My little bothers 95 XJ 4.0L started leaking coolant around the oil pan gasket. There is no coolant in the oil and after washing the block and double checking, it is defiantly coming from pan gasket area, driver side just to the rear of the motor mount. He took it to a shop and was told it was the “soft seal” inside the block. Has anyone ever heard of this before?

 

Leaky freeze plugs? I've never heard of soft seals before.

 

Like 1996sportXJ said. More then likely it's a freeze plug. If it was in the front I would say water pump but you did say on the side.
BTW, I two have never heard of a soft seal inside the block. Maybe he said soft sale and he thought you was going to make some money off your brother???

 

My brother was told that the “soft seal is a weaker area in the block designed to pop when it freezes”. I thought that’s what the freeze plug is for. Sounded very sketchy to me. I googled it and I can find nothing about this on the web. I did see others with the same leak but could not find a solution. Maybe it’s a Nebraska thing.

 

Hmmm... I'm gunna say it's a freeze plug. Take off the intake/exhaust manifolds to get to em. It's not the most fun of repairs but hey, it kinda needs to be done before you leak it dry, overheat, and cause much bigger problems for yourself

 

The guy was probably tring to use weird words to confuse your brother and get the work. I love going with friends with no car knowledge to shops cause many with just make up **** that sounds important. Then I get angry, ***** to the manager and do the work myself

 

It is a Nebraska thing, at least the terminology. The so called “soft plug” is actually a core plug, not to be confused with a freeze plug.

http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/cooling/cool_105.htm

With a Jeep, you learn something new every day.