Oh, okay. Thanks for clarifying, I got a little lost....I know how it feels having a DD that needs quick work with not a lot of money....Pretty much every paycheck, I gotta get something fixed on mine. Gotta start saving a little extra to eventually get a re-bearing kit for my '93. Got a rod knock goin' on....

 

well that is 100% coolant/water mixed with oil... I am surprised the dipstick doesn't show it.. i want to see the valve train!

I do believe that his bearings COULD POSSIBLY be salvaged by the fact that his dipstick doesnt show a disgusting ****-shake yet...

 

Nevertheless, a water/oil emulsion is a poor lubricant.

It would be a real shame to rebuild the top end, only to have the bottom end spin a bearing or oil pressure plummet a few months later. That is a very real possibility.

I'd give that sucker a bath, vacuum it out, clean the glass and go trade it.

Either way, he's going to spend money.

 

ehh.. bottle of blue devil and call it a day!

Got to love mechanics in a bottle! I sell them all day!

I used to try and talk people out of them.. and into actually repairing the leak... i stopped after 2 years...its just too much work to convince the stupid

 

You must work for Autozone.

 

no... unfortunately... O'Reilly's... its a college job...

one of those things you apply for thinking you can work in a field that deals with fellow automotive enthusiasts and knowledgeable DIY guys...

nah..

if we sold 4 dollar brake pads made of chicken beaks and bamboo.. they would sell..

 

If it's not knocking and there's still oil pressure there's some hope for the bearings IMO.

Lol ouch. Dollar Tree Automotive?

 

I don't know why anyone hasn't mentioned this yet...
I'm in the same place you are buddy, bought a 01 Cherokee sport with the infamous 0331 head.

One day, i stumbled upon this video while looking through car repair stuff, and after I found out that 0331's are notorious for cracking I said, hell, lets give it a try


Thank you Scotty Kilmer! I went to autozone a few days later and rented a block tester, made sure everything was good and tested to see if any combustion gasses were getting into the coolant, so far so good. Maybe i'm just lucky and have a good head, considering it already has 136xxx miles on it and the 0331 are know for cracking at 80k to 120k

Give it a shot man, it might help you out.

 

a coolant leakdown test at the time wouldnt and still may not do me much good for diagnosis because there could be a leak in the heater core....and I dont need blue liquid to tell me i got issues! lol

I honestly am not concerned with the bottom end. there is literally no trance of goo down there! sure crazy things have happened because people continued to drive with the goo, But i also know depending on what side the crack, or leak goes too(intake or exhaust) depends on damage that could be done. the oil is black down there, I changed the oil the for the first time in my ownership and there were zero signs of this crap. i have ran 4,500ish miles on this oil change and had planned to change at 5k intervals.(yes I know synthetics can go longer but 5 k was my choice)

I bought this jeep because i needed a set of wheels asap! had my truck go down(which I am restoring 81 c10) so I am making payments on this damn thing....

as for the cooling system, its clean as a whistle. I back flushed it replaced with all new fluid about 3 months ago. then the radiator started leaking...

there where no signs of any stopleak or head sealer in the system, no oil, no mustard looking stuff...just nice green antifreeze. I was into that yesterday when I did the water pump, thermostat...radiator.

As for the valvetrain, there is some evidence of milky oil but barely...it seems this might have just started..

it has been REALLY cold here too, which might be why all the coolant condensated towards the top of the valvecover and didnt go down into the motor....the cold might have saved me there..

I will post some pictures in a minute.

 

and yes, no knocks, and oil pressure reads 50psi ,40ish at idle.

so again, I am confident bearings are fine.

 

ok so as request here are the rockers...notice not a lot of milky oil...just that goo built up around the old gasket mainly towards the back. there is a little bit of milky oil pooled up on the rocker arms themselvs and the bolt heads of the rockers.

 

dont mind the hair or whatever that was in that picture..lol soming from the debris shield that came off when I pulled the valvecover.

 

just was poking around, and almost 100% positive I found the crack in the head...right between 3 and 4 as mentioned...so now.. time for a new head.

 

Remember oil pressure is actually measuring a restriction to flow.

The idle pressure is very high. FSM says 13 PSI at hot idle is the norm. You actually need 10 PSI per 1,000 RPM at hot cruise.

Some of the gook could be blocking or restricting oil passages.

 

No it doesn't. The FSM says 13 PSI is the minimum acceptable. It does not state a "normal" value.