Hey guys
I am gonna be taking this to a mechanic but I just want a small headsup of what to expect.
The problem: I was driving home last night and about two or three miles down the road my temp spiked from 210 to about 250. I stopped and let it cool for a minute. I kept driving and made it to a gulf (where there was light) popped open the hood and let it cool again. I just rolled over 3000 miles for an oil change so I threw a quart in at the time (I got it changed today). I figured Id check my radiator so i opened that up and was rewarded with a fountain of black gunky stuff spraying out. Luckily it wasnt hot because my arm woulda been toast (get it?). I threw some water in there to make it home. I got my oil changed today and I was asking the mechanic at speedee what might be the problem. He said it could be a water pump, or a problem with my engine head.
Has anyone had this problem before? I just want to know what my mechanic might tell me tomorrow
Thanks guys

 

Expect a lot of money to be spent. Sounds like a head problem.

 

Glad your arm wasn't toast.......but does seem odd temp gauge was 250 but coolant didn't burn ya.

 

Luckily i wasnt pressed for time so I did let it cool for a couple minutes. Tossed some water over it too to spead up the process

 

Tossing water on or filling a rad with water while the engine is hot and not running can be disasterous (cracked head/block).

 

It sounds like oil in the coolant which isn't good. Likewise, I would have expected coolant in the oil, and thats not good either. I suspect the reason for overheating was either a bad head gasket or cracked head, and that would explain oil in the coolant.

 

"Oil in the coolant".....has that been verified?

 

I'd be real hesitant of a diagnosis of blown head gasket or cracked head with a vague description of got hot and black gunk in radiator.

 

if your in a pinch, putting water in the radiator is not a bad thing to do. that's what's in there to begin with.
50/50 mix, half water. in warmer climates more water. The reasons coolant is added is raise the boiling point of the water and lower the freezing point, and also as rust preventative.


on the black gunk, how long have you owned it? any chance previous owner dumped a crapload of bar's leak?
i just flushed a radiator today, and when i did no joke a few handfuls of viscous muck similar to what your describing shot out. mine and the others around when i did this could only guess it to be bars leak.

 

You have a 2000, which from the factory, came with the "infamous" 0331 cylinder head.

This head has a known casting defect between cylinder 3-4, which make it very susceptible to cracking here, ESPECIALLY with any kind of overheating.

With the symptoms you describe, I think it is very likely that your cylinder head is cracked.

Whatever mechanic you bring this to needs to be aware of the known issue with this head. Most of the time, if the head is cracked, you can remove the valve cover and with a good light, visually see the cracks in the head.

Good luck!

 

Hi I have a 1989 Jeep Cherokee 2 door 5 speed and it was overheating on the previous owner who sold it to me she did something to the temp gauge not sure if it was a fuse or what but now it don't work so I was wondering where might the temp gauge fuse be located. Any help would be appreciated thanks

 

Own thread buddy. Take your time and make your thread, or post in the "Ask a question" Not trying to be a jerk. Just way things go.

As for the thread im no expert but im guessing it is a cracked head. Not even 40% sure.

 

If the mechanic tells you its a cracked head he should have some evidence to back it up. It should be fairly easy to diag. They can take a sample reading with a bench gas tester just above the coolant to see if there are any HC's (hydra carbons) present in the coolant. HC's should only be in the exhaust.

There are lots of ways to look for evidence of a head gasket/head failure. If you do in fact need this work just take the time to talk to your mechanic get some evidence, and make sure he and the shop are capable of doing if fairly quickly and the right way. It would really suck to put the money into it to fix and have to re do it.

With all that said yes there are other things that can cause this sort of symptom. But the basics need to be checked before any of us can jump to HG failure. Good luck.

 

......guess I should have emphasized "don't spray water on or add water too AN ENGINE THAT IS NOT RUNNING".

 

in the situation described by the op, the only thing that would've lost coolant was the radiator, the block wouldve still been full. and if the vehicle wasnt running then coolant wouldnt be circulating. so really the only thing that would have water added to it would be the radiator, therefore no cracked block or head.

not trying to be a jerk, just sayin.