jbeintherockies
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Aurora, Colorado
The following was provided by Blackstone labs about a week ago:
"The coolant leak has gotten worse since 11/2016. The increases in potassium and sodium show more coolant contamination in the oil, and that will need addressed sooner rather than later. But coolant isn't causing poor internal wear at this point, and it didn't thicken the oil above grade or cause a lot of oxidation (insolubles are okay). This is probably a head gasket leak, or maybe a cracked cylinder head. The TBN is strong, but we suggest no more than 3,000 miles between oil changes."
I am looking for advice; I'm not sure what to do?
I need to buy new tires NOW, which is one of the reasons why I am posting this. Should I buy the tires that I have always had (BFG AT's, which last almost 70k miles) or go cheap with the expectation that it isn't going to last much longer (36k tops) due to the head/head gasket issue? My current plan is to keep driving it, change the oil every 3k, and continue to do the oil analysis every 6 months or so. Once the oil gets bad, then make a decision. But that doesn't help me with tire selection now.
Background info on my Cherokee:
The vehicle is a silver 2000 XJ Limited with 199,150 miles and the polished Rubicon wheels from 2003. I have owned it since September of 2002. I bought it with 36k miles on it off lease. The Jeep is completely stock, has some rust, but is clean, especially interior. Fluid changes have been by the book, new rear leaf springs installed two years ago, new Bilstein shocks last year, the front diff was rebuilt at 82k (no current issues). Earlier this year I had a new windshield installed, transmission and coolant flushed, new battery and new serpentine belt. This summer I installed new front wheel bearing assemblies, new rotors and calipers (factory bleeds had seized), new u-joints (all). The trans seems fine, rear main seal leaks (not bad enough to fix), the transfer case leaks (getting close to bad enough to fix), the rear diff makes some noise (sounds like pinion bearing, not bad enough to fix). The rear diff’s wheel bearings and seals were done two years ago; drums were rebuilt then too. It will need a new exhaust eventually (still on stock exhaust). Water pump is about 3 years old and radiator is about 1 year old. I installed H4 beams including upgraded wiring harness over a year ago. It has an Alpine stereo system with sub and amps. It starts and runs great; still gets well over 20 mpg on highway! I have the ability to do the job myself and I have the money to pay someone else to do it, or buy a new vehicle. So this isn't about money. It is more about making a good decision on how to proceed.
I have successfully done heads on an old car (340 Plymouth) and various other stuff. I haven't done major vehicle tasks, like engine/trans/diff rebuilds. So doing the head myself isn't out of the question. I have the tools and friends to help if needed. It just takes time to do the job. I have to locate a replacement head, have the machine work done, buy all the gaskets and misc. parts, deal with seized bolts, etc. Getting everything taken care of before I start the job is a must. Then I worry what else is going to go after I do the head. However, my brother has 285k+ on his '96 Cherokee and it still runs perfectly. So these things (as you all know) will go for 250k+.
What would you do?
Thank you in advance for reading my long-winded post and providing feedback.
"The coolant leak has gotten worse since 11/2016. The increases in potassium and sodium show more coolant contamination in the oil, and that will need addressed sooner rather than later. But coolant isn't causing poor internal wear at this point, and it didn't thicken the oil above grade or cause a lot of oxidation (insolubles are okay). This is probably a head gasket leak, or maybe a cracked cylinder head. The TBN is strong, but we suggest no more than 3,000 miles between oil changes."
I am looking for advice; I'm not sure what to do?
I need to buy new tires NOW, which is one of the reasons why I am posting this. Should I buy the tires that I have always had (BFG AT's, which last almost 70k miles) or go cheap with the expectation that it isn't going to last much longer (36k tops) due to the head/head gasket issue? My current plan is to keep driving it, change the oil every 3k, and continue to do the oil analysis every 6 months or so. Once the oil gets bad, then make a decision. But that doesn't help me with tire selection now.
Background info on my Cherokee:
The vehicle is a silver 2000 XJ Limited with 199,150 miles and the polished Rubicon wheels from 2003. I have owned it since September of 2002. I bought it with 36k miles on it off lease. The Jeep is completely stock, has some rust, but is clean, especially interior. Fluid changes have been by the book, new rear leaf springs installed two years ago, new Bilstein shocks last year, the front diff was rebuilt at 82k (no current issues). Earlier this year I had a new windshield installed, transmission and coolant flushed, new battery and new serpentine belt. This summer I installed new front wheel bearing assemblies, new rotors and calipers (factory bleeds had seized), new u-joints (all). The trans seems fine, rear main seal leaks (not bad enough to fix), the transfer case leaks (getting close to bad enough to fix), the rear diff makes some noise (sounds like pinion bearing, not bad enough to fix). The rear diff’s wheel bearings and seals were done two years ago; drums were rebuilt then too. It will need a new exhaust eventually (still on stock exhaust). Water pump is about 3 years old and radiator is about 1 year old. I installed H4 beams including upgraded wiring harness over a year ago. It has an Alpine stereo system with sub and amps. It starts and runs great; still gets well over 20 mpg on highway! I have the ability to do the job myself and I have the money to pay someone else to do it, or buy a new vehicle. So this isn't about money. It is more about making a good decision on how to proceed.
I have successfully done heads on an old car (340 Plymouth) and various other stuff. I haven't done major vehicle tasks, like engine/trans/diff rebuilds. So doing the head myself isn't out of the question. I have the tools and friends to help if needed. It just takes time to do the job. I have to locate a replacement head, have the machine work done, buy all the gaskets and misc. parts, deal with seized bolts, etc. Getting everything taken care of before I start the job is a must. Then I worry what else is going to go after I do the head. However, my brother has 285k+ on his '96 Cherokee and it still runs perfectly. So these things (as you all know) will go for 250k+.
What would you do?
Thank you in advance for reading my long-winded post and providing feedback.