Topic: Remanned heads....opinions on reliability please

[stan98tj]

so after my last controvercial and venomous post (see i hate jeeps for more info ) ill try for one less blasphemous in content.  This is in reference to remanned heads for 4cyl. i cracked my original head and im the market to purchase another..so i found this place called clearwater in FL which i had heard from a friend was selling brand new heads, turns out they ran out and only have remanned left for now.  I need the rig back on the road so im interested, but worried (after all ive been through) about the reliability of these heads. The thing comes with a 2yr unlimited warranty which sounds great but this guy aint the one whos gonna have to roll up his sleeves and dismantle the top half of the engine should it crack again. feel free to post any thoughts and ideas...and those of you who i offended with my last thread and still have a bitter taste left well....post anyway.  but keep in mind that i stand by my word..this rig will run again regardless of the feelings i had towards it when it crapped out.


One last note: a cracked head is not the cause of a problem, it's the result.  I blew a spark plug apart in the #4 cyl which detonated my #4 piston..prob crackin my head. now, before you go and say that i was running lean as many others have, i'll impart this bit of information, ill accept that i was running lean if someone can just please explain to me why i was getting 9mpg on a 98 tj 4banger if my engine was running lean? where the hell is all the fuel going??!!! one mechanic tells me my pump modulator is shot, the jeep dealership tells me it's fine cause im getting fuel to the cyl....kinda dont know who to trust so i wanna know if i can test for this at home. i really need to figure out why the jeep was always starting hard (gas all the way down to start), why the plug blew, why the piston had a hole burned through it and why my head cracked.....i kinda wanna avoid having to go through the whole ordeal again.
thanks for any subsequent helpful posts...and any unkind ones too at least they'll provide for a nice laugh.


One last note:

[jfrabat]

Dont know about the remanned head, but the lean part could be a bad injector...  All other pistons get fuel, but one does not.  Did the stealership check this?

[stan98tj]

they told me they all got fuel. i had originally thought the injector could have been stuck or clogged so i bought a new one. but they said fuel was comin in to all of the cyl.  kind of a head scratcher at this point.

[aw12345]

The injectors you can test fairly ealily with a pressure gauge and a gadget that pulses the injectors. which allows you to measure pressure drop of the fuel pressure on each injector. I agree with you that most likely is not where your problem is. 9mpg for a stock 4 banger is way to much also having to start it with the accel pedal all the way down indicates its flooding. So you would have to look at ignition timing or a localized overheating problem.
Might be a good idea to knock all the freeze plugs out and clean the water jackets or have the bare block hot tanked or what ever they use these days to clean the castings. From there check the camshaft for worn lobes, the timing chain and lastly all sensors and data stream to make sure the engine control system works the way it should and its not tricking it self rich

[cmgorman94]

I don't know anything about those guys, but typically you should be alright.  My only concern there would be if you are running your original block.  The head will probably be decked a little to make sure it's not warped, but your block may not be so true.  If the block is warped you could potentially have head gasket issues.  Also, I know alot of times if you have problems with the workmanship of aftermarket motors/ the manufacturer will pay your mechanic to reinstall it.  The shop I work at recently put in a reman 4.0L that wound up having 3 dead cylinders. (Quality) The reman company paid to have it removed and reinstalled.