need help...grease monkey in training

first off im pretty new to major motor surgery and/or diagnosing major problem so im gonna apologize now for the following stupid questions and lengthy story telling. so here goes a few mths ago i noticed antifreeze drippin from under my engine bay when i got home i checked the overflow and it was low so i added some takin it to the middle between min and max and the next few days i kept checking it after about a week there was no more leaking. a few weeks later i got to work and could hear sizzeling under the hood. i popped the hood to find the top passenger side of the radiator had a small leak... again i added some coolant and in a few days it seemed to have stopped. not sure why it didnt get worse up to this point but it didnt. anyway so i havent had any problems for about a mth or too and just the other day i set out to do some wheelin with a few friends on the way to the trail i noticed my temp gauge was still on dead cold....i knew something was wrong within what felt like a minute i heard my radiator blow up and steam shot out from under my hood i pulled over shut it off and popped the hood. my over flow tank was full and the pass side of the bay was soaked i touched the top rad. tube and about burnt my hand i touched the rad cap and it was cold i let things cool down for a min poured a gal of water in the rad and turned around and went home. other then the stated problem the motor seemed to run good back to my house. pissed off, sad and broke i let it set in the driveway untill the wkend ....then i made room in the garage for heep tryed to start it and it wouldnt start after a few trys it finally started but sounded horrible i barely touched to gas peddle and it reacted as if i stomped on it. i couldnt even drive it the 30 yards to my garage with out layin rubber and stalling it... it wouldnt even idle and when it did it lasted about 30 seconds and was very low and choppy before stalling. again im a newbie but up until all of this i have never had any problems with the motor. i talked to a few people and they have told me that i probly blew the head gasket so today im going to check the oil for antifreeze. my questions are... 1) does anyone have any idea why the thermostat might've shit the bed? im guessing it was stuck shut. 2) should i replace the thermostat and rad. and then see how it acts? 3) am i most likely goin to have to rebuild it? 4) might the head be warped? any imput would be appreciated.....thanks and again sry about the length.

Might be a bit easier to read your post if it were spaced out a bit better, my head almost exploded like your radiator.

As for your motor problem, this sounds a lot like something that happened to my brother years ago in a 80's model VW. When T-stats break they stay closed, that sounds like what happened to you. When you drove it home you likely ruined the motor, this is going to be a bit more than a little rebuild.


My advice is to buy a new radiator (2 or 3 row), buy a junkyard motor from somewhere like LKQ or the like, buy a fail safe type t stat, and pray to god that you can do the swap yourself because a mechanic is not going to be cheap.

Edit: This might have been a little harsh, but I will leave the link.

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q199/gambit420s/129170999711192963.jpg

gambit4000s said:

Edit: This might have been a little harsh, but I will leave the link.

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q199/gambit420s/129170999711192963.jpg

Click to expand...

Not harsh at all, only truthful and funny.

awesome glad its funny....so why was it ok to drive back home? it was only about 2 miles. and now it barely starts

Thermostats can stick open or closed... sounds like yours was stuck closed. You're going to need to replace the radiator, any hoses that blew up, the thermostat, and probably a head gasket... shouldn't have driven it home (it can overheat in a matter of minutes with no coolant flowing, even with the gauge not reading very high, because with no coolant in the system the gauge sensor isn't reading the true temp of the important bits), it may well have overheated, definitely get the oil out of it, make sure there isn't any coolant in it, throw new oil in it, and turn it over a bit just to protect the bearings in case it's rebuildable.

JimmyFingers said:

awesome glad its funny....so why was it ok to drive back home? it was only about 2 miles. and now it barely starts

Click to expand...

I was not saying your situation is funny ... it sucks. I was referring to the picture.

I have a feeling that even that short drive home warped the head, block, or something else. Like I said, my brother experianced something close. He drove it while it was overheating a mile and a half, it became so warped that it wouldnt even turn over. The engine seized solid. You may not have had it seize but it sure as hell is jacked up. I would bet a dollar that there is more damage than a headgasket, t stat and radiator. Start saving your pennies and dimes and buy a good junkyard motor.

i have have another jeep that im driving now i have to add about a quart of oil a week but it runs good i was gonna pull the motor built it then swap them and then build the other and sell it. the jacked up motor is a 95 4.0 h.o. and the one that is running is a 92 4.0. h.o. but anyway so i drain the oil, check for water, if there is water its XXXXed?

JimmyFingers said:

i have have another jeep that im driving now i have to add about a quart of oil a week but it runs good i was gonna pull the motor built it then swap them and then build the other and sell it. the jacked up motor is a 95 4.0 h.o. and the one that is running is a 92 4.0. h.o. but anyway so i drain the oil, check for water, if there is water its XXXXed?

Click to expand...

It is likely effed as it sits.

as for the 92 motor ... is it leaking? or it is burning a quart of oil a week?

it just leaks... i got it for 300 so didnt expect much