help? cracked head, 911!!!!

Had my head gasket done month ago, now theres oil in the overflow again, my mechanic whom I do trust, doesnt know what to do, does he have any resposibility if it is a cracked head? Cost me 500 bucks. What do I do? Should he have sent it away to get it checked or what? Please help

Only way to find out for sure is to pull the head and have it checked. What year is your XJ and is it the 4.0?

Did it get hot the first time when the head gasket blew? If it got really hot, chances are the head cracked then. The 96 I bought got so hot it cracked the head and the block, but it only cost me $600 and I had a spare engine anyway.

I would say your mechanic is probably not responsible except for $500 he should have at least had the head checked before reinstalling it. Unless you are willing to DYI, be prepared to spend a lot of money for a replacement head and labor. Your might consider a junk yard engine.

Tom

Yes your mechanic should have sent the cyclinder head off to his machinist for a pressure test, and a mandatory check of the head's mating surface for flatness. Oil showing up again in the coolant is a sure sign of a cracked passage if the head gasket has just been replaced.

If none of these tests were done to save money, it's now a necessity to save the engine from going kaput. I'd do a compression check and leakdown test while it's still assembled. If all the cylinders are within spec, you could get a remanufactured head since its cheaper than disassembling, magnafluxing and rebuilding your original cylinder head, and often faster.

-and replace the old timing set while its torn apart, its a good investment.

its a 93ho, I blew a rad hose from the pump to the hcv, pulled over before temp got to the red but have no idea how hot it got if theres no fluid temp guage is inaccurate. so if the cylinders are in spec with a compression test and leakdown test does that tell me the engne is ok? or possibly? I just dont want to do the work on the head and put it all together again to have a problem down lower.

You're right about the engine. Even if the compression and leakdown tests are in spec, the engine may have suffered damage, namely the main bearings.

Since the motor was briefly overheated, the head has to be checked for warpage. If you've run the engine long with coolant leaking into the oil, it can wear away main bearings. If you see the dreaded "milk shake" under your oil fill cap, or on the dip stick it might be too late for caution. Whipped oil/water has no film strength, so the highest load wear surfaces will suffer first.

If the oil never clouded up, and you dont hear a rod or bearing knock, the engine likely still has life left. It was very wise of you to pull over right away.

dont be too hasty, Im still driving it! there is no muddy oil the only problem is the overflow bottle is FULL of oil but the dipstick is normal, operates in normal temp range and everything, what do I do? Some one tell me....

If you have an auto transmission, you may be getting transmission fluid into the coolant via the transmission fluid cooler which is in the radiator. Check the transmission dip stick for signs of coolant.

recent update, tranny lines only go to tranny cooler, not rad, looks like there may, I repeat may, be good news, on the advice of a buddy who happens to be a DC tranny specialist, I emptied the overflow bottle and refilled with clean rad fluid and it turns out that there was just a thin layer of oil on the top that makes it look like its totally black, the confusing thing is there was barely any oil under the rad cap, just a trace and the oil has always been perfect not muddy or milkshakey at all. So I'm hoping it's just residual oil in the system from before the head gasket repl. The rad was not flushed. I'll keep you posted, wish me luck!

tkjeeper said:

recent update, tranny lines only go to tranny cooler, not rad, looks like there may, I repeat may, be good news, on the advice of a buddy who happens to be a DC tranny specialist, I emptied the overflow bottle and refilled with clean rad fluid and it turns out that there was just a thin layer of oil on the top that makes it look like its totally black, the confusing thing is there was barely any oil under the rad cap, just a trace and the oil has always been perfect not muddy or milkshakey at all. So I'm hoping it's just residual oil in the system from before the head gasket repl. The rad was not flushed. I'll keep you posted, wish me luck!

Click to expand...

OIL float on top of water so if there was a little bit left in the cooling system........and there would have been. it will slowly all end up in the over flow bottle.

If ya have a wet and dry shop vac, us it to pull the layer of oil of the top of the overflow bottle every couple a days and if there is no problem it should clean up nicely!



Flash.