Had to burp, so engine shut off?
09-13-2017, 07:05 PM
#1
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Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Coleridge, NC
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Year: 1998
Model: Grand Cherokee
Engine: Inline 6
Had to burp, so engine shut off?
It started with a blown water pump gasket..I replaced the water pump along with the gasket making sure that all of my hoses and connections were good to go. Started it and let the engine warm while feeding it coolant. Completely filled radiator and reservoir. Drove it 6-8 miles that evening, gauge read 190* the entire way. Mission accomplished? Not quite. (Hence the thread) Made it to my sons school the next morning, white smoke barreling out of the hood. It was running 210* at this point. Read 210* the entire way home, reached the driveway and the jeep just shuts off. Am I missing something? Noticed a coolant leak near the backside of the engine near firewall. Also noticed bubbling from part of the head gasket. Does this mean I blew a head gasket? Couldn't it be a freeze plug? (Are these easy enough for a novice like myself to replace?) Oil didn't look murky to me as suggesting a blown head.
I heard an old timer tell me the system needed burping, this doesn't seem like reason for the jeep to power off. Thoughts?
Last edited by 2tall2slow; 09-13-2017 at 07:08 PM.
09-13-2017, 07:53 PM
#2
CF Veteran
I'm guessing you already had a cracked head or failed head gasket, and it was pressurizing your coolant system, which lead to the blown water pump gasket. Then when you put a fresh water pump and gasket, that pressure found another route to take that wasn't as strong.
Or the bubbling of the head gasket, is an existing problem, and just never noticed before. And perhaps you just had a large amount of air still trapped in the system and it expanded, and found a way out.
Small burps of air would normally make their way out through the overflow tube to the reservoir. But larger burps could probably overwhelm that small tube. I use a lisle spill-free funnel to burp my system, and one time it blew half a funnel full (about 4-6 cups of coolant all over the engine compartment with no warning (and with some force).
Now days I burp the system more gradually, take more time to squeeze the hoses to get as much air moving through as possible, and I only add as much coolant to the funnel as needed to keep the funnel hole covered. So that when it does burp, it is not pushing against as much force (resulting in a "blow").
Is your vehicle not able to start now?
Also, this is the Jeep Cherokee forum, though we are pretty familiar with the 4.0 motor here. You may find more information in the Grand Cherokee forum:
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f5
Or the bubbling of the head gasket, is an existing problem, and just never noticed before. And perhaps you just had a large amount of air still trapped in the system and it expanded, and found a way out.
Small burps of air would normally make their way out through the overflow tube to the reservoir. But larger burps could probably overwhelm that small tube. I use a lisle spill-free funnel to burp my system, and one time it blew half a funnel full (about 4-6 cups of coolant all over the engine compartment with no warning (and with some force).
Now days I burp the system more gradually, take more time to squeeze the hoses to get as much air moving through as possible, and I only add as much coolant to the funnel as needed to keep the funnel hole covered. So that when it does burp, it is not pushing against as much force (resulting in a "blow").
Is your vehicle not able to start now?
Also, this is the Jeep Cherokee forum, though we are pretty familiar with the 4.0 motor here. You may find more information in the Grand Cherokee forum:
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f5
Last edited by jordan96xj; 09-13-2017 at 07:55 PM.