dropped valve seat repair?

[02kj]

I bought a 02 liberty site un-seen and it ended up having 0 compression in cyl 3. Well I pulled the head today to find it dropped a valve seat. I'm curious if anyone on this forum has had them repaired and if so how long did it last/ how much was the cost? Any insight would be appreciated!

 

[dakar650]

Done Twice!!

Hey yeah I've done this twice, only catch is I'm in OZ but costwise, had both heads off and reseated with new valves, basically $1100 over here for both. I did all the strip down and motor rebuild myself, so no labour costs for that. New head gasket kits, Felpro $200 ish, all up I would estimate the damn thing cost $1800.

First time was my bad over heated the motor and luckily only dropped No 5 Cylinder exhaust, no damage.
Second time same valve seat, not happy but repaired for free as head rebuilder found they measured off good valve seat for new clearances and old seat had taken out 5 thousanths of a Millimetre more.

Motor back and running, runs lovely but no idea how long it will last. Done probably 1000 klms since.

Hope this helps!!

I have a 2002 3.7 KJ Limited

 

[CactusJacked]

Fwiw, in case yours is too bad (or costly) to fix, you can buy a reman head for $400 and under. Or a good rebuildable one for less than $200.

 

[02kj]

Oh wow, that first responce actually scared me a little price wise. I've got to wait untill the 2nd for some places to be open to actually call around for quotes. Origionally I was thinking just replacing the one that failed and then having the head checked to make sure its not warped or damaged in any other way, hot tanked and then put it back on. The head and other valves all look quite good so really dont see a point in replacing everything if nothing is wrong, but knowing my luck another would pop out once its back together. Thank you both for the replies. I know there are reman heads for pretty cheap and can also find new mopar ones for a semi decent price aswell. I really just dont want to put too much money into a motor with 160k on it already, although the cylinders all have good cross hatch and are quite clean!

 

[TwoBobsKJ]

Oh wow, that first responce actually scared me a little price wise. I've got to wait untill the 2nd for some places to be open to actually call around for quotes. Origionally I was thinking just replacing the one that failed and then having the head checked to make sure its not warped or damaged in any other way, hot tanked and then put it back on. The head and other valves all look quite good so really dont see a point in replacing everything if nothing is wrong, but knowing my luck another would pop out once its back together. Thank you both for the replies. I know there are reman heads for pretty cheap and can also find new mopar ones for a semi decent price aswell. I really just dont want to put too much money into a motor with 160k on it already, although the cylinders all have good cross hatch and are quite clean!

Well, remember that dakar650 is from Australia and frequently they get hammered when it comes to prices thanks to Jeep being an imported vehicle. All those parts need to be shipped Down Under and that raises the price considerably.

Stateside, there are millions of 3.7's in Dodge, Jeep and Mitsubishi vehicles so the prices here are a lot less.

Dakar650, I feel for you! You obviously have a lot of passion for Jeeps to bear under the repair and maintenance costs. Carry on mate! :favorites13:

Bob

 

[02kj]

Update: called around and got quoted $300 to rebuild and reseat both heads, and they actually have experience in the 3.7 heads so gave a little piece of mind. Thanks for all of the information it helped a lot!

 

[twack]

300!!! that sounds super cheap is that just for the work once it is removed? seems to good to be true to get the head removed and have work done

 

[yellocoyote]

Mine was about $300 for the head rebuild alone. The dis/re-assembly was done here in my driveway.

 

[02kj]

I did the removal myself. I've got one off currently but the head shop recommended both to be done as it was probably overheating that caused the one to drop and the others could down the road. 300 is just to rebuild and reseat both heads which is a darn good price as far as I'm concerned. I'm not a big fan of the design of these motors but once you get the hang of it, it's not too bad.

 

[02kj]

Well here is an update, both heads were rebuilt and reseated one spark plug hole fixed and a new cam for $440 out the door. It's nearly completely together again. Thank you for all of your help.