jeepcruiser

2000 jeep cherokee 4x4 i6 114,000 miles. Alright so I posted a thread yesterday explaining my situation and received great advice. Here's the rundown. Symptoms: rough idol and rough ride at low rpms, check engine light reads misfire cylinder 5, smoke puffing out oil cap and a little oil on air filter. So far I've changed spark plugs, coil rail, switched injectors, cleaned tubes going from engine head to air filter (not clogged), and still idols rough and light is on. Getting ready to do compression test but noticed some things. The oil I changed last weekend is at the same level but is darker and the coolant is brown and takes forever to cool down also kinda haze or milky. Not sure if that's just cause it was never changed. What is the worst case scenorio and what do you think it is? If I do a compression test how can I tell if it is leaking from the rings, valves or head?Wow that was long. Thanks for reading.

jeepcruiser

Bump

darknezz

If you do a compression test and it is bad you will have to take off the head regardless then you will find your answer.

The coolant doesnt sound good. possible head gasket, again possible head crack which is common on the 00-01's.

Just do the compression test!

tjwalker

Go ahead with the compression test to be sure, but you could have a cracked 0331 head, and the compression test is not likely going to show that.

If compression test shows out of spec values, address that.

If the test reveals nothing, I would pull the valve cover and with a good light, perform an inspection between cylinders 3-4 to see if you can see a crack or cracks.