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Stock XJ Cherokee Tech. All XJ Non-modified/stock questions go hereXJ (84-01)
All OEM related XJ specific tech. Examples, no start, general maintenance or anything that's stock.
Year: 1998 Classic (I'll get it running soon....) and 02 Grand
Model: Cherokee (XJ)
Engine: 4.0
Originally Posted by Big_Taxi
So I ran for 30 minutes around 205 degrees, pretty normal. Stopped for breakfast and checked the cap, and it was the exact same pattern of snot, absolutely no change.
I can't see 30 minutes clearing out old condensation. I think your test really didn't tell us anything.
So it's been a while- got T-boned and had to replace a door, swapped it myself and had an oil change. Now my oil pressure will drop to next to nothing at a warm idle, so I figure at this point it's gotta be a cracked head. Oil doesn't look milky, but I'd rather not take any chances. I'm going to swap out my oil pressure sending unit, but am preparing for the worst. What price am I looking at to have my head replaced? I am going to check today for a 0331 stamp. How can I- a car rookie- check for more damage, or to see if even keeping the car is worthwhile? I love the thing to pieces and have access to a 2nd car, but want to be realistic.
Here's one other item for your edification. The older water pumps used to have a "weep" hole on the bottom of the fan shaft bearing. Later this was changed to a "weep chamber" which holds about a teaspoon of coolant that's allowed to evaporate without any visible signs of leakage. After the leakage overcomes the chamber's capacity, it will leak into the back of the fan pulley and get thrown off on initial startup. I discovered this when we did the brakes on my 2000 WJ. After installing the calipers and rotors, we started it up on the lift to bleed the brakes. Coolant began pouring down the front of the engine, then stopped! Okay...water pump! Looking in an AC Delco catalog for the right part number, this chamber was explained. The reason for it was stated as all shaft bearings weep a little even when they are new and this chamber eliminates premature replacement. At least that's the corporate rational. This engine was using about a pint a month for a long time. Sometimes you could smell coolant when it sat and idled, but could not find any leakage.
Hmmm, Im gonna have to look at my ACDelco pump. I changed it out couple years ago or so and I do loose a little bit of coolant and can smell it after a long drive and parking it but have not found any leaks anywhere.
Hmmm, Im gonna have to look at my ACDelco pump. I changed it out couple years ago or so and I do loose a little bit of coolant and can smell it after a long drive and parking it but have not found any leaks anywhere.
Thinking it could be the radiator to. A '96 XJ that I used to own did that.
Park the Jeep and get a whiff of coolant from time to time. Never did see an actual leak though.
I had to do a passenger front brake line. Did the line and had the Jeep jacked up to bleed that side.
Started the Jeep and all of a sudden I see coolant dripping out. Not a lot.
My little theory is that a seam on the radiator was allowing coolant to bubble out.
But with the Jeep on the ground everything was getting pressed together.
Jacking up that side I released the tension sort of speak and the coolant was able to flow a little more freely.
When back on the ground it kinda stopped and returned to the way it was.
I never really lost any appreciable amount of coolant and never did fix it. LOL.
Here is a picture of the "TUPY" head and it shows where the 0331 marking is and if yours is cracked, it will be right where the "TUPY" is molded, directly under the oil filler cap, except yours won't say TUPY. This head was produced for the mid 2002 production run by the Tupy Foundry in Brazil. Chrysler never admitted there was a problem with the 0331 head although they fixed it!
Last edited by dave1123; Jun 26, 2020 at 01:44 AM.
Another coolant pressure test and nothing happened, but towards the end of August began to lose coolant at an accelerated rate. Looking under the cap, I figure the jig is up for sure... the only good thing about this quarantine is that I haven't been driving anywhere. Can I get some practical advice on how much I am looking at to replace my cylinder head, and/or what other potential damage to look for?
8.5.0
I'm willing to pull the valve cover for a closer inspection, but cannot find if I would need to replace the gasket once I take the cover off. The gasket itself is pretty new, but I hear they can tear sometimes.
I am going to bet on water pump. I don't see a response of what it looks like inside the valve cover through the fill hole. You state that a pressure test passes and I assume loses no pressure. IIWY I would be doing the pump and maybe pulling valve cover and replacing gasket to inspect further but that would depend on what is seen through the fill hole.
Head replacement by a shop is going to cost a lot. ~$500 for head then ~$1200-1500 labor. You will need to check your area as prices vary greatly by locale.
When the head on my WJ cracked, I was adding about a quart of coolant every 2 days. I saw no crack, but steam was coming out of the tailpipe with drops of coolant dripping on the ground after idling. Mine had the rare crack of being just into the exhaust ports and not completely thru to the valve cover area. In 2015, I paid $455 for a "Clearwater" head and $800 to get it installed. That same head, with reconditioning, is now on my new shortblock and the jeep has 261K miles on it. That's 9K on the new motor.
I don't see a crack in yours yet. There's too much sludge covering that area for it to have been washed off with coolant. You should do a compression test to see if the head gasket itself may have a leak. A cylinder leakdown test would show bubbles in the radiator if it was leaking into the cooling system.
Hmm, OK. For August and September or so it's probably been 1 cup every week, or around there. I'm calling today to see what my options are, but yeah, I think if it is a cracked head $1200 seems low-end. Any other spots of damage to look for? Is there a way to check bearings?
What is your hot idling oil pressure? The only was to get really good info on them is to pull the pan, pull the caps, and check with Plastigage. As long as your oil pressure is normal, they should still be good.
It's not too far from Ithaca to Avoca NY so go check with South Main Auto Repair. Eric O. does excellent work and will do the job right the first time.
