Another 2001 Cracked Head maybe...

So my '01 XJ has been going thru a lot of missing coolant lately. I do have a leak in my OE radiator which I plan on replacing soon. I did a normal oil change about 1500 miles back and the oil looked good, no milky oil & the oil cap was mostly clean. So tonight as I added some coolant, I pulled the oil cap & noticed it had a milky white coating on the underside... so now I'm concerned I'm a statistic w/a cracked head.

Has anyone ever used any block sealer, you add to the radiator, to get a bit more life? I doubt it's a fix, but if it could get me by for a while that would be great. Any downsides to using it? What type of $$ should I expect to outlay for a repair?

Looks like I'll be reading my Haynes Manuel this weekend...

Thanks

Radiator sealer is for emergency use to get you back to camp from a 4x4 trail or back home. It will clog your heater core and possibly your radiator.

Redsnake,

You may have a leaking head gasket instead of a cracked head. Re-torquing the head may or may not cure the problem. Best approach is to pull the head, have it pressure tested, resurfaced, and reinstalled with a new head gasket. Another possibility is a cracked block and a dye in the oil may find that. Good luck!

Best regards,

CJR

Just because there is a little bit of milky film on the cap is no cause for concern. It could just be condensation from the combustion process causing it.

I would pull the valve cover and check for the crack. Possibly pressurize the cooling system at the same time. Depending on how much your rad is leaking it may not be possible. Also, look for leaks oteh rplaces with teh system pressurized.

Thanks for the suggestions. I haven't had any real time to do any diagnostics yet, but got a bit concerned after seeing the oil cap. The XJ runs great, but does need a new Rad & I'll swap in a new water pump while I'm at it (121K miles) for maintenance sake.

Would running a compression check give any indication to show a blown head gasket, cracked head or block?

Its highly unlikely that the block is cracked. Doesn't happen that often. A compression check can show things, but a leak down test would work better and you could look into the rad to see if there are air bubbles. You can also do that with the engine running.

The typical place for the 00-02 head to crack is between cylinders #3 and #4 under the valve cover. Pressurize the cooling system and pull the valve cover and look for coolant there.

Thanks again. I'll do some checking on what a leak down test is (new to me) & see what that shows. I'm hopeful I'm just paranoid about a cracked head but I'd rather be safe than sorry on this one.

Follow-up:

OK, this past weekend I drained the oil and had about 10 quarts of a nice milky substance that drained (now I know where all that coolant I kept adding went)... so I went ahead and 'tried' some Bars head gasket fix... (I know this is a very temporary fix, or that's what I'd hoped)... so swapped in a new water pump (my old pump was starting to leak) and a new 195 degree thermostat. Topped off the coolant, new oil and filter and let the XJ idle for the required 15-20 minutes to circulate the Bars Liquid Glass Copper... looked like it was doing its job.

So, decided to drive the XJ to church on Sunday morning and after about 10 minutes of driving the temps spiked and my Check Guages light came on. Pulled into the church parking lot to coolant spewing all over the place... Turns out the pressure was so high that the 16 lb radiator cap couldn't contain it. Better that than busting hoses I guess. Later that day got my XJ towed home and now it's going to be heading to the shop so they can tell me how much $$ I'll be out for a head gasket or new head swap. Hopefully the bearings aren't shot. Worst case scenario I'll see if they can get a rebuild or reman engine to swap so I'll be good to go for another 100K+ miles.

Now to search for a new head, new motor, etc... what are my options?

Thanks...

I hate being w/out my ride. Looks like it'll be a rental for a while...

how is your oil pressure? If your oil pressure is still decent then your bearings aren't shot. Coolant in the oil WILL ruin the bearings but if you haven't driven it like that for too long you should be ok. You can buy a replacement head that is beefed up in the usual cracking areas from Alabama Cylinder head or Clearwater cylinder head. I bought an Alabama head with the complete valvetrain for my 2000. I've put about 30k miles on it since and it has been running great. A shop will probably charge like 800 bucks in labor to do it. If you have a decent manual (I recommend getting a factory service manual), and a buddy to help you, this can be done in a driveway. You also have the help of this site. :wave1:

jeepkid03 said:

how is your oil pressure? If your oil pressure is still decent then your bearings aren't shot. Coolant in the oil WILL ruin the bearings but if you haven't driven it like that for too long you should be ok. You can buy a replacement head that is beefed up in the usual cracking areas from Alabama Cylinder head or Clearwater cylinder head. I bought an Alabama head with the complete valvetrain for my 2000. I've put about 30k miles on it since and it has been running great. A shop will probably charge like 800 bucks in labor to do it. If you have a decent manual (I recommend getting a factory service manual), and a buddy to help you, this can be done in a driveway. You also have the help of this site. :wave1:

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Thanks for the info. The oil pressure was good (~ 35-45 psi on gauge) all along. I didn't put too many miles on the XJ after realizing the coolant was going somewhere and put about 10 miles on it after the oil change when I found all the coolant/oil mixture.

That's good to know as it helps my decision on what I may do... new head vs. new/reman motor.

I could probably do the head swap, but that may be just beyond my ability on my own. I have the Haynes manual, but no really good detailed one. I'm a quick learner when it comes to mechanical stuff, but doing this cold turkey on my own may be above my comfort level. I honestly don't hate paying a shop I've used in the past as they are really good and honest... not something you always find w/mechanics. Not cheap either, but quality work usually costs more anyway and that I don't mind.

Checking Alabama Cylinder Head's website and they don't list a head for an '01? No Jeeps whatsoever in the search ... what gives?

Any suggestions?

Disregard... needed to look under Chrysler.

If your engine is good I would definitely go with an Alabama head. That way you know you will have a bullet proof setup. After the head is changed just do a few shorter oil change intervals to make sure the leftover coolant is gone from the crankcase. Some rebuilt engines come with the same head that is on your XJ now, so its not worth taking a gamble and going through more work to possibly be in the same boat later on down the road.

I was wondering about that. From what I've seen on Jasper engines they fix known issues on their re-manufactured engines... but I didn't see any mention of the head fix on their website. Plus you get a 3yr/100K mile nationwide warranty on their engines which is a nice thing.

Any idea how long it takes to get a head f/ Alabama Head?

Redsnake said:

I was wondering about that. From what I've seen on Jasper engines they fix known issues on their re-manufactured engines... but I didn't see any mention of the head fix on their website. Plus you get a 3yr/100K mile nationwide warranty on their engines which is a nice thing.

Any idea how long it takes to get a head f/ Alabama Head?

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I ordered my Alabama head when they were out of stock, and 2 weeks later I had it. I imagine if you ordered it and they had them in stock you would receive it quicker. A warranty won't really help the head issue. Your jeep made it to 10 years old before the head cracked, so even if the new engine has the bad head you can't be sure it will go bad during the warranty period.

During the cash for clunkers program, the 4.0L was known as one of the toughest engines to destroy. It would often run for several minutes even hours with liquid glass in the engine. If your oil pressure is ok (more than 5 psi hot idle), you should have lots of life left in it by just replacing the head.