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Stock Grand Cherokee Tech. All ZJ/WJ/WK Non-modified/stock questions go here!ZJ (93-98), WJ (99-04), WK (05+)
All ZJ/WJ/WK specific tech questions asked here!
So there are pins 1 through 4 on the coil rail connector. The ground is one of the middle pins. Let's say it's pin 3. When I measure from pin 3 to pin 1 I get 0.9 ohms. When I measure from pin 3 to pin 4 I get 0.9 ohms. When I measure from pin 3 to pin 2 I get 0.9 ohms. I think inside of the connector shows a minus sign on the ground pin too. Thanks
Try checking resistance between each plug contact and the metal grounds of the mounting bosses. That's the path the spark takes when it fires. That will show you the resistance of each coil secondary. You originally had a problem with #6 also, is that correct? #1 and #6 fire at the same time from the same coil. I'd be willing to bet the resistance on that coil is different from the other 2.
Never had a problem on 6. Only 1. Sorry MOBILE-COMMAND-UNIT, I got sidetracked last night and today. Before I get into that....
Do I check resistance with the coil plugged in? Or taken out? Or does it matter? Also what should I set my multimeter to for this? I don't have a thorough enough understanding of how the coil pack rail works and why we would even get a reading. I don't really need to either I guess. LOL just the specifics on the test.
NOW one more update and set of questions for my jeep (and this thread).
I had been losing a tiny bit of coolant from beneath my radiator cap since I had it at the radiator shop (the one that wired my fan with reverse polarity) so a week or so after they changed it out I tested my cap. It was old and only tested 6 pounds. I replaced it and it leaked a lot less... But still. I'm ignorant and figured it was an ill-fitting radiator and lived with it. Well yesterday I put about 60 miles on it. Everything was great except I was losing a lot more than usual from the cap. Looking beneath the radiator shroud it appeared to be much more leaking than what was from the cap. I had been avoiding this for as long as possible (WJ radiator shrouds are stupidly difficult to remove) but I had an evening and a 12 pack. **** it....
After the shroud was off (probably an hour - 1 1/2) I could now see that I am, and have been, leaking from the transmission fluid linkage.
The last person to do anything on this radiator before this giant mess was that radiator shop. The top nut was barely snug and went almost a whole half-turn to tighten all the way. The bottom one was so loose I could probably have loosened it with my fingers. Then I realized - that lazy ****er at the radiator shop put the radiator and the shroud in as one piece and couldn't get to these very well. Especially the bottom one. Consequently the air that was ending up in my radiator was causing coolant to **** from my radiator cap and since the coolant loss was so slow before I just kind of ignored it and assumed it was the radiator cap. All this radiator nonsense is probably what screwed my head and caused the gasket to eventually leak. I would go back to the shop and ***** but the owner is very honest and trustworthy. He was having back surgery at the time my radiator was going in so he would get onto the guy and try to work something out with me.... I'm just going to take it as a life lesson learned instead.
TL;DR: If you are capable and somewhat mechanically inclined, change out your own radiator.
I have been checking my oil and coolant. The coolant had a bunch of little black particles floating on top. I'm guessing from having the head off and crap falling inside. The oil looks really dark for only having 70 or so miles on it since being changed out (changed it and the filter when putting head back on).
I have already flushed and refilled my cooling system with new. Should I throw some seafoam in the oil and run it for a few hundred miles? I read about people doing it all the time but GOD KNOWS if something bad can happen from doing that, it will happen to me. I can smell a tiny bit of fuel in the oil but my sense of smell is pretty much non-existant. All I can do is keep a close eye on it I guess. Or change it out.... but damn I am strapped between Christmas and surprise automotive repairs.
Last edited by Clayto1332; 01-06-2016 at 07:08 PM.
There is a "good old boy" method of checking for fuel in the oil. Wipe the stick off, take a fresh reading, then try to light it with a cigarette lighter! If it catches fire immediately, there's a lot of fuel in the oil.
Seeing as how jeeps are direct injected, the only way for fuel to get into the oil is by cylinder wall washdown, as in a cylinder not firing. On older engines with a mechanical engine driven fuel pump, a ruptured pump diaphragm will flood the engine with fuel, thin out the oil, and possibly cause an explosion or fire.
The color of the oil is normal because you didn't clean out the bottom end. There is a trend of using diesel engine oil now because of it's detergent additives.
More on the coil pack later. I've got to get ready for work.
After I put the head on I ran the engine for probably two hours before I fixed the misfire issue. Oil is still acting oil-like. I'll try and catch my dipstick on fire tomorrow. It's been a long day and I need rest. We will do the coil rail and oil testing tomorrow hopefully.
It just goes on and on.... Everything has been great except loss of coolant. Mainly out the radiator cap but chasing it around other places also. Me and a friend let it cool, pushed it in my garage and checked the oil. Lots of fuel fouling but no coolant contamination. However in my coolant I am getting lots of engine oil (I say lots, a thin film floating on top). Also the tiny black specs have returned. We ran the engine and sat there and watched it for 30 mins or so with a coolant pan down below. Every few minutes or so my radiator would burp a bunch of gas and some small bubbles would follow. I guess what I have is combustion gasses escaping from my head gasket seal to my coolant.
I talked to my uncle about this. It really seemed like I had some burrs on the backside of cylinder 6 BUT the machine shop guy and everyone else (not on this forum) told me to cool my **** and throw the head back on the block. My uncle has been cussed by a few machine shop folks but in the meantime he says "f*** you, my **** doesn't leak". He bit his tongue and said he carefully takes a straight file and goes longways along the block. Not to smooth it out, but to see if there are any spots on the block causing a problem. "You can feel it" he says and I should be able to smooth the spot out carefully with a piece of emery cloth. Since it is so easy to screw my block up I think what I am going to do is limp my jeep over to him so I can take my block off under his supervision and he can look at it.
