Jeep Wrangler overheated today. Head gasket blown or worse

[mthomas58]

2014 Wrangler with 78k miles overheated today. Engine light and coolant hot idiot light came on. Otherwise it was driving fine. Got home and checked the radiator and overflow tank thinking the level was low but found chocolate milkshake leaking from radiator cap and overflow tank obviously contaminated with oil. Dropped it off at the shop for a diagnosis. Keeping fingers crossed that it a head gasket only failure vs engine failure. Any similar experience here? Thoughts? FWIW it has never been driven off road.

[Scott Douglas]

My first thought is for a car that 'young' that has had regular maintenance, it shouldn't have happened.

[wilnj]

Any issues with the HVAC system in its history?

[billybek]

Looks like it needs a hit of Pepto-Bismol.

Good luck, hope it hasn't **** the bed...

[mthomas58]

Originally Posted by wilnj

Any issues with the HVAC system in its history?

None

[ckcarr]

I'd venture a guess that it will be the oil cooler leaking.
Super common, unfortunately. His pictures are like yours.
I'm trying to get motivated to repair mine, but it's not too bad yet.

https://www.carparts.com/blog/bad-oil-cooler-symptoms/#:~:text=it%20off%20immediately.-,Coolant%20Leaks,even%20crack%20the%20engine%20blo ck.


Here's a video on the repair. If you take to a dealer, it will be around $1,200 or so.

[Alan A]

Originally Posted by Scott Douglas

My first thought is for a car that 'young' that has had regular maintenance, it shouldn't have happened.

It has that legendary Stellantis quality.
And yes I have one of their products that sulks if it doesn’t visit the shop regularly…

[ltusler]

If youre going to repair, get the cooloing system flushed as soon as you can or all of the hoses will be damaged by the oil.

[911 Rod]

I think fixing the problem can be done, it's the flushing of the system that will be tricky.

[Rodsrsr]

My initial thought was that you may have caused more damage by continuing to drive it home after you saw both check engine and coolant light on. These lights usually don't come on until the engine is way past operating temp.

Typical rule is to immediately pull over when your car starts overheating. better to pay a towing fee than an engine rebuild fee.

That year Jeep has a few issues with the cooling system but usually its just a stuck thermostat, however a stuck thermostat if not repaired can cost you an engine.

[rfuerst911sc]

Shout laundry detergent is excellent as a flush for intermix sludge . Learned that from a renowned engine builder .

[aigel]

Would it overheat if the oil cooler went? It happened to me once, truck drove just fine. No overheating.

[Peterfrans]

why does the sludge seems to come out of the window washer fluid reservoir? that yellow cap does not seem like a cap that can contain pressure en

[Peterfrans]

pic upload failed but you see that this is a washer reservoir in the youtube from about 1 minute in.

[mthomas58]

Got a call from the shop last night. The initial assessment is that it is an oil cooler failure with no intrusion into the engine as the oil does not appear to be contaminated. Will know more after they get started with the repairs.

[aigel]

Definitely have them change the oil and give you a sample. My shop at the time didn’t change it. I changed it myself and sent it in for analysis and lo and behold, it had traces of coolant.

For me it was a warranty repair. The shop did a mediocre job. Replacing only some of the hoses and the expansion tank. Oil sludge came back and it really soured me on the truck, Even though it probably ended up being reliable. I drove it for a while while and sold it during the pandemic when prices were crazy high.

[mthomas58]

Originally Posted by aigel

Definitely have them change the oil and give you a sample. My shop at the time didn’t change it. I changed it myself and sent it in for analysis and lo and behold, it had traces of coolant.

For me it was a warranty repair. The shop did a mediocre job. Replacing only some of the hoses and the expansion tank. Oil sludge came back and it really soured me on the truck, Even though it probably ended up being reliable. I drove it for a while while and sold it during the pandemic when prices were crazy high.

Well I've had the Jeep repaired and have been driving for about three weeks. They replaced the radiator, water pump, overflow tank, Oil cooler with the Dorman aluminium housing, and all coolant hoses. Total repair with extensive labor flushing to oil out of the system was $3,200. Runs great and oil remains steady at normal operating temp. HOWEVER, I too am seeing recurring oil sludge in the top of the overflow tank which I contiinue to clean out regularly. They told me they were unable to flush all of the oil out of the block and advised me to return for a radiator flush after running 200 miles. After extensive research on the interwebs I'm planning on flushing the system myself using low sudsing dishwater powder and water then disconnecting radiator and heater core hoses and flushing everything in both directions. I'll do as many iterations as I need to get all of the oil out ( guessing 3 or 4 times) I'm guessing this will take half a day or longer and I'm not confident the shop will be as diligent as I intend to be. I'll measure the flushing results by collecting and comparing water bottles of each flush cycle - should be interesting!

[Scott Douglas]

I wonder if it'd pay to get some Oil Eater fluid and use it to flush the system.
I can take a pic of the bottle I have out in the garage if you'd like to see what it says.

[LEAKYSEALS951]

I had intermixing issues on my 951 when I swapped in a new engine.
I ended up flushing the system 10-20 times, in the end just draining it, filling the system with a garden hose, drive, pray it would stay clean, watch sludge happen anyway, drain, and repeat. Fortunately, it was summer, so no antifreeze needed.

Hopefully yours won't need as much as they have already cleaned it best they could.

[Scott Douglas]

I use this stuff to clean my driveway and oil drain pans after an oil change.



I think it'd work OK in a cooling system if you're trying to get the oil out of it.