Antifreeze Leak plus steaming randomly before this

[robdiddy]

Saturday there was a massive rain storm and sudden onset hailing, my XJ rocked through it with ease. Sunday as I went to stores nearby to by to contemplate what digital camera to upgrade too..

I walked into Best Buy and looked behind me and there was a small amount of steam coming from under my XJ by the spot where the cab turns into the fire wall. Later on when I got home steam then again came out but this time from under the hood. I looked under neath and there was anti freeze drop.

Yesterday I did a tremendous radiator flush, my dad told me I shouldnt send mad pressure into the heater core. Put it back together and theres a leak still underneath, it seems likes its either by the trans or by the heater core. its antifreeze definitely..

any ideas on whats wrong?

in the winter I did my first radiator flush https://thejeepbank.com/2021/01/30/radiator-flush/

 

[RCP Phx]

More than likely it's one of the freeze plugs failing, could also be a head gasket but you need to determine that yourself.

 

[Unclewolverine]

Doubtful it's the heater core, I've put a lot of pressure to mine and it's not failed yet, they also tend to leak to the inside. Definitely check the freeze plugs. Best way to determine if it's the heater core is take it out of the loop by just running a hose between the heater fittings in the engine and see if it still leaks.

 

[robdiddy]

Today it ran like shiznit.... the temp got up to 250 and then dropped down. Also steam was going up by the engine and also it seemed like there was a pressure releasing on the oil cap but there’s nothing in the radiator and a full reservoir

 

[robdiddy]

https://rumble.com/vh1q4z-xj-engine-steam.html

Engine steam from last night

 

[Unclewolverine]

Good chance you blew the head gasket.

 

[robdiddy]

Today it wouldnt start right away when I tried to start it unless I pressed down on the gas consistently. Like it died the second my foot came off of the gas.

 

[robdiddy]

So I took it to a local off road mechanic and he said its the upper freeze plug and it's not worth taking the engine out. He suggested that JB weld could stop the leak, I tried it.. theres two pin holes and yet today it's still leaking.

Somebody has to have some weird ass nonpopular fix for this on a budget. ANy ideas?

 

[RCP Phx]

Nope, you probably actually need to replace all of them. If they are borderline as soon as you replace just one the next one will blow.

 

[Unclewolverine]

Which one is it? If you can't get it out knock it into the block and put in one of the rubber repair ones and put on a 6 pound cap. Used to be sop on old v8s that had super hard to get to plugs. BTW, a shot freeze plug will not cause running issues, just temp. You have more than one thing going on here.

 

[robdiddy]

back of the engine higher up by the firewall wanna say manifold. Ive tried the jb weld fix. the frame is rusted on the left rail bad. the engine has been running fine but has 280k on it and trans has been smooth.

The issue is the shop i took it to said taking the motor out would break older wiring and cause more money than even the truck is worth to fix it all.

 

[jeep ride]

Sounds like it's time to jack the radiator cap up and drive another jeep underneath it.

 

[robdiddy]

Okay so Premiere Pro crashed after I made my first version of this...

https://youtu.be/E3gvM_lgJn8

The 30 dollar Walmart Head Gasket Sealer fixed the freeze plugs. I'm not lying it's not leaking at all, but then it started running rough as hell as stated.

So the previous owner took out the A/C system and when they threw on a new bumper they deleted the cannister under the bumper. The little cap on the vacuum line fell off too. We discovered that and fixed it. I had a temporary stick at 260 when I first turned it on after driving today and then it dropped down to 210 and was fine.

Yesterday I was stuck in an intersection at a light until a bro pushed me into the median. Then it suddenly came to life 15 minutes later after I called a tow truck.

I was having steaming coming from the distributor cap so I replaced it, received a check engine code for the #3 coil and then fixed the spark plug gap.

If you came to my house and I started it up for you and you didnt know any of the info Ive posted in this thread youd assume it ran quieter than any other xj and buy it. Except I intend to keep it as a rig when I get a newer Jeep.

Thank you to everyone who gave me suggestions.

 

[RCP Phx]

You haven't fixed anything, you have just postponed the inevitable!

 

[robdiddy]

You haven't fixed anything, you have just postponed the inevitable!

I paid $600 dollars for a 99 with 268k miles on it, if it gets me through the summer I'll just moved the new parts I put on to the 2000 XJ Sport my dad has. Unless someone in Michigan has a garage and motor hoist and will help me out in exchange for me fixing their social media reach and videos.. I'm doing the best that I can.

The dude at the shop told me the left frame rail was rusted out and it wasnt worth doing the fix for.