loss of coolant
hey everyone well since i bought my jeep i noticed the coolant in the recovery tank would dissapear. i also put dye in it from autozone and that didint help.
The other day i noticed a tiny hole in my muffler and it looked like water coming out when it was running..my guess is this would be the coolant.my question is could this just be a blown head gasket or is my head cracked? i do have a 2001 and have read all about it but i bought this jeep with 135k on it.. i already have a complete engine gasket kit but i dont know if i should start looking for a new head
The other day i noticed a tiny hole in my muffler and it looked like water coming out when it was running..my guess is this would be the coolant.my question is could this just be a blown head gasket or is my head cracked? i do have a 2001 and have read all about it but i bought this jeep with 135k on it.. i already have a complete engine gasket kit but i dont know if i should start looking for a new head
Senior Member
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 541
Likes: 1
From: Vancouver
Year: 1998 and 1988
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.7
hey everyone well since i bought my jeep i noticed the coolant in the recovery tank would dissapear. i also put dye in it from autozone and that didint help.
The other day i noticed a tiny hole in my muffler and it looked like water coming out when it was running..my guess is this would be the coolant.my question is could this just be a blown head gasket or is my head cracked? i do have a 2001 and have read all about it but i bought this jeep with 135k on it.. i already have a complete engine gasket kit but i dont know if i should start looking for a new head
The other day i noticed a tiny hole in my muffler and it looked like water coming out when it was running..my guess is this would be the coolant.my question is could this just be a blown head gasket or is my head cracked? i do have a 2001 and have read all about it but i bought this jeep with 135k on it.. i already have a complete engine gasket kit but i dont know if i should start looking for a new head
CAnt find the leak? I guess its not that big. for now, I would get some of that leak stopper with little pellets in it. It works great and lubricates your water pump.
If you are not noticing anything weird with the engine, the oil or no white smoke or sweet smell coming out of the exhaust, it may be just a hose clamp leaking or the water pump seeping hole.
The heads rarely warp on those. I pulled the head out of a seized engine (HO) out of a metal scrap dumpster. I got it tested and it was perfectly straight (lucky I know). Now its on top of my 4.7stroker
CF Veteran
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 47,923
Likes: 38
From: Broward County Fl.
Year: 1989 xj sport 2dr
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 12 hole bosch Injectors
Have system pressure checked including radiator cap.Or do like countless others on here and spend hundreds of dollars and still have same issue.JM2CW.
Member
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 126
Likes: 0
From: Sonoma County Ca
Year: 2000
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0L inline six
Drive it untill it has water in the oil. It could be the head or just the gasket. No sence in replacing the gasket if your just going to have to buy another for the head being cracked. Watch your oil closely for milky oil and low oil pressure dropping to zero at idel will be a sign that leans more towards your head. Good luck
Member
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 126
Likes: 0
From: Sonoma County Ca
Year: 2000
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0L inline six
I know from experience that the antifreeze disappearing and you cant find a leak anywhere but your exhaust has water coming out of it is exactly how my head crack began. But then again it may be the gasket. Do as the above has mentioned it can never hurt, although I did the same in the following order.. replace r. Cap , then the radiator, have the system pressure checked and a carbon test and it passed ! Only to have it fail a few hundred miles later
Could be a cracked head
could also be a leaky head gasket
Try a bottle of bars stop leak, the kind that looks like molasses with pellets in it. DO NOT use more than one bottle. This will usually stop a leaking head gasket but it will not stop a leak from a cracked head. So if this stops your coolant loss you can rule out a cracked head. It is a good diagnostic aid.
could also be a leaky head gasket
Try a bottle of bars stop leak, the kind that looks like molasses with pellets in it. DO NOT use more than one bottle. This will usually stop a leaking head gasket but it will not stop a leak from a cracked head. So if this stops your coolant loss you can rule out a cracked head. It is a good diagnostic aid.
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Seasoned Member
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 400
Likes: 0
From: North Las Vegas
Year: 2000
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
my 00 xj sport did the same thing the head casting 0331 that they used for the 00-01 has a weak spot in the coolent passages between the 3rd and 4th cylenders and it will leak in them i let mine go too long and dropped those pistons in my oil pan. NEW HEAD!!!!
Seasoned Member
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 400
Likes: 0
From: North Las Vegas
Year: 2000
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
If it is a 00-01it has the 0331 casting but just me I have seen to many cooling systems clog up from any stop leak so I fix the problem not hid it but that is all up to you
CF Veteran


Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 2,720
Likes: 44
From: Gainesville GA
Year: 1999
Model: Cherokee (XJ)
Engine: 4.0
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 860
Likes: 0
From: middleburg fl
Year: 1998
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
pressure test,pressure test
notice the amount of posts freegdr has its over 25 thousand id take his advise
either he just talks a whole lot or he knows what hes talking about or both but still id go with an informed opinion
notice the amount of posts freegdr has its over 25 thousand id take his advise
either he just talks a whole lot or he knows what hes talking about or both but still id go with an informed opinion
Seasoned Member
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 400
Likes: 0
From: North Las Vegas
Year: 2000
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
So what your saying is no one els. Has an informed opinion unless they have 2k post number I am an ASE certifide mech on many things and the cooling system is one of them if he has white smoke its burning coolent when oil burns its smoke has a blue smoke so yes he can pressure test it but unless its running it will hold when it is running the pressure should jump between strokes on the culprit cylenders


