Checked my oil this morning before heading out to Jeep heritage fest, everything looked awesome. Leaving the trail I get a check engine light, get to my parking spot, check my oil first. Oil is low, and has tiny air bubbles on it. Went and put a quart of oil in, all looks good.

Drove the 40miles home, check oil again..looks good. Notice coolant resivoir is gray..

Is it a blown head gasket? I looked around the engine and cannot find any leaks.


96 XJ
48,000 orig. miles
4.0L
Auto

 

Pull the code for the check engine light.
Drain the oil, if it's milky....you got a problem

 

check the radiator, if the fluid looks brown and looks like peanut butter. its the head gasket. happened on my yota.

 

Or a cracked head...

 

Was the reservoir gray before?

Only way to reliably check is drain the coolant and oil and see what's in what.

Don't forget these things leak eh. Why does your '96 only have 46k miles on it? Cool find but if it sat for 10 years prior to you buying it there are likely issues.

 

Soon as this storm passes Ill drain the coolant & oil and take a look.

Its got low miles cause I bought it from a old man who drove it only when there was snow haha.

 

Drained the coolant. Its brown/green/gray and smelly.
Drained just a little of the oil out, its dirty, not milky but dirty. Looks a little bubbly and kinda thin.

My check engine light came off when i started it this morning.
Scanned the codes anyway, I got

P0138 Confirmed - high voltage code?
P0141 Pending - 02 sensor?


Extra info.
-Not overheating

 

It'd be a very good idea to get the rest of the oil out of there. Let both the oil and the coolant sit for a while. The water and oil will separate - if they were mixed - and you'll have your answer. It's entirely possible your oil is just sheared and dilluted and your coolant is dirty, and your oil loss is due to leaks/burning. You're not doing something silly like running 0w20 right?

Inspect wiring harnesses for chaffing and melting that would cause shorts. The codes you have there are for high voltage on the return signal wire and a problem with the heater circuit (which uses 12V).

 

Okay ill completely drain the oil.
I run 10w40 oil.

 

Once you get things sorted out you will want to flush the cooling system including the heater core several times then flush. When you finally have nothing but clear clean water then refill with coolant.

You may need to change the oil every few hundred miles till the engine is cleaned. Sounds like both were not changed as often as they should be.

 

When you finally have it clear, since we are out of the winter months, now it's time for the Amway flush.

Get some Amway SA8 laundry detergent. Toss a quarter cup in there, refill with clean water. You don't need to spend any money on coolant right now.

Run it for a month, drain, flush with clean, and NOW refill with the proper coolant/water mix.

You'll be amazed how much you'll clean out. The Amway won't harm anything in your system. In fact, it has rust inhibitors in it. Good stuff.

No, I don't sell it. You can find it online. They'll find you a dealer near you.