Blix
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Detroit Area - Roch Hills
Okay, so I blew (and I mean blew) the head gasket at 63,000 miles on my '01, and I was pretty darn surprised that it popped so soon. It's only slightly modded - intake, exhaust, and a Jet chip. The engine just stopped running while I was cruising down the highway. No noise, no abnormal gauge reading, I've never overheated it, and I noticed no lack in power pre-pop. Now it's got little compression (turns over real quick), the oil is 3x overfull, the coolant is black, and everything under the manifold is completely coated with oil. I searched the forum a bit and came up with the possibilty that I cracked the head, but I took a look down through the oil cap and it's clean as a whistle. No cracks.
So why did it stall out so abruptly? Did I throw time? Did the vast amounts of oil short a connection (doubtful - I know)?
The head trainer at the DC national trainer center HQ told me that the Mopar head gasket is going to be the best way to go.....so obviousely that is on my list. So while I have the head off I was thinking about taking it down a bit to get a higher compression ratio. I know that I'll be running high octane - I'm fine with that - and I'll have to adjust the pushrod length to compensate. Any thoughts on this? How much can I/should I remove from the head? Do I remove materiel from the pushrods, or get new ones?
And now: here's the hard part. This was the first >5 mile trip I took with it since letting my girlfriend borrow it for 3 weeks while her car was in the shop. She's not the most observant, but I don't want to automatically blame her for it. I mean after all, I do spend way to much of my time at WOT!
Thanks for reading the long post!
-Steve
2001 Cherokee 60th Aniversary
4" custom lift - Bushwaker flares
33" Wrangler A/TS on Rubicon rims
Manik brush gaurd - C4x4 nurf bars
K&N FIPK, JET chip, custom bored TB, Dynomax catback
Custom Stereo - 8" subs in deck, custom 12" ported spare tire sub
Full Alarm and Remote Start (dang wildlife)
Steve's custum "Rollover Style" body accents
Plexy rear window (opps)
So why did it stall out so abruptly? Did I throw time? Did the vast amounts of oil short a connection (doubtful - I know)?
The head trainer at the DC national trainer center HQ told me that the Mopar head gasket is going to be the best way to go.....so obviousely that is on my list. So while I have the head off I was thinking about taking it down a bit to get a higher compression ratio. I know that I'll be running high octane - I'm fine with that - and I'll have to adjust the pushrod length to compensate. Any thoughts on this? How much can I/should I remove from the head? Do I remove materiel from the pushrods, or get new ones?
And now: here's the hard part. This was the first >5 mile trip I took with it since letting my girlfriend borrow it for 3 weeks while her car was in the shop. She's not the most observant, but I don't want to automatically blame her for it. I mean after all, I do spend way to much of my time at WOT!
Thanks for reading the long post!
-Steve
2001 Cherokee 60th Aniversary
4" custom lift - Bushwaker flares
33" Wrangler A/TS on Rubicon rims
Manik brush gaurd - C4x4 nurf bars
K&N FIPK, JET chip, custom bored TB, Dynomax catback
Custom Stereo - 8" subs in deck, custom 12" ported spare tire sub
Full Alarm and Remote Start (dang wildlife)
Steve's custum "Rollover Style" body accents
Plexy rear window (opps)