First oil change on my new TJ (bad news?)

CODE5

CODE5

TJ Enthusiast
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So about two weeks ago I purchased a used 02' Jeep TJ... Checked the oil the day I drove it and it was the normal used oil in need of a change. Coolant levels looked fine so I figured I'd take it for a few drives over the weekend I bought it. I drove it about 200 miles and everything seemed fine. We had a cold front come through and I noticed that my heat wasn't working when I decided to drive it to work one day. Well — that is where it gets fun.

I'm driving to work on the interstate running 65-70 and I noticed the temp gauge rapidly climbing suddenly. I figure I should pull off and see what's going on. It jumped from 220 to 260F in a a matter of 20 seconds. I pulled off the shoulder to the sound of wooshing and steam/smoke coming out of my a/c vents. I immediately cut the engine and let it sit for about an hour while my neighbor came to pick me up and see what happened.

Once the Jeep cooled I opened the radiator to discover it was very low on coolant and there wasn't any in the reserve tank... We both figured the heater core is toast and it leaked all my coolant away over the weekend of driving it. I filled up the coolant levels with 50/50 and has been parked in my driveway since. I bypassed the heater core until I can work on it this fall. Since doing the bypass the coolant levels looks fine and the Jeep doesn't get much over 185 F when driving around in the evenings when I tinker with it.

Since overheating I've ran Seafoam through the tank as well as using their top engine cleaner (sprayed into intake) and it's been sounding much better. Well, last night I go to change the oil and this is the color I see pouring out from the drain plug... The motor sounds just like it did when I bought it and I haven't noticed decreased performance. Is this normal from running Seafoam through the engine. Hoping to get some other opinions from you guys.

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I'd say whomever sold you the TJ knew it had a problem and might be why they sold it. Did you buy it from a private party or a used car lot?
Two weeks might be close enough to pursue the seller and work something out. Usually sales will be as-is but if they gave you the speil that there was no issues at purchase, I'd try to contact them. You've got nothing to lose except all the cost you're now going to be incuring to fix it.
 
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flyinfish said:
I'd say whomever sold you the TJ knew it had a problem and might be why they sold it. Did you buy it from a private party or a used car lot?
Two weeks might be close enough to pursue the seller and work something out. Usually sales will be as-is but if they gave you the speil that there was no issues at purchase, I'd try to contact them. You've got nothing to lose except all the cost you're now going to be incuring to fix it.
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Sadly, this is what I was thinking! :(
 
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I bought a 00' XJ with the same issue. Cracked head on mine. The older PO seemed honest. I was wrong. :mad: Some people are all about the money. I wasn't too mad because it was a 2000' and I knew there was a 50/50 chance on mine. He could have at least told the truth and lowered the price accordingly.
p.s. It was pretty though. :cool:
XJ1 (2017_11_20 00_38_12 UTC).jpg
 
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flyinfish said:
I'd say whomever sold you the TJ knew it had a problem and might be why they sold it. Did you buy it from a private party or a used car lot?
Two weeks might be close enough to pursue the seller and work something out. Usually sales will be as-is but if they gave you the speil that there was no issues at purchase, I'd try to contact them. You've got nothing to lose except all the cost you're now going to be incuring to fix it.
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It was a private sell with a bill of sale "as-is" When I took the test drive he told me up front that it had some sort of EVAP issue that caused "long crank" but it had no check engine light... Two days after I bought it and filled it with gas the CEL came on and things have been presenting themselves slowly ever since. PO did let me know in 2018 a new motor was put in with 14,000 miles on it. Guess I'll be taking it to my mechanic tomorrow expecting the worst...
 
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TheBoogieman said:
I bought a 00' XJ with the same issue. Cracked head on mine. The older PO seemed honest. I was wrong. :mad: Some people are all about the money. I wasn't too mad because it was a 2000' and I knew there was a 50/50 chance on mine. He could have at least told the truth and lowered the price accordingly.
p.s. It was pretty though. :cool:
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I had an '01 XJ I purchased like that. The owner told me there were no issues, but when I removed the oil fill cap there was a "milky" film on the inside. Also, I could smell coolant inside the cab (heater core). I bought it, but at a significantly lower price than he was asking!
 
