rnmcguire

So for the last couple days I've noticed my coolant level dropping in the overflow tank on my 2000 XJ/4.0. My Jeep has 188K on it and so I check under the hood every couple days to keep a keen eye on everything. I had the engine pulled out back in December in order to replace all the oil seals, oil pump, timing set, water pump and they replaced the head gasket as well. The engine runs great but I had a leaky radiator cap the other day so I replaced it and now the level has been dropping. I see what looks like oil droplets in the coolant/overflow tank and I also took a bore light and looked under the oil fill cap on the valve cover while it was running. Everything under the valve cover looks good and clean but I did notice occasional bubbles in the oil when it was flowing by. I feel I may be at the beginning stages of the infamous cracked head. Does anyone have any advice on how to proceed from here? I guess I should keep an eye on it for a few more days to be sure. I had a mechanic look it over today but it was just a quick visual check and he said everything looks good to him but I'm not sure he knows much about the 0331 head issues.

wingit

I had the same issue back in the fall. Sent my oil to Blackstone for analysis. It came back positive for antifreeze contamination. I ordered the Clearwater head and paid a shop to replace it. It was a little over $1400.00. After this was done the coolant leak is gone but I noticed what sounded like a noisy lifter. That was 4000 miles ago and the ticking has stopped completely now. My have just needed for the valves to seat. If I was going to do it again I might replace all the lifters while the head is off. I'm very happy with the outcome. Also, I never had milkshake oil. It always looked fine. Jeep has 90,000 miles on it.

Bustedback

I think you have a cracked head. Time to replace it before damage is done to the rest of the engine.

rnmcguire

Yeah I think I may do an oil sample and see what it says. If it is a cracked head I'm torn between a replacement head or just getting a whole new engine as mine has 188,000 already. Thanks for the info on Clearwater Wingit.