I own a 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee with 185K miles. I purchased the vehicle from a private party 5 months ago and have driven it 4K miles with no issues. Several nights ago I noticed the heat became faulty; it would function interspersedly but generally blew cold air in spite of the temperature gauge indicating the vehicle was sufficiently warmed up. The following morning I drove the car to work and noticed 10 miles into the commute it was blowing white smoke and overheating. I pulled over immediately, waited for it to cool down and nursed it home through intermittent driving between cooling off periods. The car would repeatedly overheat and blow white smoke. Upon arrival I allowed the to car cool for a few hours before attempting to evaluate its condition. Completely dead; no lights, nothing.

The car had been sitting several days before I jump-started it and drove a cautious several miles, never allowing the speedometer to creep above 30MPH. It ran roughly but didn't smoke or overheat, however I'm assuming that was due to the brevity of the drive. As soon as the car was shut off it immediately died again; if I attempted to turn it over I hear a rapid clicking sound.

I must stress that I purchased this vehicle for $600 and an unwillingly to pay for costly repairs. If expenditures for getting her functional are north of $350, to the junker she goes. Given my budget I'm assuming my only option is a 'home' mechanic.

Any ideas what the issue(s) is?

 

Well, for starters, you have the wrong car. Your profile says you have an XJ, but you say you have a 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee. There are no 2003 XJs, but there are 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokees, so I'm guessing that's what you have.

Which brings me to my next point. The Grand Cherokee section is over here. You'll probably get your best answers there.

When you get there, explain what you mean by, "blowing white smoke". From where? Exhaust? Or the heater vents inside? Your post is ambiguous because you are talking about the intermittent heater in one sentence and then blowing 'white smoke' the next. You'll need to clarify that.

All that said, in general, if you are blowing white smoke out of your exhaust, you are usually looking at more than $350 in repairs.

 

Apologies for the lack of clarity and posting in an inappropriate forum.

To clarify the smoke is coming from the passenger side of the engine. Roughly where the battery and coolant are located.

 

If you can shoot a video or picture of it, it would help. Videos can be posted on Youtube and linked here.

 

^^that.

Can you tell if it's smoke or steam?

 

Sounds like a head gasket. What do the plugs look like? You can also pressure check the cooling system.