PA Jeeps

The Garage => Technical Advice and Questions => Topic started by: MUDDY on March 04, 2010, 08:53:07 pm

Title: xj engine problems
Post by: MUDDY on March 04, 2010, 08:53:07 pm

i started it up. runs for awhile then shuts off. opened the rad. cap, coolant goes down like normal but when it shuts off the fluid comes back out. kicker coolant is a yellowish/ foamy. is it the head gasket or the thermostat. any ideas. muddy

Title: Re: xj engine problems
Post by: hillbilly on March 04, 2010, 09:07:15 pm

does it get hot then shut off? or run for a couple minutes then shut off? did you check the oil for choco milk. you could always pull the thermostat and try it.

Title: Re: xj engine problems
Post by: Rick_Bear on March 05, 2010, 05:19:57 am

When the coolant starts flowing back out of the radiator fill neck you've got a blown head gasket. Been there...
The more you run it the more damage you're going to cause.

Title: Re: xj engine problems
Post by: MUDDY on March 05, 2010, 08:13:00 am

thanks rick i was not sure if it was that

Title: Re: xj engine problems
Post by: etaucher on March 05, 2010, 10:13:56 am

Thats weird, the last Jeep Cherokee that I had, blew a head gasket, and the only thing it was doing was making the milky oil. But it still ran, it never shut off.

Title: Re: xj engine problems
Post by: hillbilly on March 05, 2010, 10:32:01 am

mine has a head gasket leak from the compression to the oil side. still runs .oil pressure is nill but it blows oil out the dipstick and breather any time i go faster than grandpa speed. no oil in rad or choco milk, just runs hot and has a self changing oil system.
   fyi dont follow me to close on the way to rausch.

Title: Re: xj engine problems
Post by: Rick_Bear on March 05, 2010, 04:21:42 pm

A bad head gasket can provide different signs through different systems.

From my experience when she "spews" back out the radiator you are best to stop running it.
Your talking about a $20-$32 part that requires 8-10 hours labor...That's where the expences is...LABOR

Adam, you will be needing a replacement motor. That "choco" milk oil you have is infected with coolant and the heat inside that baby will rise, rise, and continue to rise until it seizes.
You best travel in a group, even to the grocery store.

Title: Re: xj engine problems
Post by: etaucher on March 05, 2010, 05:13:46 pm

After I sold my last Cherokee, thats when I found out it had milky oil, all I did was buy a Head Gasket kit for it, which had all the gaskets, and the guy replaced it, and the milky oil went away. He was leaking coolant into the oil.

Title: Re: xj engine problems
Post by: hillbilly on March 05, 2010, 05:59:14 pm

got a replacement already, its a newbie only 85,000 miles out of a 95 xj.
 it hasnt got to the choco milk stage, it just blows oil out the dipstick and breather.

Title: Re: xj engine problems
Post by: MUDDY on March 06, 2010, 08:31:21 am

well if its 20 to 32 for parts the labor i will do myself. what else am i going to do. im not going to sit around the house while being laid-off so i might as well do something to pass the time.

Title: Re: xj engine problems
Post by: hillbilly on March 06, 2010, 08:44:32 am

   yeah head gaskets arent too scary, just need some tools ,time, and patience.  if you got a camera its a good idea to take pics along the way to remember where all those connectors go.

Title: Re: xj engine problems
Post by: MUDDY on March 06, 2010, 01:13:56 pm

 come to find out isn't the head gasket it was that stupid ceramic resistor on the side by the air box the whole time. thank god for that.