montesxj2000
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Phoenix, AZ
First some background. Hello my name is Irving and i live in Arizona, on 01/02/2017 i went to Flagstaff in the xj with the family to have some fun in the snow, on our way back i noticed the xj was running a bit hot (the line after the 210 mark on the gauge) i pulled off on the next exit to check if the electric fan was turning on and as soon as i stopped the engine shut off and smoke came out of the hood with a milky oil running out of the left side of the engine by the air filter box. I automatically thought blown head gasket or cracked head because when i purchased the jeep (from auction it was a recovered theft) the jeep did not have any water or coolant so i thought that was strange and i filled it up and then checked it a week or so later and had to fill again. So Coolant Loss, tried heater on our way back from the snow and no Heater so again I suspected cracked head. Had to tow the jeep back to Phoenix and i took it to my mechanic and we had the head pulled and sent to a machine shop to check for cracks. they said no cracks, had rockers and springs replaced, new gaskets, valve lifters, thermostat, water pump, and hoses replaced. put everything back together and i picked it up and after about 30-40 miles started feeling the jeep misfiring and it threw the CEL, took it back to the shop and it was saying misfire in cylinder 3. mechanic said could be a bad sparkplug and dropped the jeep off the next day where he replaced the sparkplug and still misfiring. (when i took the jeep that day it went into limp mode as i pulled up) he removed the valve cover and saw the coolant was mixing with the oil so he said he would remove the head again and take it to the machine shop to check and that it could be a bad head gasket. so i went to Autozone got a new gasket, machine shop said head was fine and then again put everything back together and took the jeep home and this time it was that same afternoon started running rough and CEL light came on. Took the jeep back and said the only other option could be a cracked block but the jeep has good compression, ran great before overheating. i told him i wanted a second opinion from a different machine shop so i recently took the head to a different shop and they told me that it looks like it was not resurfaced by a machine and it was done with a band (no clue what that means) and that they will check for cracks so waiting on the results from there. oil has chocolate milk. any ideas or suggestions if i am steering in the right direction suspecting the head is cracked. have read online on various forums that the 4.0 block is very difficult to crack and that the 0331 head is notorious for cracking. I'm in between just buying a used engine at a local wrecking yard with 130k miles for $900 or a $455 head from Odessa Cylinder heads. I don't want to get the head and then again have issues, been 3 months without my jeep. My jeep has 154k currently.
