docholliday26

Hey boys, I messed up big time a few days ago. Been having problems with the cooling system for a while, was overheating a little bit, so I flushed the radiator. Only trouble is, I forgot to refill it and it overheated really bad while I was driving around. I got water in it and got it home, but it's been having a plethora of problems since:
-Difficult to start
-White smoke sometimes billowing out of exhaust
-Whole car shakes while idling
-Still prone to overheating
-Makes squealing noises after heating up
Car's got about 180k miles on it, she's seen a lot of love. Relatively sure I blew the head gasket, but since it doesn't always blow white smoke, I'm not certain. After I'd got it home, I tried to run it the next day, but had to almost completely refill the coolant with no obvious leaks, which again suggests a blown head.
Any thoughts? Should I just scrap the car and get a new one? Have a mechanic look at it? I'm no mechanical genius, as you might have figured by me failing to refill the coolant.
Any and all advice appreciated!

dave1123

First thing, pull the oil drain plug and take a sample of the oil that first comes out to see if there's antifreeze or water in it. Then pull the spark plugs and do a compression check. Low compression on 2 adjacent cylinders is indicative of a blown head gasket. If there's lots of water in the oil and the 2 cylinders are 3 & 4, I would suspect the head is cracked. That engine has the infamous 0331 head on it that has a history of cracking. Any good parts store will rent you a compression tester and look at YouTube videos about how to do it, OR take it to a mechanic for a check. If the bearings are still good, indicated by good oil pressure, and you want to keep the jeep, it's worth saving. The cost will depend on what's wrong with it.

gat

2001 is notorious for having cracked heads on the engine blocks. It is easy enough to buy a compression gauge and test each cylinder for compression dry and wet with oil. You can also buy a scope with a fiberoptic camera that will allow you to see the condition of the top of the pistons and the walls of the cylinders. I don't think that any of the parts stores "rent" the scope, but likely rent the gauge.
Post your findings here so that the community can give you more accurate/targeted advice.

Sometimes without having fully burped the system of air you will need to add much coolant - about the full Mark's worth in the reservoir once you start to drive the vehicle. This and other reasons are why we really need the compression and imagery of the state of the compression cylinders to advise.

PatHenry

Agree with the others - prime suspect is cracked head - which would be similar to a blown head gasket and isn't a heck of lot more -work- to correct, just more expensive since you need a new head assembly. The faulty 0331 head on 00-01 XJ's is an extremely well known and far too common issue. For a replacement head (assuming the block is in good shape), Clearwater is a respected and trusted company that will sell you a quality 0331 head assembly for around $500.

180k is nothing on a Jeep 4.0. These engines can easily get 3-400k+ miles. My Dad passed 400k on his 94 XJ, I got 300k on a 00 TJ and the engine still runs great (all original miles, btw) and while the TJ had the 0331 head, it never cracked on me.

fb97xj1

I agree that the head, or head gasket is suspect. Out of curiousity, how hot did the gauge read and how long did you drive it like that?

No. Unless the vehicle is rusted to pieces or been in a bad accident, or you just dont want it anymore, its worth fixing. If it makes you feel better, even the pros make mistakes. Like, failing to torque the lugnuts (leaving them finger tight) and the wheels fall off on the freeway, or not adding oil after an oil change and the customer drives it home.

third coast

As others stated, it is almost certain you now have a cracked head. That is the best case scenario. The squealing noise you reported is not a good sign, possibly bearing damage. First: DO NOT START/RUN IT AGAIN. That will just risk more damage.

Your reported previous running hot issue may have been due to a head already cracked, leaking head gasket, worn water pump, plugged radiator, collapsing lower radiator hose, bad thermostat; defective temp sender/gauge; etc, etc.

If it was me I would do the following in this order: 1) drain oil and capture in a clean container about 4 ounces mid drain and save; 2) look for metal flakes/glitter in the drain pan and signs of water/antifreeze in the oil; 3) If no obvious metal order an oil analysis kit from a lab such as Blackstone Laboratories. Sample bottles are free, basic analysis is about $28; 4) If lots of metal in the oil you might stop here and consider a rebuilt or salvage engine, especially if you would be paying someone else begin the repair work; 5) drain down some coolant to a level at least lower than bottom of head to eliminate risk of more entering top end of engine while you figure out what to do.