He even told me that going on a long trip the leak might seal itself... When asking about block sealant he said it would probably fix the problem but make the whole engine a piece of scrap metal when it finally takes a **** on itself.
My next update will be the final resolution to this. I'll take and post pictures and share details. It is embarrassing that this has drug out for this long but I would like to think that this thread will help someone else someday.
"Well, this is a fine mess you have gotten us into!" I cannot believe this has turned into a nightmare. I should talk! I dumped a bad block deck on someone else myself. "I dunno, it was running when it went out the door."
Seriously, you sure learned a lot on this one. I'm sorry it had to be a problem. While you have the head off, it may pay to have it magnafluxed for cracks. There are no oil pressure holes on the deck surface so I can't understand how oil is getting into your radiator....unless it's transmission fluid from the cooler.
Don't be sorry! I'm a big boy... I knew this was going to be a real pain when getting into this. I can pretty much remove the head wearing a blindfold now.
There were a lot of concerning areas I had with the deck of the block that I eventually screwed off when the machine shop guy told me to "just throw it back on". When cleaning it up with a razor blade I could tell there were burrs around the coolant passages around cylinder 6. If I end up having a bad block I'll throw some stop leak in it and start saving for a pickup.
Currently negotiating with the wife on letting me make another weekend trip to D-town. She ain't happy about all of the time and money I have spent on this so far BUT she doesn't care for me commandeering her car from her either.
@Dave, you think I should go ahead and throw replacement lifters in it? A bunch of folks frown upon doing so and not replacing the camshaft. I'd kind of prefer to not mess around with the timing and save the 200 or so dollars for a new camshaft. Like I mentioned before the thing runs amazing right now. If I can just iron out this ONE THING I'll be done with it.
Lastly any takes on gaskets? I put the plain fel pro from the machine shop in it this last time. The first one I got was the MLS gasket with the rivets and the blue sealing materal around the fire rings and passages.
I'm going to try and hold off on posting anything more on here until I either make the trip and fix it or if the thing ****s out on the way there. Fingers crossed!
If you're asking me, I'd use a Fel-Pro 530SD Severe Duty head gasket. It's a little thicker than the normal one and should be a little more compliant.
As long as your lifters aren't making a lot of noise, you can stick with the old ones. Personally, when I had my head off, I put new Sealed Power lifters in mine. I didn't expect much difference, but they quiet down after the engine is up to temp. No 4.0 rattle! My old lifters looked like they'd run another 100K miles anyhow.
I think I have one lifter that make s a "tick" at idle. I'll remove and inspect them when I get the head back off again. If we see a problem you bet your *** I will throw another cam and set of lifters in the thing right then. I'd rather not but you know... There are no shortcuts when doing major engine work. I want to be done with all the powertrain bull**** for at least another 50 thousand miles after this. *knock on wood*
The original purpose of this thread was because of a misfire on cylinder 1. I fixed that with the ignition coil. I was going to pull the head back off an file the block etc but my high school buddy at the parts store told me to try K Seal. I asked my uncle, he said to follow the directions exactly and let him know how it goes. I tried it and ran the **** out of it all day. It seems to be beginning to work. I let it run with the cap off and there were some bubbles but far less than before.
Meanwhile, I never actually reversed polarity on my radiator fan from the radiator shop ****-up. I figured if it was idling and the vehicle wasn't moving it doesn't matter. I noticed that the flashing above the grill was getting so hot I couldn't touch it. What is happening is the fan can't actually push the air through the AC cooling radiator, so it just blows upward and downward. I kept having problems controlling my temperature when traveling and idling so my lazy *** said **** IT. I put it back the way it is supposed to be. Now the fan kicks on for 30-60 seconds at a time at normal speed and my coolant temperature (so far) stays where my thermostat says it should be.
Dunno if I mentioned earlier in the thread but I put male/female paddle connectors on the radiator fan wiring in such a way that made it impossible to reverse polarity. Well dip**** at the radiator shop cut them out when he didn't put them together good enough and hooked it up wrong. Then sent me a 75 dollar bill (which I paid).
The stop leak seems to be gradually working and I have learned a lifetime of lessons. It is time to put this thread to bed. The k seal can last a few thousand miles, or forever. Who knows... Either way when the time comes I will know exactly what to do.
To you guys storming the internet looking for a "one-size-fits-all" answer: there isn't one. Have amateur experience, get amateur results. Sometimes it takes someone honest that knows the industry to give you the inconvenient prognosis that you are dreaded of hearing. Replacing a head gasket isn't hard. Knowing what to look for and how to handle things like PROBLEMS WITH MATING SURFACES and CHECKING PISTON RING AND VALVE WEAR takes experience. In my case I should have purchased a brand new head from someone like Clearwater.
Don't be stubborn to seasoned folks that give you advice. Your billfold will thank you later.
Well said, Clayto! Thanks for the support! Sometimes simple seeming things can get complicated and easy fixes can come back to bite you later. My feeling is anything worth doing is worth doing right. My thoughts on the K-seal? Watch your heater core for getting plugged. The flow paths in that are smaller than the ones in the radiator. Once the leak stops, flush out the rest of it. JMHO.
01-04-2016, 10:42 PM
"I dunno, it was running when it went out the door."