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CODE5 said:
It was a private sell with a bill of sale "as-is" When I took the test drive he told me up front that it had some sort of EVAP issue that caused "long crank" but it had no check engine light... Two days after I bought it and filled it with gas the CEL came on and things have been presenting themselves slowly ever since. PO did let me know in 2018 a new motor was put in with 14,000 miles on it. Guess I'll be taking it to my mechanic tomorrow expecting the worst...
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I feel for you, you get excited about your new to you TJ and then a punch in the gut.
 
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Irun said:
I had an '01 XJ I purchased like that. The owner told me there were no issues, but when I removed the oil fill cap there was a "milky" film on the inside. Also, I could smell coolant inside the cab (heater core). I bought it, but at a significantly lower price than he was asking!
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Mine seemed fine, but overheated every couple of weeks. Coolant overflow jug was empty, but radiator was always full. No coolant in my oil. I drove it like that for several months and kept checking the coolant. I had my friends smell for coolant, since I was born with zero sense of smell. I finally broke down and had it fixed. Then sold it for a TJ.
 
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You might be able to buy a used motor and toss it in. I did this with a RENIX XJ and drove it for a while.

it was actually cheaper than playing around to find out the PO overheated it so bad he warped the cylinder walls.

I found that out as I pulled the original motor out.

word of caution, if you go his route make absolutely sure the radiator is clean. Some people toss bars leak or other crap in the system to try and stop head gasket leaks. You don’t want a new motor getting jacked up from a plugged/crudded up radiator
 
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Could an 02 have come with the 0331 head that is known to crack? Or did those only come on 00-01 4.0s?
 
flyinfish said:
I feel for you, you get excited about your new to you TJ and then a punch in the gut.
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Yep, I'm already returning a few things I purchased for it since I think this project might just be more than I can handle.
 
CODE5 said:
Yep, I'm already returning a few things I purchased for it since I think this project might just be more than I can handle.
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Don't give up on it. There's always multiple ways to deal with an issue. Sure you could drop in a rebuilt motor or other options but I'd focus on finding out where the coolant is crossing over into the oil side. It may be just a head gasket and resurfacing the head. Possibly putting on the newer style cylinder head. It's hard not to think the worst but you have temper that and work through it. Since you're having someone do the work it does add extra cost.
They say they put in a new motor in 2018 and has been driven 14k miles but their meaning of "new" could be newly installed or who knows what. 14k miles from new to a failure like that would be incredibly rare. How many miles are on the odometer?
That makes me wonder if it was new or rebuilt by a reputable company, it should have a warranty. Might be nul and void on ownership transfer though.
As far as codes, this forum is awesome and helping getting them resolved.

My suggestion would be to have someone reputable look at it and tell them a cliff notes version and hopefully they'll be honest (unlike seller) and affordable.
 
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flyinfish said:
Don't give up on it. There's always multiple ways to deal with an issue. Sure you could drop in a rebuilt motor or other options but I'd focus on finding out where the coolant is crossing over into the oil side. It may be just a head gasket and resurfacing the head. Possibly putting on the newer style cylinder head. It's hard not to think the worst but you have temper that and work through it. Since you're having someone do the work it does add extra cost.
They say they put in a new motor in 2018 and has been driven 14k miles but their meaning of "new" could be newly installed or who knows what. 14k miles from new to a failure like that would be incredibly rare. How many miles are on the odometer?
That makes me wonder if it was new or rebuilt by a reputable company, it should have a warranty. Might be nul and void on ownership transfer though.
As far as codes, this forum is awesome and helping getting them resolved.

My suggestion would be to have someone reputable look at it and tell them a cliff notes version and hopefully they'll be honest (unlike seller) and affordable.
Click to expand...

So I bought it with 199,354 miles. I mentioned 2018 but it looks like I'm wrong - that was some other maintenance. Looks like in 2021 a motor and various other components were done - a quick Google check looks to be a less reputable machine shop did the work.

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Thats bad news but a fix that can be done. Dont let it get you down because once fixed you will have alot more trust in it. When I bought mine the PO cleaned it up good so that i wouldnt see the RMS leaking. After I drove it home and to work a few times the leak became apparent, even tho it was upsetting I got in there and fixed it and now its been great for several months.
 
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