The oil will likely look black and smell as if it has been cooked but don’t worry about that yet. If the oil looks visually free of metal an oil analysis will give you an idea of the types of microscopic wear metals present which helps identify the basic health of the engine. An option would be to drop the oil pan and remove bearing caps to inspect wear but initially that might be a more difficult effort than you want to take on yourself and more cost than makes sense if you have a shop do it. If excessive wear metals are present with 180k miles on the engine you can consider your options and costs for repair/replacement. I would not put a lot of money into having someone do a major engine rebuild of a heat damaged engine with 180k unless you want to do it yourself as a learning experience. There are risks of block damage and cam and crank shaft damage that add up costs quickly.

Some will be in a hurry to pull the head. We are almost certain there is damage there and it will need to be replaced so other than getting a look at piston tops for melting I am not sure it gains you much initially. And a borescope or even a peak through a spark plug hole will give you info. If an oil analysis comes back acceptable then a compression test and removing the head makes sense as next steps. It is not a lot of work to remove the head but not easy if you do not have the tools and experience, and much more difficult to reassemble properly.

Good luck.

Dave51

You could pull out the spark plugs, line them up in order and take a photo, looking at the electrodes (view from the bottom). Burning anti-freeze and/or water will scrub up the plugs, so that should show which cylinders the coolant is coming in.

Try to find a business that specializes in engine rebuilding and research their track record.

Dave51

What do you do to vehicles that you hate?

Dave51

Or the pistons in the cylinders that have been scrubbed of oil are seizing.

IMO a good used engine would be the most economical in the long run.

docholliday26

The thermostat is messed up, so I couldn't tell you exactly how hot it was. It hung out at a little above 210, then jumped just below the red with a check gauges light, then jumped back down. The temp gauge maxed out and I pulled it over and turned the car off as soon as that happened. Ran at max temp no more than 10 seconds.
I had a mechanic look at it and he said the problem was the head gasket, and nothing else, which makes me uncertain how closely he examined the car. Drove it back from the mechanic today, and it died while I was pulling into my driveway. I haven't had the opportunity to check much on the car but some extra info which might help:
-the overfill reservoir for the coolant is full
-the car doesn't give much power when I press the accelerator, and it hesitates changing gears
-sounds raspy when running
I looked into it, and I was also thinking that one or more of the pushrods could be bent, or any other variety of problems involving the valve train. There's a lot of rust around body but not much in the engine due to it being driven on salted roads in the winter. Sorry for the info dump.

third coast

A bad head gasket could provide the drivability problems you mention but with the 0331 head on this model year it’s a high probability it is bad as previously stated. When they get overheated they crack. I don’t think I like your mechanic. I am interested in how he made the diagnosis of a bad head gasket. Call them back and ask them.

If the coolant level drops below the point that the sending unit is exposed to mostly vapor I can see it giving erratic readings.

If it only ran a short time at high temperature the damage might not be severe. You need to drain the oil and see what it tells us. However if you don’t want to pursue further investigation and with advanced rust of the body it seems that it is the end of the line for this Jeep. Sadly it does not make economic sense to spend a lot on it. Depending on condition a salvage yard might give you $300 for it, someone who is looking for a parts vehicle would pay a little more.

third coast

By the way it is unlikely the engine has bent push rods. And don't expect any of the magic head gasket sealers or block leak fixers to do anything. Don't waste your time or money. Don't try to sell it without full disclosure of the issues. That would be very bad.

Dave51

Part it out yourself. Use the buy/sell categories here (you may need to increase your post count), eBay, craig's list, etc. You should be able to get 600-800 easy if you're patient and ignore the lowballers.

Jason51

Hey guys I have a 2001 xj automatic only has 60k original miles and I’m struggling with keeping her cool.. I put in a new water pump and thermostat, the guy before me has paper work for a new radiator installed a year ago. I also flushed the whole system clean. water flow was good only the heater core came out really dirty but came clean. Decided to do the block test but ran never tested positive for head gasket? I’m not loosing much coolent no white smoke or obvious leaks but my overflow will bubble when hot not sure what do do next?

Dave51

You may want to start your own thread (but I ain't the forum police).

What exactly did the "block test" entail?

IMO if you're bubbling in the overflow you need to pull the head.