head gasket leaking

over the past few months i have noticed the head gasket leaking on my XJ

(96 4.0 auto 77k miles)

it is only the right side of the engine (on the left if u are looking at it from the front)


oil is just slowly weaping from (mostly the middle of) the bottom of the head, where it meets the block.

i used some gunk engine degreaser and a hose and cleanedit all up, only to watch it slowly come back after a few days of driving

i use Mobil 1 synthetic 10W-30, and have for the past 40k miles, with no problems. I am a maintenance finatic with my jeep and hate to see it leaking like this.

any reccommendations?

(guess i might have to have the head pulled and throw on a new gasket)

a mustang buddy of mine said it would be a good time to port n polish! (expensive/worth it?)

this is my daily driver and cant be without it for too long


thanks!!!

CaptTrev

We have a saying around Colorado....jeeps don't leak, they just mark their territory.

Before you pull the head, just make absolutely sure that it is the head gasket. Nine times out of ten it is the valve cover. Get some carb cleaner and really degrease it. Drive short distances and check it everytime you stop. Oil is a tricky thing to track down and can fool you.

old_man said:

We have a saying around Colorado....jeeps don't leak, they just mark their territory.

Click to expand...

Ahhh, so YOU'RE the one that's been tinkling on the trails...

There was a TSB about this (091192). My brother's does the same thing. We just haven't gotten around to fixing it yet. A new head gasket is the cure.

I replaced my 2.5L head gasket while I was doing some other repairs (replacing exhaust manifold) and decided it would be cheap insurance while I was this far in.

I took my time and just cleaned all the junk out of the intake manifold, cleaned the throttle body, valves and such.

I don't know how much more difficult it would be for the 4.0L. If I'd had all the parts together before I started, I could have done it in a long day.

FYI, I did a head gasket on my 94 4.0l the day before I left for the Fall Fling. It's about a 6 hour job by yourself without power tools.

I had the advantage that the manifolds had been off before so I didn't have much frogging around there (gotta love stainless exhausts.) If you're still on the stock style exhaust, I'd add an hour or 2 just for that headache.

Here is the biggest reason my jeep takes a leak



Got to thinking, its a lot easier to get to those lower header bolts like this also.

That is a sad sight :-(

OUCH that had to hurt!

You wouldn't recognize it now. I used to work in a body shop 30 years ago in high school and had done quite a bit on the side keeping 4 vehicles running for my wife and three daughters. I was able to use my portapower and push the roof back up and with a little hammer and dolly work and some retermpering, It is as good as new and you would be hard pressed to tell I ever had it on its lid.

Tom Houston
Loveland, Colorado

Hey , that's my engine!!!!

Hey Tom, I recognize that engine! We got it running and just have to fix a big leak in the heater core. As for Trev, no leak from the head is a good leak. You might not have a problem with it or you might end up with a hydraulic lock on the trail. It would be a great time to port and polish. Also make sure the head doesn't need to be decked. The head gasket is a one day job but the port and polish is as much as you want to make it last.