I have a 1994 Cherokee with the 4.0 and about 3 months ago I was driving home from university and my jeep started to have problems. It had been leaking quite a bit of coolant and I didn't have time to try to fix it so I left it alone and just put more antifreeze in it when it would leak.

Then I started to have a high idle after driving, I'd say around 3k. (I don't know what rpm it was staying at because my jeep didn't come with a rpm gauge but I spend a lot of time driving my friends' stick wranglers)

A few days after the high idle started, I was about halfway home and smelled burning antifreeze. Got home and engine was smoking bad around gaskets so I parked it. It had some weird noises when I test drove it later.

A few days later I drained all the oil and antifreeze and replaced the oil filter, head and valve cover with felpro metal gaskets. I them put it all back together and as I put the antifreeze in I thought I was good to go but then I noticed it was leaking pretty bad. It seemed as though it was leaking from around mid engine in the front. I couldn't see exactly where it was coming from because it was dark at night and with the torch I couldnt find it.

My next step is to change the water pump. I am just asking if a bad waterpump would stop it from starting because we tried for a bit after charging the battery and it wouldn't start.

I love my jeep and I've been driving my girlfriends ford focus around and it's been killing me. Any thoughts or ideas would be really appreciated. Thank you!

 

A few things
1) did you scrape all the old gasket material off both sealing surfaces of the head?
2) did you get the head checked to see if it was warped?

 

Was there milk in the valve cover when you changed the gaskets?

 

Not all busted head gaskets have this symptom

OP: Possibly a freeze plug leaking?

 

I was looking for a cracked head, not the gaskets.

 

Yes I scraped all the old gasket gunk off and while I had the head off I checked to see if it was visibly warped but there was no warpage.

When I had everything apart I cleaned everything well and allowed everything to dry. I didn't see any cracking in the head.

The oil was just a little milky, not as milky as pictures I've seen but when I drained the antifreeze it smelled really bad and burnt the way it smelled when it was running.

 

checking the head visibly for warping and/or cracks just is not good enough. Should not have reinstalled without getting the head checked at an engine shop. I would pull it down again and sent out the head and have it properly inspected and probably find out it your head will need to be resurfaced (grind flat) and possibly do a valve job while you are there.

 

Nuff said ^^^.
And inspect everything before re-install of the head,esp. The water pump hoses & radiator.
If you have a '94 like mine,u better check the entire cooling system.
I just did my head gasket. The head needed to be decked & the valves & seats redone.
Replaced,condenser,radiator,water pump,thermostat,hoses,alternator,temp sensor,gaskets & all fluids.
Regarding your oil,it sounds like u drove it with this condition for some time. I hope u didn't do any damage to your bearings. I changed by oil after 5 & again after 20 minutes of idling.

 

You needed to get the Head "Magnafluxed" a process where it will show the cracks better, it also needs to be done by a reputable machine shop, I have seen small town shops just magnaflux the bottom surface, only later to find the crack at the top of the head.

Leaking mid engine is either the head/gasket or as someone else said a "Freeze Plug"

Also did you replace the head bolts or know for a fact they have never been reused before? Can only reuse them once and you need to buy new one.

Take your time, diagnose it, and welcome to learning from your mistakes, We all have been there.

 

By the way,regarding your starting problem,make sure you plug the CPS connecter together.
Ask me how I know.

 

PS: Water pump will not keep it from starting, and the CPS could be the problem like madmanmarty said, its located at the top of your transmission bellhousing

 

If he only removed the heads and valve cover gasket and its leaking from the front, its most likely the thermostat housing. Aftermarket ones are cheap and you don't have to mess with scraping off gaskets.

A vehicle can run briefly without coolant. It shouldn't effect starting. Make sure all connections are in the proper place and fuses & relays are in and good especially the fuel pump relay which should have been pulled out before pulling injectors.

 

Hey guys, just an update. Yesterday and last might I drained all the coolant again, replaced my t-stat, housing and gasket, replaced waterpump and gasket, and replaced fluid. I let my jeep sit on jumpers for about 7 minutes while trying to crank after a few minutes between each. It finally cranked and was rough due to the ecu needing to reset. After it settled and burned off the extra fluid around the motor it ran perfectly! Even better than before since I cleaned out all the sludge. So she's nice and happy. Thanks to everyone who made suggestions.

 

Was the waterpump locked up?, otherwise everything makes no sense!!!!

 

Haha, I didn't even check. I just took it off and put the new one on. I'll let you know tomorrow.