. Hi let’s start with I have a 97 TJ my son drives. It has a 2.5l with approxi. mately 165K on it. Jeep was extremely clean when we bought it. Ran great. Noticed it had a slight radiator leak,
So I put a fairly new radiator from a friend who was parting out his jeep, when I swapped the radiators I noticed the coolant or lack of coolant in the original radiator was rust orange.
So when I swapped them I flushed the heater core and lines, put fresh coolant in and everything seemed normal. Until winter came.
That;s when we noticed he didn’t have good heat. I flushed the core again replaced the coolant that was low and he would get good heat for a while…until it happened again. This time I flushed it again, each time I noticed orange crap coming out until it flowed clear. Put fresh coolant in got heat back and away he goes again. This was a bi weekly event. I figured at some point all the crap would flush out of the engine. I contemplated an engine flush but damn it was cold outside this winter. So I kept doing a quick flush of the heater core which usually yielded the results we needed. Then all of a sudden I started noticing each time his heat would stop working the coolant level was low. Not crazy low but a little low. Thinking maybe it was a loose clamp or just from the constant flushing maybe there was an air pocket. This progressed until one night he texted me that the engine temp was in the red line and check gauges light came on. I filled it back up with coolant, only to the next day while he wa s on the way to school it died. I went to see what was going on, it was running shitty, coolant seemed a little low but not concerning. I drove it home.
Friend of mine, told me to bring it to his shop, he thought we should change the thermostat, I didn’t think the stat had anything to do with it but out of respect for him letting me use his shop we changed the thermostat. While it as running he said I noticed an exhaust leak let’s putt it up on the lift and see what’s wrong. At that point under his jeep I asked what the hell is that noise coming from the oil pan, it sounded like a “ wooshing “ sound. He said have you checked the oil… we put the jeep down, pulled the dipstick and voila, coffee milk shake.
we pulled the head, and after inspection, unfortunately I didn’t see any points on the head gasket that were obvious, no sign if coolant being burnt in the cylinders or the exhaust ports. So I searched for anyone who still would magnaflux a head, only to find a guy who could only pressure these it . So while I’m waiting to get any news if there is a crack in the head or if it is warped I figured I would post here and see if I can get any advice on this topic.
We certainly have coolant in the oil for sure “ see pics “ I can’t imagine over heating once would crack the block however there aren't too many options on how coolant gets into oil. .
did these 2.5’s have any known issues related to blocks cracking? Or head? Anything else to look for?
So I put a fairly new radiator from a friend who was parting out his jeep, when I swapped the radiators I noticed the coolant or lack of coolant in the original radiator was rust orange.
So when I swapped them I flushed the heater core and lines, put fresh coolant in and everything seemed normal. Until winter came.
That;s when we noticed he didn’t have good heat. I flushed the core again replaced the coolant that was low and he would get good heat for a while…until it happened again. This time I flushed it again, each time I noticed orange crap coming out until it flowed clear. Put fresh coolant in got heat back and away he goes again. This was a bi weekly event. I figured at some point all the crap would flush out of the engine. I contemplated an engine flush but damn it was cold outside this winter. So I kept doing a quick flush of the heater core which usually yielded the results we needed. Then all of a sudden I started noticing each time his heat would stop working the coolant level was low. Not crazy low but a little low. Thinking maybe it was a loose clamp or just from the constant flushing maybe there was an air pocket. This progressed until one night he texted me that the engine temp was in the red line and check gauges light came on. I filled it back up with coolant, only to the next day while he wa s on the way to school it died. I went to see what was going on, it was running shitty, coolant seemed a little low but not concerning. I drove it home.
Friend of mine, told me to bring it to his shop, he thought we should change the thermostat, I didn’t think the stat had anything to do with it but out of respect for him letting me use his shop we changed the thermostat. While it as running he said I noticed an exhaust leak let’s putt it up on the lift and see what’s wrong. At that point under his jeep I asked what the hell is that noise coming from the oil pan, it sounded like a “ wooshing “ sound. He said have you checked the oil… we put the jeep down, pulled the dipstick and voila, coffee milk shake.
we pulled the head, and after inspection, unfortunately I didn’t see any points on the head gasket that were obvious, no sign if coolant being burnt in the cylinders or the exhaust ports. So I searched for anyone who still would magnaflux a head, only to find a guy who could only pressure these it . So while I’m waiting to get any news if there is a crack in the head or if it is warped I figured I would post here and see if I can get any advice on this topic.
We certainly have coolant in the oil for sure “ see pics “ I can’t imagine over heating once would crack the block however there aren't too many options on how coolant gets into oil. .
did these 2.5’s have any known issues related to blocks cracking? Or head? Anything else to look for?
