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

My guess is the engine was thrown together, or had issues before it was even installed.

I wouldn't put seafoam or any additive in the engine oil going forward. While it's easy to point to the previous owner if you buy a used vehicle with issues, most of the time people are simply oblivious. They know something might be wrong (overheated once or something) but they don't really know what is causing it or how much it will cost so they unload it. Not saying they shouldn't disclose any knowledge of the vehicle's issues, but the average vehicle owner out there knows how to put gas in their car and that's it. Some people can barely do that.
 
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CODE5 said:
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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In my opinion rust is far worse than a head gasket (fingers crossed).
Hang in there you've got a TJ now, don't lose sight of what you want to do on it. It's a temporary setback.
The good news is you have a manual transmission otherwise at 200k miles you could add rebuilding an auto trans to the list of things to fix. :)
 
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Id be more worried about your 2nd oil change. If you still have the oil put it in a clear cup and let it sit. The liquid will separate from the oil and you will know if it’s water or coolant. It could be a head gasket or a cracked head. Or it could just be poor maintenance Or a minor leak into the oil. How does the new oil look after a few miles?
 
It's all speculation till you pull the head. That's a relatively quick and easy operation to check the head gasket and for any cracks in the head. If it's a head gasket might get by with just replacing that. No matter what I'd take the head to a machine shop and have it checked for cracks and warping. If it's truly a teen miles engine and no issues probably best to reinstall. If it had more miles would have a valve job while the head is off.

If the head gasket is good and no problems with the head problem could be the block which is a major proposition to pull and have checked out.
 
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CODE5 said:
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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The job was done in Gary,indiana, that says it all.
 
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zackcj7 said:
Could an 02 have come with the 0331 head that is known to crack? Or did those only come on 00-01 4.0s?
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I guess it's a moot point since the motor was swapped, but the answer to this is "yes." I recently purchased an 02 motor, but before I bought this one, I looked at a couple 02s that didn't have the "tupy" head. It must have been changed out sometime in 02.
 
I haven't personally done it but there have been some pics on here I believe about running the motor up to temperature then shining a light down the oil fill hole in the valve cover. If it's cracked, apparently sometimes you can see the coolant bubbling out, as it cracks right under the fill cap.
You could also look down there and see if you see the "tupy" marking, which is the head which fixed the common cracking issue of the original head.

At least if you can see the coolant bubbling out, you will know where your problem is.

Good luck!
 
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hardtailpan said:
I guess it's a moot point since the motor was swapped, but the answer to this is "yes." I recently purchased an 02 motor, but before I bought this one, I looked at a couple 02s that didn't have the "tupy" head. It must have been changed out sometime in 02.
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I’m not sure on this but I bought the bad head wasnt manufactured after 01’?
 
Stockli said:
I’m not sure on this but I bought the bad head wasnt manufactured after 01’?
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I suppose it's possible it wasn't manufactured after '01, but apparently it found it's way into a couple '02 model years. The ones that i looked at were early model year 02's, one was a November 01, which as we know is actually an 02 (year change in September). There was another, but I don't remember the year. Note that this is the vehicle year, i didn't check date codes on the block or head.

I don't believe there was a sharp cutoff line for the 01/-02 model year, so if you are buying an 02, make sure to check!
 
Dont go thinking its a disaster! Get the head re conditioned and a new head gasket fitted, If the head is cracked the recondition shop will tell you, keep your original head and put it back after machining if not cracked! Not 4.0 Mopar but I have been unfortunate to have had 4 episodes of water in the oil and each but one was just failed head gasket sucking in fluid via the block water jackets , one was a Subaru that had an internal water pump failure that even a Subaru dealer miss diagnosed as head gasket problems that returned immediately after head and gasket was replaced! I had to pay twice for the repair by the way!

