I have been having some problems with my 01 jeep Cherokee. I get a burning smell coming out of the heat vents every once in a while. I put a new water pump in and did a coolant flush and it still seems to happen. When I did the flush the coolant was very brown. Also my oil smells like gasoline and looks very clean for having a thousand miles on that oil. Can anybody help?

 

The gasoline smell in the oil would not be related to the other issues you describe. If you really do have unburned gas in your oil, it's likely caused by one or more leaking injectors.


Check this thoroughly. If you have unburned gasoline in your oil, you can easily seize the engine. I've seen it happen and it's not pretty.

 

It's either leaky injectors (probable), or internal engine issues such as failing rings (not as probable), or it's just been too long since your last oil change particularly if you live in a cold climate and only do short trips with the XJ normally (though you mentioned only having ~1000 miles since the last change)

 

Just a quick question I have a 1990 XJ 4.0 L and I have the slight smell of gas in my oil also.....
Question is,what happens when an injector leaks like that? And should it be addressed right away by replacing all the injectors? I know I missing one of the metal tabs and probably need to replace the O-rings on the injectors.how would somebody rate this job pretty easy?

 

Oil that smells like gas is probably fuel leaking down the cylinder walls due to worn out rings ..

 

If you have a long crank time before the engine starts you start looking at the injectors.

 

Thank you

 

Mine starts right up so it's most likely the o rings letting gas leak down the cylinder walls right? Thanks!

 

Check the injectors first. It's probably just one bad one. Shut the jeep off and let it sit for a while. Take the cap off of the pressure gauge port on the fuel rail and push in the pin in the center just like a valve stem on a tire. If you have a leaky injector, there won't be much pressure if any at all.

 

How does one go about fixing a leaky injector?

 

You buy a new injector and replace the bad injector. The problem is figuring out which injector is leaking. I don't know you do this (??) If your XJ has a lot of miles, you might consider replacing them all. That won't be cheap, but at least the install is easy.

 

Sounds like a good excuse to upgrade to better injectors.

 

I think I might just go ahead and replace all my injectors. Any body know what I should use? Also I wanted to do all new spark plugs. I have 105k on my xj. What else might be good to get out of the way for tune up and maintenance

 

Start with pulling the spark plugs and inspect them. Is one wet with gas still? Or fouled or just looks different then the rest. Maybe replace the plugs and drive and immediately pull and check the plugs...one of these things is not like the other one's...lol.

 

Air cleaner and T/B clean. also TPS and IAS clean and dielectric the connectors for a start. Fun weekend project and after all isn't that why we own them...?