ChrisG

I have a 2001 Jeep Cherokee Sport. For the past 2 months I have had to fill my coolant resivour 2 times a week going through about 1 gallon of coolant a week.

My oil pressure is normal.
The oil and filter have been changed and it looks normal, not milky.
I have change out my radiator, water pump, coolant resivour and all lines even though I could not find anything wrong with any of them.

I had my mechanic put my Jeep under pressure and I have no leaks.
My mechanic also looked and is adiment I don't have a cracked head.

I am out of ideas, does anyone have any?

LACK

Very possible that you have a cracked head. The 0331 head is notorious for cracking.


Check out this thread.
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/00-...erview-118922/

ChrisG

Any other ideas? That is the first thing we thought it was and my mechanic has check for a cracked head at least 10 times. Matter of fact I have had 2 different mechanics check for a cracked head and both said no. and both are at a loss for what is causing this.

EZEARL

So how did they check?

ChrisG

I have no idea, thats why I took it too a machinic. The first guy is the mechanic I use for all my needs, and the second guy I was referred to by my mechanic who does alot of work on jeeps. I told the second guy my problem, exactly what I wrote above, he told me I had a crack head (based on the story, before he looked at my jeep). I left my jeep with him to have it fixed, he called me 2 days later and said I did not have a cracked head and he did not know what is was.
I gave him permission to keep the jeep and drive is on a routine basis and he had the same problem


I am not a mechanic, I am not a car or jeep enthusiast I drive this Jeep as my primary vehicle to get to work. Its not jack up or anything special. I just need to figure out what is going on.

EZEARL

If it's not a visible leak then it's going through the engine. Get someone to test for exhaust gases in your coolant.

LACK

Or you can take an oil sample and send it in to blackstone labs.

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/

May not be a lot of coolant in the oil, but if there is then blackstone will find it.

EZEARL

Good idea. A gallon a week is A LOT. You'd think he'd be having other symptoms by now.

kcdt58

Agreed, if you're really going through a gallon a week, that is a HUGE amount. If it's not visibly leaking on the outside, it's going somewhere...no other symptoms? Running rough? Smoke? Overheating? Loss of power? Anything??

LACK

I must have read right over that. Yeah, thats a ton of coolant.

If there isnt visible coolant in the oil and its not blowing white smoke id be looking harder for leaks somewhere in the system.

ChrisG

Its running great. It only over heated on me once about 2 months ago, and the radiator was empty. After that I started paying attention to it. First we checked for a cracked head, then we started replacing things we thought it could be. I did some of the work but then after we could figure it out I had the second mechanic check everything I did to make sure it was done correctly and nothing I did was leaking. No white smoke out the exhaust, oil pressure is normal. I never see antifreeze or anything wet under my jeep after it sits. The power is awesome, the jeep sounds great and you would neve know there was antything wrong unless I told you. It has awesome pick up and has not trouble doing 70 plus on the interstate keeping up with traffic.

Also it's defiantly a gallon a week because I fill my gas tank and coolant on Sunday's by wednesday I have a half a tank of gas I fill up and I have a nearly empty resivour, I also fill that. So every Sunday and wednesday I use a half a gallon.

ChrisG

If the system is put under pressure and does not detect a leak is there anything else I can do to look for leaks. The pressure system does not put the coolant resvouir under pressure so I just resolved that and the hose that goes to the radiator. Any ideas.

fijicorey25

Send an oil sample to blackstone. I took my XJ to a Jeep guy here that does great work and he missed it. The only way I could tell was a used oil analysis.

If you're leaking that bad, try starting up the jeep and let it idle for about 15 minutes so everything gets nice and warm. Open your hood and then take off the oil filler cap. Look straight down, not at an angle, and you should be able to see coolant seeping thru the head. I had to stand on my bumper in order to check. Here's what I saw that prompted me to send an oil sample to blackstone (this is a video of my jeep):


You can see in the video what appears to be water droplets forming in the oil. Since it wasn't super definitive I still sent the sample off. It came back with traces of coolant with only 500 miles on that oil.

Moral of the story: Send a damn sample to Blackstone. It's only $28
http://www.blackstone-labs.com/standard-analysis.php

ChrisG

Sounds good Ill send a sample. How long did it take for you to get results?

fijicorey25

Less than a week. I sent it via FedEx which helped.

You need to order a kit first (it's free). After you get that, then you can send off your sample. I received my kit in a few days, I think. Overall, it shouldn't take more than two weeks.