sotoman

Hi everyone! I just inherited a 2000 Cherokee when my mother passed away recently. It's a 4.0.
I've done plenty of stuff on it when she was alive, but now that I'm driving it on a daily basis, I'm finding things I hadn't seen before.

This has happened a few times:
It doesnt happen everyday, only every few days.
while driving, i smell oil burning, and i see smoke.
I open the hood, and see oil burning off, and i see actual pools of oil!
It happens on the driver side, and I also see oil on the inside of the hood, all around the air filter housing, and all around the exhaust manifold.
The whole area gets drenched with oil.
It doesnt look like its coming from the valve cover, I dont see oil leaking from it, but I know looks can deceive...

I'd appreciate any help with this!
I'm enclosing a photo. Thanks!

EZEARL

Welcome to CF.

I've got to ask if your sure it's oil and not brownish auto trans fluid. The trans lines run to the drivers side of the radiator near the air filter box and are know to leak.

sotoman

Thanks for the suggestion.
where would I look for leaks? Where the cooler lines run into the radiator?

I'm pretty sure it's oil because the pressure gauge on the dash shows a drop in pressure.
But I'll definitely check if it's trans fluid.

s346k

after verifying fluid, if indeed oil id be looking at the ccv system. take it apart and make sure nothing is clogged. the drop in oil pressure has nothing to do with an oil leak, btw.

EZEARL

Where the lines go into the radiator also but the main source is usually rubber hose quick disconnect fitting and the fixed fitting on it. Also I've heard of hairline cracks on the trans cooler part of the radiator. Trans fluid smells altogether different than oil. Compare them.

sotoman

Ok thanks for the info.
im not going to assume that the pressure is connected to the leak.

I'm going to verify first thing tomorrow morning.

The CCV system can cause a leak like that?
I'll make sure that the hoses aren't clogged.

67 GMC

Could be the valve cover gasket leaking and the oil is getting onto the exhaust manifold which is really hot. See if the cover bolts are loose. The gasket is easy to replace...

s346k

if the ccv is clogged or has leaks it will vent somewhere along the path of least resistance. mentioning the air filter and manifold both show oil is suspect. if you’ll notice - the breather lines go exactly to both locations.

sotoman

Update:
I checked the fluid that's leaking. It didn't smell like oil or transmission fluid. And the colors didn't match either.
I went under the vehicle and checked all the transmission line fittings on both lines. There was no moisture at all.
Then I noticed the power steering line was very wet, and it's in the exact area where the mystery leak is spraying.
It's the same kind of fitting that's used in the transmission lines, so I'm guessing this is the origin of the leak? Could that also explain why it's spraying with force, since power steering is a pressurized system?

Here's a pic.

EZEARL

Yep. Good work.

67 GMC

Is the level in the power steering pump reservoir low? I think that would tell you if you've found the leak.

sotoman

The power steering fluid was a bit low.
the transmission fluid was also low.
But either could be because of poor maintenance before I started working on it...

I think I'm gonna start with the power steering line, and see if it leaks again.
What do you guys recommend?
And thanks for following up!

67 GMC

Pressure hose is usually the one that fails. It's pretty cheap to buy new and you would normally change both (pressure and return) anyway. You could try that first. Replacing the pump is more effort for sure and wouldn't do that unless you saw fluid leaking from other parts. There are also rebuild kits for the pump. Your Jeep isn't all that old so would be better to make sure what's leaking before throwing a lot of money into parts at this point. Maybe just clean everything up, top up all the fluids and see if levels drop. Then you should be able to tell what's happening.

Bugout4x4

That explains the word "explosive"

sotoman

Thanks for giving me a hand with this everyone!