Coolant in oil? head gasket

97 cherokee, 4.0L, 147,XXX.

8/29/09 @ The Cliffs; I get myself stuck in this. i was a little deeper into the whole before this picture was taken. Water was up to the top of the passenger headlight.


After getting it winched out, we motor back to the parking lot and I pull the dip stick and see that its over filled thinking some how i got water into the engine when I got stuck. I pull it onto the trailer and shut it down. Ran great all day long. No overheating issues, or oil pressure issues.

Took her home and started poking around. I saw that the water pump was leaking out of the weep hole and the engine oil was over filled. So I did 3 back to back oil changes and flushed the hell out of the coolant system(heater core, radiator, block with a hose for 10 mins)

Put a water pump and altenator(died in the water hole) and started it up. and let it idle. It idled fine, didnt overheat(didnt go above 210). took it about the block. Did fine. then parked it. Its my second vehicle/trail rig.


Then recently(9/19/09) I take it out to the trail. Let it warm up in the parking lot before heading out onto the trails. And as soon as i get out on the trails I notice it started to overheat. It got to about 250-260. The electric fan wasnt kicking on. So I pull out the fan and jumper wired it to the battery. With a little manual spinning of the fan blade I got the fan to power up. I throw it back in the jeep and its start working normally.

Then a few mins later,.... I notice I'm losing oil pressure. I pull the dipstick and I see its over filled by 1-2 qts. I assume its coolant. I motor it back to the parking lot, load it up on the trailer and call it a day.

The next day I go out and check on it. Did an oil change on it. Oil was at the F in SAFE. Started it up. Oil Pressure is great. Good solid 40psi. Let it run for about 30 mins and notice a drop in oil pressure. Temp around 220. So it wasn't over heating at that point in time. I shut it down, Pull the dipstick. Overfilled again.


Am I right to assume I had the head gasket let go on me?

Sorry for the long story, but more into the better.

Is the oil contaminated? Coolant in the oil usually = milkshake.

it looked like oil, caramel color but thinned out. I used a clear "for all makes and models" coolant when I filled up the coolant system. So it didnt give the oil a green tint to it.

Possible fuel contamination. What is the smell?

not fuel,... at least I dont believe. I dont remember what it smells like off hand, but I would remember if it smelt like fuel for sure.

I'll check that anyways just to be sure. I'll borrow a fuel pressure gauge from a friend and see if the injectors are leaking.

Take a small container and put a little of your coolant in it and the some of the oil type that you are using and see how it mixes.

If the crankcase keeps coming up overfilled, then something is losing a liquid--gotta be coolant or fuel.

Did you hydrolock it and crack a cylinder wall or water jacket?

You could simply try adding a radiator seal. It may not be the head gasket. It may be a tiny hole inside the head which the seal could plug, and it won't really hurt anything to try.