When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Stock XJ Cherokee Tech. All XJ Non-modified/stock questions go hereXJ (84-01)
All OEM related XJ specific tech. Examples, no start, general maintenance or anything that's stock.
On the bright side, a heater core that pops like that was fubar anyway. As you say hopefully it is the last piece of that puzzle.
Thanks for including the pics!
You know what? That troubled me too... How come i never before scented the fragrance of lukewarm coolant in the mud of the footwell before? It just did not add up... So being painfully lazy and getting more thoughtful by the passing years i decided to do some testing BEFORE tearing the damned thing apart... I knew, if after many hours of forced labor and after several broken ancient plastic mountings i found nothing fubar around the heater .... Well... I'd probably loose my marbles to put it mildly. Also, the same stuff greeted me getting out of the office yesterday... Coolant is gone from the tank and the heater was bypassed, replaced by a piece of piping... So what on God's Earth sucking away my coolant?!
Tests had to be done!
First was the reservoire... I was eyeballing that as potential perp for some time now. Test:
Reservoire acquitted. Did not loose a drop during whole mornin'.
Next was the core. I just wanted to make sure it was cracked!
Let's see it holding water:
An hour later the water was still just below that rusty patch in the funnel.... So it's not core...
Being hopeful i thought of a 'dynamic' testing! Circulating hot water with the help of that electric block heater:
It was holding.... I mean, the testpad was crap, water was escaping everywhere, but not a drop into the cabin...
So what is it then?
Can't imagine other than a stream of water shooting finely right past the pipes ( that foam insulator is a bit tattered) and flooding the cabin but not spraying much into the engine bay... Huh?!?
And see:
One of the pipes is deformed... If the hose tied up short, water could in my opinion shoot out there....
Let's see hose fully pushed on and a tad of silicone helping, clamps tightened to max...
Cleaned what could, checked clamps like 15 times... Then it was evening, nightfall, but there is definitely heating now!
Yeah... but removing air bubbles from this Renault engine is a ***** of a job... somewhere I read that you supposed to park it nose down, that helps...
It was heating when the electric pump was circulating, but then when I started driving it found some air bubble which got trapped in the bloody heater and now it sits there happily.
Coolant goes around in the engine, thermostat opens, engine temp is normal, I just don't get heating at all, as the electric pump is hooked up serial before the heater core.
any good practices on that?
Maybe I should hook it up parallel to the small water circuit and the heater core...? so even if there is an air bubble (what the electric pump can dislodge when running, but main waterpump can't as the water flows the other circuit...) I get coolant circulating everywhere else...?
Nah.... Maybe I should just move down south and forget about this foolishness of block heaters, winter tyres, house heating, insulating, chopping firewood, keeping a wardrobe of winter-clothes, putting the motorcycle away for months... I mean... Who the hell needs all that??! Life should be simple!
I must face it sooner or later, quite probably i havean issue with the head gasket... Not good.
I found a thread on this very form from a guy with a 2.1 diesel, with exactly the same sympthoms. He was going for re-tightening the cyl head bolts.
Good idea. At least something before i bite the bullet and resign myself to take the car to the man with the garage. Hell I'm not removing cyl head in my treeshade garage! (if it was treeshade time! But it's a raging hell of rain and snow.... Brrrr)
Checked the tightening procedure and straight away got miserably lost:
so what am i to do now... the manual presupposes some knowledge i assume... Knowledge i have not got.
do i unscrew number 1 then tighten to 20nm and then do the angle written, then move on to nr 2, do the same and so on...?
Does it matter not that the head is already on and we just re-tighten...?
The manual says nothing on that.
Any advice?
Last edited by hzoltaan; 11-23-2017 at 02:03 PM.
Reason: adding the pic
while disgesting the test i'm about to endure tomorrow with the tightening map in one hand and a torquewrench in the other, i thought of finally doing the shifter boot job i've been putting off due to more presing matters.
So, the idea is that instead of the huge plastic conraption in the middle i shall have just the carpet covered hump and the levers stickin' out covered with burgundy leather to match with general pimp theme of the interior. (I mean... you gotta accept it... red plush interior in Europe? Definitely a bordello! )
both the interior boot and the one on the gearbox was in tatters, so i got lot of noise and wind, even water sometimes through there.
To my horror i had to com to terms with exorbitant prices on the one webshop that has such items. Shipping from US would be expensive due to postage, and the local jeep man definitely sets his prices to the 4x4 adventure loving bank manager clientele. Not my circles. Not my prices.
I mean, they are just rubber boots right? Million of booths for the thousands of cars?
After some hours of search on ebay (strictly at the office in paid time!) I came up with 2 boots i could do something with. Both dirt cheap, and both are for the same purpose, so the material will definitely hold up. See if the size does?!
all the players are on the above pic. the towering boot will be somehow mated with the torn original big one, and the smaller boot on the top of the picture will be cut to measure to serve as the boot isolating the gearbox.
the idea:
the small one popped on without much fiddling around. almost perfect. Bit taller, yes, but we'll see. :
And the crown idea! Replace the shifter **** with a billiard ball!
