Jeep Wrangler Forum banner

Head gasket?

1K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  PA Blondie 
#1 ·
In the fall I was coming back from a camping trip.. Started my Jeep (98 Wrangler) it was making some funny noises.. About a mile from the site it stopped running with a big puff of white smoke coming out the tail pipe. :( Couldn't start it afterwards. Got it towed home and have let it sit in my garage until now. I was able to start it but don't want to run it until I know what is going on. From what I have read it sounds like the head gasket.

It did not over heat, I was watching the gauges when it started with the funny noises. I do have a slight radiator leak... but fluids were good. Oil afterwards was cloudy and very little coolant in the engine.

I don't know much about working on vehicles, learning and want to be able to fix it myself. My Jeep has a 2.5l, 4 cyl enging manual transmission.

Any ideas or suggestions as to what to look at/for?
 
#2 ·
If there is coolant in the oil, it sounds like you may have lost the head gasket. The good news is that is a pretty easy fix on our Jeeps. I had bad valves in my head and pulled to have it rebuilt and put it back together. You want to make sure you keep track of where all the lifters and rods come out of so they can go back in the same spot. Let me know what specific questions you have!

-Ryan
 
#3 ·
If there is coolant in the oil, it sounds like you may have lost the head gasket. The good news is that is a pretty easy fix on our Jeeps. I had bad valves in my head and pulled to have it rebuilt and put it back together. You want to make sure you keep track of where all the lifters and rods come out of so they can go back in the same spot. Let me know what specific questions you have! -Ryan
Ryan- how can one tell if they have a lifter tick or not? In my 99 SE I replaced the thinking chain because the tensioner went out, so it was slapping the cover. No problems. Replaced a pulley that had shot bearings but couldn't tell since the chain slap was so loud. No problem!! But not there's a ticking noise coming from under the hood and I'm hoping it's not another timing chain fiasco... How hard is it to change lifters and rods like you mentioned? Thanks!!! -Patrick. (99 SE 2.5L auto 188k)
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top