traveezy

ive been losing coolant for the last few weeks. i discovered a small leak in my upper radiator hose and changed it out. after a few days my coolant was low again but i couldnt find any leaks. i bought a bottle of cooling system sealant thinking it may be a small leak in a gasket or something. that was 3 days ago, then yesterday my lower radiator hose failed, i guess you would say, and i discovered a huge gash in it that i know wasnt there before. but anyway i changed it out and seemed like there was no leaks. since yesterday i havent lost any coolant but now my jeep idles rough on a cold start up for a few minutes then smooths out, during this rough idle the air intake sounds super strong like a tornado in there and i got just a slight white smoke come out of my exhaust pipe, it was really light almost not noticeable. does anyone know anything about the strange idling and white smoke on a cold start up? sorry for such a long post.

ckysodkorn_xj

hmm... are you sure it's white and not blue?

Hommersimpson

it sounds like you have head gasket leaking just a tad... simple way to see.. in the morning.. pull the plugs.. get someone to crank over and see if one of them spits out some water at the first crank.. it will spit some fuel out to but on the first few cranks if one has water in it.. it will spit out noticably...If it is head gasket.. well you going to have to change it..and if you cant do it.. then you gona have to pay someone or learn to do it.. :} sorry for the bad news..

traveezy

it was a very small, faint puff of smoke, it looked white but could have been blue maybe.

traveezy

hommer, do i have to wait til morning? can i just let it cool for a few hours and try this evening?

traveezy

any other advise? anyone?

bump

SHO_91

On a cold start on a cold day, it's rather normal to see a bit of white smoke out the tailpipe, due to condensation. As long as it disappears when the engine is warmed up, you're in good shape. If there's constant white smoke when the engine is up to operating temps, - even a little - , then you've got a leaky head gasket. But make sure it's coolant/antifreeze, it smells distincly different than oil or gasoline. You could also check your oil for a somewhat creamy appearance, or check your coolant for floating oil splatters.

traveezy

how bad is a leaky head gasket? sorry if thats a dumb question, im new to jeeps and new to working on them. this was gonna be an awsome jeep, ill do anything i can to save it.

SeriousOffroad

Pull the oil filler cap and take look in the hole and report what you see.
Your cylinder head is a 0331 casting and they crack between the #3 and #4 cylinder heads.

traveezy

ok.. just got home and im letting it cool down.. this morning there was some white smoke, it went away when jeep reached running temp and didnt smoke at all the rest of the day. after it cools im going to open the filler cap and look at it but im sorry im new at this, what exactly am i looking for?

SeriousOffroad

Steam coming out or white/milky looking oil will indicate a cracked head, typicaly between cylinder 3 and 4.

traveezy

ok i looked in the hole and dont see anything unusual i dont think. im not familiar with how it should look but i didnt see anything cracked and the oil didnt look milky or white but there was a little bit of sludge built up on the back of the filler cap and it was somewhat milky looking.

SHO_91

Look if you can see oil floating on the surface of the coolant. It's unmistakable, like, let's say, if you look at chicken broth, you can see the oil floating on the surface. Even though, I really don't think your head gasket is in bad shape. When I start my car in the morning at around 5:30 am, especially when it was cold enough overnight to fog windows/roof/hood, my Jeep will puff out a little white cloud, will emit a little smoke while sitting at a traffic light, and after about 2 to 3 mins of driving, it's gone completely.
The best way to know for sure is by the smell of burnt antifreeze. It's unmistakable.

traveezy

ok i just checked my reservoir but its hard to tell because i just added some coolant system stop leak to my radiator a few days ago and it turned my coolant dark brown. but i do see something in there i just dont know if its from the stop leak or oil. what does burnt antifreeze smell like?

Throttle Jockey

i agree with sho 91, i think your head gasket is fine. i think you may have a valve seal leaking a bit which is typical if yo have a high mileage engines. the "gunk" you discribed in the oil cap says it hasn't been maintained as good as it could have been.