I have a 1988 Jeep Cherokee Loredo 6cyl with a little over 100k miles on it, that was running well before a friend messed it up. I was replacing the thermostat on it before I had the thermostat housing securely re-attatched, my roommate came home and borrowed my car before asking . & About 3 miles down the road, it started to sputter from what she said, just turned off, so I had it towed back home. Most of the water was drained & It was about 50 degree outside and was a pretty short trip down the road; but ever since then, the car wont run properly and is running very rough (too rough to drive) and I'm thinkin it might be the head gasket or even worse, valve damage. I am a do-it-myself kinda guy, but am no expert, & dont want to go putting tons of work into the head gaskets, if it needs new valves or something. And certainly dont want to put alot of money into it, if its not worth it. Please let me know if you have any suggestions. Thanks! -Jon

 

When you refilled the coolant, did you burp the system?

 

Based on that story it sounds like a head gasket to me, too. Check for oil in the coolant and coolant in the oil. Also, do a compression test on all of your cylinders. These simple tests will tell you of a bad head gasket.

 

Do a pressure test of the cooling system too. Could have a warped or cracked head.