New Head or replace engine?

[joncan]

On my way home last night and about 2 miles from home out of nowhere I started hearing a crazy rattling coming from under the hood. I immediately pulled into a parking lot where the engine started to sputter out.

I opened the hood and to my dismay I can see a valve rocker has been shot through the valve cover. It's like the rocker just decided that the cover needed more space so it decided to take out an exterior wall to put in a nice sunroom.

Towed it to a shop this morning and they told me I'd likely need a new motor. I asked about replacing the head and they agreed to take a look and see if that would do.

Just wondering what you guys think. Anybody have something like this happen to them? Was it fixable?

I seriously just lifted the Jeep last Saturday!!!!
:favorites68::favorites68::favorites68::favorites68::favorites68:

 

[Joenavy85]

Personally, I'd go for a rebuild/new engine. I'd hate to replace the head and then a few months later have the same thing happen on the other head. I would see this as a "buy once, cry once" scenario.

 

[renegade 04]

I would have a compression test done as well as a good inspection of the oil in the oil pan to check for metal before deciding.

 

[ltd02]

What year is this we are talking about?

 

[J33Pfan]

Forget the up sell! Just replace whats damaged!

 

[M38 Bob]

How many miles on engine? These aren't known for ultra long life to begin with, I'd seriously consider a new, warranted crate engine from O'Reilly, or some other source with good warranty backup.

 

[joncan]

Hey, thanks for the replies.

06 Limited with 127k miles. I've worked from home for the last 4 years so it hasn't been driven much.

Chatted about all of this with a few people and it looks like this decision depends on a few things you all have touched on. I'm preparing for that dreaded decision to let my old friend go and start a relationship with a new Jeep, or bring her back from the dead.

 

[JasonJ]

Depending on what is damaged, some have been able to just replace the failed rocker and move on with life.

 

[joncan]

Well, it looks like I'm in the market for a new engine.

When we removed the valve cover it looked like the valve was still in place, but the spring was destroyed. No metal in the oil, so we figured we would replace the spring, rocker, cover and gasket. Good news, right?

Well, we then decided to check if we could put pressure in the cylinder to push the valve into place before we bought the parts. You guessed it, wouldn't hold any pressure. Stuck a scope into it and it looks like the valve is bent and nicked the piston...

So, anybody know if I can get a 2012 motor and put it in an 06 without major modifications?

Thanks ahead of time for your suggestions.