Of course, cheap tuning, yeah i know. Still, i love billard, and the red interior just screams for Nr7!
Have you ever tapped a billardball??
it's all in the car now, but sadly...
gone dark, picture will follow later.
Mechanic just pulled the head and it's not good...
Cyl head seems to have a small crack between some valves, 1 piston has a small chip missing, camshaft is badly worn...
It's a wonder how that engine started so well, and ran without smoke, quite well... Must be helluva good stuff...
Anyway... The engine is "very tired"
Doc said he's got a friend with another 4 door XJ in good shape... practically sentencing my car.
The head is gone for examination (so my head shoulda have before buying I guess...) and we'll know more after that. there was no clear sign of where the water entered.... might well be more than just the head...
Engine seems fubar'd, pre-cambers cracked, camshaft worn, valves worn, 1 piston misses a small bit on it's rim, and nobody really knows where water entered the cyclinders. Cyl head came back from the test marked as good. Only the chambers... (which as far as i know, can be where water entered...)
Anyhow, another engine would be a better deal.
Now, this J8S was mounted in a range of cars sold here, Renault Espace, 20-21-25... all had at one point the 2.1TD, but those engines are long gone from the market. Can't seem to find one in fair shape. Every description of an advertised TD mentions cyl head gasket changed and all that. That sounds a bit too familiar.
I'm contemplating dropping in the J8S without turbo... I know... I must be the only guy making a Jeep XJ weaker than it is originally. (and yeah, it barely could move it's *** under it's own steam)
Thing is, that the 2.1D is probably not overstreched like the TD, and there are many of those engines from Trafics. The van has pretty similar weight, so I guess I'd turn the anyway slow jeep into a delivery van. Actually I'm using it to carry building material, dog, stuff like that up to the hill to my house which occasionally requires 4x4.
I prefer simple stuff, and I guess, without the turbo I can do away with the intercooler, the external oilfilter and the oil cooler. Lot of junk to get rid of!
As of the numbers, the jeep would sink to the performance of Suzuki Samurai 1.0, Lada niva 1.6, and delivery vans of the 90-ies. (European, not US )
Anyhow, I aired this idea to my mechanic and we'll see what he thinks. My guess is that he will flatly refuse butchering like that. They like building strong overawing adventure vehicles, not gutting them to reduce their existence to farm machinery.
Mechanic talked me out of trying out an engine with no turbo.
And, found a Renault Espace for chips with the right engine.
That car was a dog cage... I mean really, my dog loved it maybe I should drop the emptied shell in the back garden and use it as a kennel.
The engine was acceptable though and as the whole vehicle with insurance and valid technical test was priced less than a naked engine (block and cyl head) it was a definite buy.
Replacement engine happily drives under it's own steam, on it's own wheels to the mechanic.
And soon the trailer shall take the gutless shell of a once beloved family MPV to the dismantler.
Well. This will mean that my Jeep will get a second engine.
(and my pet Suzuki carry will get some much better seats )
Jeep emerged from the mechanic's yard after 2 months of wrenching...
There are stories to tell, as the mechanic put it, fitting that espace engine in was like a mars mission.
Lot of tidbits did not fit, seals were to be replaced, an engine mount broke, but as a pleasant surprise we found a fairly fresh set of cam belt and pulleys, and a fairly real mileage, therefore not too wrecked engine.
So I have the car back, now that the spring suddenly exploded into our life and there is no further need of 4x4. Which means I can use it only for joy... but do I dare?!
Such a brilliant day!
Was driving throuhg quiet 1 lane side roads through the woods,with Iron Maiden screaming on the stereowhen suddenly i noticed some steam inside...
temp meter standing on 100 and slowly raising.
Fu***k!
The a little hose forced into an S shape connecting the thermostate housing with the water pump broke,letting out most of the stuff.
Waited like 20 minswhile removed the pipe and cut off the damaged bit. Was lucky enough to be able to put it back short as it was.
Asked for some tap water at a nearby house
Slowly re-filled the radiator,waited... filled some more,waited.
then started filling the expansion tank,waited.
Once all filled,started the car.
It burped back a lot of water then calmed down. No white smoke.
Drove it to a friend (2kms maybe?) chceked the water,it was yellowish, foamy,but the amount was there.
Then later that evening drove another 20km slowly,stopping every few km to release pressure from the tank as it was visibly swollen sometimes!
I drove the last 5 km with the cap slightly released on the expansion tank to allow some pressure to escape. (was worried about a top hose burst) this meant some water loss, but it was within the limits when I parked for the night.
Today morning before going to work I checked and the expansion tank was abolutely dry... I hope the water just found some air bubbles somewhere and not filled my cylinders!
Today I'll replace that damage pipe and fill the thing with coolant...
scrapppa... I just replaced this engine and spent a fortune on this rustbucket... Not again!
11-16-2017, 05:22 AM
)