jeep help

fivespeedsteed

Dirt-Old 20+Year Member
Oct 17, 2003
747
18
69
Richmond, VA
i dunno if anyone knows this but as you know i bought a jeep and im having some problems. both mustangs and jeep 4.0's are pushrods so i thought they might be simmalar. im copyin this from my jeep forum so let me know what you think.

so when i bought my jeep it had a leak somewhere and i could never find it. i got the cooling system flushed to get the stop leak out of it and it made the leak worse. it started over heating and i had a shop look at it, and the oil had milkshaked and they said it was head gasket. so i spent all my Christmas money on it and it was about 400 dollars or so. i owe people like 300 dollars for other stuff and im out out money almost completely. my friend and i did the head gasket in my driveway. we took it apart marking everything appropriately and got the head to a machine shop to machine it flat and check for cracks. they had to mill it so it was warped and i re-installed everything with a new fel pro kit and new head bolts. i took my time doing everything and did it correctly no left over parts or anything. low coolant light stayed off for a day or so then i was driving back to college today and it came on. coolant in the oil, trying to overheat, light on. sweet. all that for nothing. but now im at college. i got it to school and parked it in the lot where i can keep it there for a while and not move it. my dad has a message saved from the guy we bought it from where he said he had it checked for leaks and they couldn't find any so we are going to see if we have a case in court or not. but with my luck as of lately that wont work. so im out of money completley and back in classes so i cant work on it in the lot. is there anything else i could check? like say i did every thing right and it isnt the headgasket thats letting coolant into the oil, what would that be? or is it the block where the head mounts that isn't flat? im stumped. oh and it doesnt smoke either, so its not getting in the combustion chamber.

i dotn want lectures about buying this car w.o. having it checked. i realize all that. i just want to see if i should try to fix it or sell it for 4 or 3 or something telling the truth about it.

as i see it now my options are as stands.

1. let it sit till i have to go home for spring break, let some oil out and add coolant and get it home.
2. get it towed home and wait till this summer to take it all apart and fix it
3. sell it and wait till i find another one and can make up the money i lost to get another one.
4. try to fix whatevers wrong with it
5. stopleak.

i really like my jeep its in pretty good shape other than this problem. ive fixed allot of miscellaneous things and id like to bring her back. and its quit comfy on the highway.

thank you all so much for your help. i really appreciate it. im just dissapointed i did all that labor and spent all that money and im right back at square one. and i cant drive around town and have a reliable car. let me know your thoughts.
 
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It must be the head gasket again. The question is whats causing it to blow?

My buddy had a 93 gt that we took apart and had the heads mlled. New gaskets bolts etc .. It blew again short time later. It turned out the block deck was not flat. The Machine shop said a Severe over heat can warp the deck with the head.

Not sure if thats the case with yours but thought I would mention it.

Chances are the bottom end will need new bearings, after a couple of milk shakes. Antifreeze is hard on bearings.
 
i was thinking the block deck was off too. theres a trust worthy mechanic on my mail route that has two wranglers he plows his business with, I'll ask him if he has any idea what to check. he says the 4.0 is a good motor. i'd keep an eye out for a low mileage block out of a wreck if I were you.
 
I got a chance to talk to the mechanic on my route an he said he's never had a 4.0 head gasket go bad, either his or his customers. if you know which cyl it is it might help. he said if it was done properly (completely cleaned, proper torque amount and pattern) he's surprised it went bad again so fast.
 
I assume its for the 2001 Grand Cherokee in your signature.

This thread is old as hell, but if its of any help...

The 2001-2002 heads (possibly later years) were known to crack due to a bad casting. That may be your issue and not the head gasket.