Help. Did I blew everything up?

Today I drove my 2001 Jeep XJ home, and although it felt a little sluggish, I didn't think of anything other than it needed a realignment as I replaced the tie rod ends. My wife drove it later this evening to the store and called me saying it had a light on that said "check gauges. She sent me a picture and surely enough the volt meter was all the way to the left at 9 volt. She came back, turned it off and let it sit.

Later this evening I started it up, and noticed that when I turn on the A/C, the volt gauge dropped from 13.5v to 11.5v. I drove it up the main street and noticed that not only the volt gauge suddenly dropped to 9v, the water temp did not wanted to go down. I brought it home, let it idle and check if I could find anything. Suddenly boiling coolant came gushing out of the reservoir so I turned it off and let it sit. I decided to check to oil lit as well and.......noticed green coolant as well.

So, assuming that the high temp blew the head gasket, I am still trying to figure out what happened. I need this Jeep to run by Monday and could use some ideas so I can fix her up.

My thoughts: at first I thought the alternator, as it looks like the original one is still on it, but why did engine overheat while the fan was running? Water pump too? All these parts could go at the same time?

So, please share your thoughts so I can make an effort to fix up my Jeep as it is my daily driver.

Thanks!

You need to determine what caused the overheating?
Not topped of with coolant
Bad t-stat
Bad radiator
Fans not working properly

Yes it could be a bad head gasket, but since you have the 0331 head, it could also be cracked!

The coolant was at level but earlier that day it seemed that the gauge was giving a too low temperature. So far the thermostat and radiator did not give me any issues, and the fan kicked in, including the A/C fan asI was checking the alternator.

I noticed that when I turned on the A/C, the voltage was dropping, which I thought was a bad alternator, but then the engine got hot and even though the fans were kicking on, it kept going until coolant started spewing. Than when I checked the oil cap (just in case), I could see this watery/green drip on the cap and looking in the head, I noticed it too.

I only have this weekend to fix it, so I have to start somewhere....

Well if you see coolant in the oil fill cap you most likely have a blown head gasket or the notorious cracked 0331 head! I just went thru this!

I should add this was on my 2k, I didn't find anything obvious(blown gasket/crack) so it might have been a warped head I'll never know!

Alwaysdutch said:

My thoughts: at first I thought the alternator, as it looks like the original one is still on it, but why did engine overheat while the fan was running? Water pump too? All these parts could go at the same time?

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This part sounds like a bad belt.


Buuuut the coolant in the oil could only be a head gasket or a crack.

Well, i do have to say that lately when i turn on the a/c, the belt sqealed, but it feels tight. How do you identify the famous cracked head?

Sometimes you can see the hairline crack with the oil-fill cap off. It's usually above and between the 3&4 exhaust.

Forget fixing it by monday. Sounds like a cracked 0331 head, the 2001, 0331 head is notorious for that. Head gasket or cracked head, either way the head needs to come off, or swap the engine. Was the oil pressure still OK? If you pull the head, I would replace it.

The oil pressure runs between 20-40 when warm and 45-60 when driving. i am going to start it up and move it to the garage area. Not happy with this as I have a Jeep Commander that keeps running hot when sitting still, and Audi TT that is loosing coolant...Here comes the money!

Jeep commander may just need a new clutch fan. Running hot at idle is usually a weak clutch fan.

If the 2001 XJ still has that high an oil pressure, just swap the head with new gaskets.

Audi find the coolant leak, may just be a hose that needs the clamp tightened, or a new hose. Rent a free rental pressure tester that pressurizes the cooling system to help look for slow leaks with the engine off (no heat to boil off the leaked coolant and let sit a few hours till the leak shows up. Also you can test the audi for a head gasket leak with a free rental "block tester" if needed. They work great!!!! Great for piece of mind.

Alwaysdutch said:

The oil pressure runs between 20-40 when warm and 45-60 when driving. i am going to start it up and move it to the garage area. Not happy with this as I have a Jeep Commander that keeps running hot when sitting still, and Audi TT that is loosing coolant...Here comes the money!

Click to expand...

Could be worse, friend of mine with a 2010 Impala, owes $5000 on it just lost the sprag... in the transmissions guts, needs a new transmission, $2500 to $4000 to fix it.

Indeed, and I am not trying to complain. I have already replaced an engine in mY VW Jetta as the timing chain jumped a while back. That was normally a $5,500 dealership job that I did for $1,600.

I am keeping my jeep, and looking at engines, these 4.0s are still pretty costly. I guess rebuilding it from the head gasket up is the best way to go.

Any ideas on a cylinder head that doesn't brake my wallet?

This is a good start!!
http://naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1131747