I have been reading a lot of the articles concerning this. Am I correct that its a 1998.5-2001 problem, thats doesnt concern the 12v, or do i still need to check the block?

 

It's much likely to affect 12v owners, but check. I've read that someone found a few 12v motors with the 53 block. They also said that the 53 blocks in 12v motors don't seem to crack as often. If that's true, it's probably because of the different vibrations the 12v motor makes compared to the 24v.