XJ Bad head gasket?

Bill, You have a lot of knowledge and can be very helpful, but I don't know why you feel a need to make sarcastic and useless comments when you don't have a real answer. This vehicle has been maintained according to schedule. How does showing me a maintenance chart answer my question of how common is a coolant to oil leak or if coolant in the oil will cause low oil pressure? Try this site

-Nick

Perhaps Bill is meaning that this problem of coolant loss and, more importantly, its cause has lasted a "month or so" too long.

At this point all we know for sure is that antifreeze has appeared in the oil which means that for however long this has been going on the engine has not been adequately lubricated because coolant has almost no lubricant properties.

Is the damage permanent? We don't know but we do know that the longer the engine is run without being lubricated the more likely it is to have expensive damage.

My thought is that Bill was thinking that when the coolant first dropped unrepentantly a "month or so ago" the problem should have been investigated immediately.

It is important to remember that Bill was the owner / mechanic of a successful Service Station and made a good living doing the repair work that was, in many cases, made worse by the vehicle owner ignoring the problems until a failure occurred. He then was the owner/operator/mechanic for his own trucking company where he well knew the ultimate cost of deferred maintenance could be extremely high.

Testing can be done in the driveway to help determine if the problem is a head gasket or perhaps a cracked block.

Did the engine overheat while low on coolant? If so there is the likelihood that the head has warped.

If the oil level remains normal (while contaminated with coolant) and the coolant is dropping then the oil has to be going somewhere. Is it appearing in the coolant?

Are you blowing smoke? I is the "extreme heat" you mention mean the weather or the engine temperature?

That article briefly touches on the different types of antifreeze.

How many of you Jeepers out there know that your favorite auto-parts store probably does not stock the antifreeze required for late-model Jeeps?

Daimler-Chrysler, Ford, and Mercedes late models require HOAT G-05 (Hybrid Organic Acid Technology) based antifreeze. These manufacturers SPECIFICALLY WARN AGAINST use of any other type or the intermixing of other types.

So where do you get the right stuff? Well.... you DO NOT get it at AutoZone, Advance Autoparts, NAPA, Meijer, Target, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, or Biggs. These stores carry Prestone and Peak which is based on Texaco-GM's Dex-Cool. Dex-Cool is under fire for its propensity to eat and clog radiator components. See:

So where do you get it? You can get D-C, Ford, or Mercedes factory G-05 antifreeze or you can buy Valvoline's Zerex G-05. Valvoline makes all of these brands. I had to drive halfway across town to get to a Pep Boys.

But, you say, Prestone says you can use their antifreeze in any vehicle and evens offers a "lifetime" guarantee. That is correct. What is also correct is that DC, Ford, and Mercedes specifically tell you not to use other antifreezes.

I just bought an 2002 WJ. The previous owner "topped off" the overflow bottle with Dex-Cool based antifreeze. You should have seen the C%#P that came out when I cleaned and back-flushed the cooling system.

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Yes, they still make "American' green and it is still recommended for the older vehicles.

Hi Nick,

Sounds like the problem I had with my '01 XJ. Coolant loss, no sign of it anywhere. Lost an engine at 29K miles. Even after a new short block, still lost coolant. Finally took it to dealer again and again...after each time the overflow bottle went empty. Three times(in 3 weeks) and I had collected enough documentation(eg Lemon law) to get the dealer to look into it more. They pulled the head and sent it out to a machine shop. "They" found a micro small crack in the head. New head installed 2 days later. Not a drop lost since.

Luck, Brian

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