02 Wrangler coolant in valve cover bolt hole

02tjx

02tjx

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Ive got an interesting one for you guys. My 02 Wrangler has a 4.0 and I noticed a leak from the back passenger side of the head from the valve cover and saw one bolt was missing. Took the valve cover off, one bolt in the center of the head was oversized, ruining the threads of course and wallowing out the bolt hole. Weirdest thing was on the drivers side toward the firewall was coolant in a valve cover bolt hole. Are there water jackets running near these bolt holes that could have possibly cracked? The jeep runs pretty bad and that has been something I have been trying to solve for awhile but haven't driven it far enough to throw codes yet. So maybe the issues are related? What are your guys thoughts? (yes its very gunky, it sat awhile)
101525
 
I think I remembered wrong. It appears you just need a good valve cover gasket like from Felpro. Make sure you don't overtighten the valve cover bolts.
 
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There is a water jacket below where the valve cover bolts go, ask me how I know 🙃 I punctured mine on my old 2.5 by getting the wrong length bolt. Just add sealant to the threads and it’ll keep the coolant where it belongs.
 
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Jamison C said:
There is a water jacket below where the valve cover bolts go, ask me how I know 🙃 I punctured mine on my old 2.5 by getting the wrong length bolt. Just add sealant to the threads and it’ll keep the coolant where it belongs.
Click to expand...

Haha, I’m guessing that’s what happened here then. There were a couple of mixed length bolts holding the valve cover on. The prior owner did a pretty poor job with keeping this Jeep well maintained :cry:
 
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Having a very similar dilemma, hoping it isn’t a cracked head or gasket issue.

The P.O. of my Lj also very poorly maintained it and it is becoming more and more apparent to me as I continue working on it.

I was taking the valve cover off when multiple holes started oozing out coolant. I opened the radiator cap to check how much I had lost and that’s when it started waterfalling out of the holes and draining down my bell housing as you can see above. So to the OP, can I just add sealant to the bolts or was there something else you had to do? I will probably drain oil just to check and be safe.
 
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