That went really smooth. Slipped in with no problem.

Then came the pistons. I started with the new one (#4) just because it was clean and ready to go. Checked the ring gap, installed the rings, slid the piston in, assembly lube etc etc. Ok. So I grab the next available clean piston (#6). I put the rings in the bore and use the piston to level them out to check gap. Noticed something odd. Realized the skirt had a crack in it and a piece broken off. No clue how that happened. Not sure if it was cracked and we broke it while messing with it or if it was about to explode on its own like #4, or what.

Either way...its not usable. Of course... Just about completely brings things to a stop. I put the other pistons in, and Lee removed the water pump and cleaned up the crud. We more or less had to quit. Lee is going to try to track something down for tomorrow/weekend...but Im not sure if thats going to pan out so close to the holiday. We'll see.

Update when we get another piston.

J.

 

[Joev]

I can't understand why the 2000/2001 motor uses such a thin piston. The skirts look about 1/8 thick if that. The good thing is that all Lee has to do is get the parts..The hard part of knowing which part numbers to get is done.

When I go to the JY this morning, I'll see if I can find a 318. You got the motor pretty much apart..maybe it's time to slip a V8 in there. Just need a welder and some RTV silicone..Seems easy.:greensmok

 

[ghettocruiser]

Hmmm...forgot to update.

Well...things finally went good haha. We got the second new piston, popped it in, and I buttoned up the bottom end. Lee put the oil pan on and I inspected the head some more and cleaned things up. I didnt find any cracks or any damage from the piston falling apart. I know its not as good as magnaflux testing...but it's gonna have to do for now.

We popped the head on, put the valve train back together and then started on the exhaust/intake manifolds. I put new O2 sensors in before hand.

Then we called it quits. I was beat, and the rest was pretty easy.

Lee put the rest together, and found out that it was nearly impossible to get to the exhaust manifold flange bolts with the intake on...that dual exhaust manifold set up is a pain in the butt if you ask me. So he had to fight with that mess without a second set of hands, which Im sure was fun.

Came time to fire it up, and he noticed a big oil leak at the back of the pan. When he told me I always freaked out...because I didnt want to have to redo the RMS. Turns out the oil pan gasket just slipped in during install, and wasnt sealed around the outside of the rear main cap. He fixed that. Then he noticed a loud ticking from up top. Which also had me wondering. Turns out the coil rail just needed to be re-seated and tightened down.

He reported that its running really quiet and really smooth with no oil leaks as of yet. So I guess it was a successful project. I think it bought him some more miles out of her at least! haha.

Just wanted to wrap the thread up.

J.

 

[Andy in Pa.]

Hmmm...forgot to update.

Well...things finally went good haha. We got the second new piston, popped it in, and I buttoned up the bottom end. Lee put the oil pan on and I inspected the head some more and cleaned things up. I didnt find any cracks or any damage from the piston falling apart. I know its not as good as magnaflux testing...but it's gonna have to do for now.

We popped the head on, put the valve train back together and then started on the exhaust/intake manifolds. I put new O2 sensors in before hand.

Then we called it quits. I was beat, and the rest was pretty easy.

Lee put the rest together, and found out that it was nearly impossible to get to the exhaust manifold flange bolts with the intake on...that dual exhaust manifold set up is a pain in the butt if you ask me. So he had to fight with that mess without a second set of hands, which Im sure was fun.

Came time to fire it up, and he noticed a big oil leak at the back of the pan. When he told me I always freaked out...because I didnt want to have to redo the RMS. Turns out the oil pan gasket just slipped in during install, and wasnt sealed around the outside of the rear main cap. He fixed that. Then he noticed a loud ticking from up top. Which also had me wondering. Turns out the coil rail just needed to be re-seated and tightened down.

He reported that its running really quiet and really smooth with no oil leaks as of yet. So I guess it was a successful project. I think it bought him some more miles out of her at least! haha.

Just wanted to wrap the thread up.

J.

Cool, good to hear you guys got it all back together.

A.

 

[Joev]

Nice...got to love it when a plan comes together.

 

[ghettocruiser]

Yup. Im just glad he's up and running now. On top of having his Jeep back, I think it was good for him to work on the motor and what not. Got some experience under his belt...since the motor was almost completely apart.

I think it should be good to go for awhile now. Gotta love those 4.0s...easy to work on and hard to kill (apparently).

J.

 

[Joev]

Heck yeah. These 4.0's are hard to kill. Too bad the new jeeps use a V6..
Time to go wheelin now!!

 

[MrShaft696]

wooo hooo, jeeps been down for a while.

 

[imoverit]

Heck yeah. These 4.0's are hard to kill. Too bad the new jeeps use a V6..
Time to go wheelin now!!

They most certainly are hard to kill, which is one of the reasons I bought the thing.
As far as wheeling goes, as soon as I find a job I am buying a front skid plate along with tires and hitting the trails!
CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!

 

[Joev]

Yeah..she sounded real smooth when I saw it on Saturday. Good to see that thing on the road. We will be wheelin soon..No worries man!! Keep positive!