ivantheigor

I find myself adding coolant quite often.. I dont really keep track of how much or at what intervals, but it is loosing coolant at an alarming rate. at Im not finding spills anywhere

Also, my coolant is dirty. It does not appear to be oily or feel oily (I used a straw and spread some on my fingers). My oil seems to be free of coolant (aka I havent officially tested it), my engine temp is at a steady 210, and my oil pressure is at a 40-50 at highway speeds.

Thoughts?

AutomaticKrackr

Start it up and let it run.Watch for leaks.Is there any smell inside? Check your carpet for wet spots.Worst case.....head gasket. Any white smoke from tailpipe?

freegdr

cooling system and radiator cap needs to be pressur checked

ivantheigor

No smoke, no smell inside, no fluids left on the ground, and my carpet is wet cause I trudge through 500 ft of semi-plowed parking lot to get to my car.
Im really hoping it isnt a cracked head or blown gasket...

tjwalker

It could be a cracked cylinder head.

You have the "infamous" 0331 cylinder head, which has a known casting defect between cylinders 3-4. That defect makes the head more prone to cracking.

And the #1 symptom of a cracked 0331 head is unexplained coolant loss.

If you are having to add coolant regularly and you CANNOT find a leak, you are burning it.

First, perform another comprehensive search for a leak. If no leak found, pull the valve cover. Then with a good light, inspect the area between cylinders 3-4. The 0331 head ALWAYS cracks here. Most with cracks can visually see the crack, although it can be a hairline. You may see some green coolant seeping through this crack.

SEARCH, and you will find lots of light reading on your head.

Know that if you do have a cracked head, this coolant is slowly eating the bearings inside of the engine and prolonged running with this problem will toast the engine.

lfhoward

I have a 2000 and it was doing exactly this last month. My first thought was the cracked head, and I lost sleep over that. I had all the same symptoms and checked all the same things you have. I ended up bringing it to my trusted local mechanic, who is very thorough. He sprayed down the radiator and adjacent areas and hoses with brake cleaner to clean off all the road grime. Then he had me drive it for a couple of days. During that time I went through a quart of coolant, maybe more. But again, no change in oil color or consistency or a rise in oil level (which would indicate if the coolant was ending up in the crankcase), no white exhaust and no exhaust smell in the radiator (which would indicate the coolant was escaping out the exhaust pipe), no pool in the passenger's footwell (so the heater core was fine) and no pool underneath the jeep in my driveway. Somehow, it only lost coolant when I drove it. The answer became clear after I brought it back to the mechanic. My radiator cap was 10 years old, and was not holding pressure. When the engine worked hard, it spurted coolant out around the cap, which was at first hard to see when the engine compartment was dirty. The whole thing only cost me $47, which included a few cans of brake cleaner, a new radiator cap, and some coolant. What a relief! I guess the moral of the story is not to immediately jump to conclusions about a cracked head without doing a thorough inspection of the cooling system first, because being in that place of seeing thousands of dollar signs flying away and worrying about your rig is no fun. I suggest cleaning the engine compartment like my mechanic did, then looking for escaped coolant a few days later. It could be the water pump, a pinhole in your radiator seam, or just a simple hose or radiator cap. If after all that you still can't see a leak, then I'd look into the head issue. Sorry to write such a tome, but I hope it helps!

P.S. With lots of respect for the poster who suggested the 0331 head cracked (the amount of Jeep wisdom on this site is tremendous, and it's helped me fix my jeep more times than I can count), it seems to me that the prevailing view about the 0331 head is that if you have one, you're doomed. I wrote a thread a while back with a survey for all 00-01 owners about whether they ever had a cracked head. Over a hundred owners responded, and I think the last time I checked only about 12% of these owners had this happen. Now 12% is a lot, but it's not 100%. Most often those heads cracked after a serious overheat. If you know you haven't overheated, in all likelihood you're probably fine. I think the title of that thread is something like, "How often do 0331 heads crack?"

Best,
LFH

lfhoward

Here is a link to the thread:
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/how...9-01-xj-68400/

Update: there have been 59 responses to the poll (not a hundred) and the current statistic for cracked heads is about 13%.

freegdr

try the simple things first

mentalbreakdown00

with the cap for first!

freegdr

x2 everbody thinks the worst possible first

00Pajeepcherokee

My Jeep never, and I mean never overheated till the head cracked. Would go up to the line after 210 electric fan would kick on temp would drop down to 190 every time. On the night the head cracked I'm driving along an temp gauage reads fine then instantly the gauage is zooming toward the red zone. I shut my Jeep off but alas the head and head gasket is already done.

I didn't know then what I know now. (Two years ago February, didn't even know cf existed yet) I thought I had a leak because the heater wasn't working properly so I filled it up with coolant and drove home. Next day I needed coolant but it was obviously not leaking. That's when I thought to check my oil. I was sick when I saw 3-4 inches of extra coolant/oil mix on the dipstick.
Moral of this story? Well a head cracking is just a matter of time. Even if they don't over heat the 0331 head is gonna crack. Just don't be stupid like me and take the bottom end along with it by driving it after it does.

lfhoward

Sorry man, that sucks. Did your engine oil look like a milkshake or chocolate milk? I haven't had experience with that, but it's what some folks say happens when oil and coolant mix. Absolutely, if your oil level is higher than you expect, that's a bad sign.

00Pajeepcherokee

It had oil towards the bottom an brownish gunky stuff on the top of the dipstick.