In my opinion but remember I am often wrong because I can only use novice experience . if your block was cracked oil would be floating on top of the milk shake fluid and in the water jackets, But cracked head/gasket fail burns (vaporises) some of the coolant which is clearly seen as steam from exhaust pipe after warm up.

In hot climates like where I live lack of coolant system/radiator maintenance can cause overheating which is ignored sometimes by owners by just constantly topping up the cooling system and that's fine until it "Cooks" at which point its passed on to the unsuspecting buyer.
 
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hardtailpan said:
I haven't personally done it but there have been some pics on here I believe about running the motor up to temperature then shining a light down the oil fill hole in the valve cover. If it's cracked, apparently sometimes you can see the coolant bubbling out, as it cracks right under the fill cap.
You could also look down there and see if you see the "tupy" marking, which is the head which fixed the common cracking issue of the original head.

At least if you can see the coolant bubbling out, you will know where your problem is.

Good luck!
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On my wife's old 01 XJ with the 0331 head I did just that. It's true that many times you can see the crack just below the fill cap.
 
deadbeat son said:
Have you looked in the oil cap to see if the head is stamped 0331?
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I'll find out today and report back. I'm taking it here shortly for a pressure check at a local shop here in town - fingers crossed it was just bad maintenance by the PO.

Wtrask said:
Id be more worried about your 2nd oil change. If you still have the oil put it in a clear cup and let it sit. The liquid will separate from the oil and you will know if it’s water or coolant. It could be a head gasket or a cracked head. Or it could just be poor maintenance Or a minor leak into the oil. How does the new oil look after a few miles?
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I still have the oil I will pour it into a clear jar when I get home this evening. I did run a magnet through it and didn't have any metal shavings when I checked... The new oil still looks like it did when I poured it from the container, (Synthetic 10w-30). I did lose some coolant but I believe that was when I disconnected the heater core to bypass it, I forgot to kink the flow and a bunch came flowing out. Expecting the worst but hoping for the best!
 
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RobertJ said:
Thanks for keeping us up to date.
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I'm glad I found this great resource/site! This is the first Jeep I've ever had and really trying to do it all right.

I drove it to work this morning (10 miles) since the mechanic shop is down the road from my office and I didn't lose any coolant from A to B. Coolant temps stayed right about 180-185 and I had a max speed of 65 mph. Plenty of throttle response and running very clean from what I can see on my ScanGauge OBII scanner.
 
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CODE5 said:
I'm glad I found this great resource/site! This is the first Jeep I've ever had and really trying to do it all right.

I drove it to work this morning (10 miles) since the mechanic shop is down the road from my office and I didn't lose any coolant from A to B. Coolant temps stayed right about 180-185 and I had a max speed of 65 mph. Plenty of throttle response and running very clean from what I can see on my ScanGauge OBII scanner.
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Just run it until it shits the bed and put a used engine in it..everybody and their brother has a 4.0 laying around and you can swap in a weekend. No need to hang your head or get discouraged, jeeps are pieces of shit and chances are good the next one would have more issues than you currently have
 
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Hoping to get a pressure check tomorrow. I did however climb up there and see that it doesn't have the Tuppy heads...

I'll be honest I didn't see anything milky - it's more rather dark brown, black. Is there any possible chance a failing water pump or something else is letting coolant in somewhere around the block?

I found a receipt from the PO behind the seat and in January of this year it had been in for "Valve Gasket Replacement" I bought it in mid-April so this was the first oil change since the gasket was replaced.
 
P man said:
Just run it until it shits the bed and put a used engine in it..everybody and their brother has a 4.0 laying around and you can swap in a weekend. No need to hang your head or get discouraged, jeeps are pieces of shit and chances are good the next one would have more issues than you currently have
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Hahaha — That thought has crossed my mind!! On top of this I've been chasing several evap leaks, a faulty cruise control, steering play, bad heater core, annnnnd some loud metal noise, possibly wheel bearings. It's like peeling back a very very bad onion.
 
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