Head gasket leak at 8000 miles.

[mwilk012]

My Neighbor had this same issue on her GC PUG 3.6. They had to replace the head gasket.

Head Gasket or valve cover? Does anyone know the difference?

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[Old Dogger]

Head Gasket or valve cover? Does anyone know the difference?

Hers was a head gasket. I hope that most know the difference..LOL

 

[mwilk012]

Hers was a head gasket. I hope that most know the difference..LOL

They clearly don’t. Every repair in this thread is about a valve cover.

 

[Old Dogger]

They clearly don’t. Every repair in this thread is about a valve cover.

Not the original post. It says, cylinder head bolts, not valve cover bolts. please see below:

Took my new 2021 Wrangler JL Sport S to the dealer I purchased it from 5 months ago after noticing a small oil leak underneath the vehicle. The dealer ran a dye test, and pinpointed it to a small head gasket leak. The recommended course of action was to re-torque the cylinder head bolts and see if that “fixes” the problem. Anyone else having a similar issue? The fact that the head gasket is leaking on a brand new engine is absolutely ridiculous and concerning. I had thought the 3.6 Pentastar was reliable and solid. Any thoughts on anything else I should be checking or how this might affect the longevity of the engine?

 

[Old Dogger]

They clearly don’t. Every repair in this thread is about a valve cover.

O.K., I get what you are saying. Yep, oil leak most likely from the valve cover gasket. that makes sense, but it doesn't fit verses what the original post says.

 

[Traveller128]

Thanks for the input. I spoke with my trusted family mechanic about this situation this morning. He’s been repairing just about anything on 4 wheels you can think of for the past 36 years. His thoughts were this.

1. You can’t re-torque those bolts and accomplish what they’re trying. They would need to be replaced entirely.

2. exactly what you said. The seal is compromised and will fail again sooner or later. It’s best just to replace it and be done.

Im waiting to hear back from the dealership this morning. On top of that issue I had a bad drivers side seatbelt that they needed to replace. Hopefully the joys of owning a Jeep get better moving forward.

They're torque to yield bolts, you don't retorque them, you replace them each time. If it's leaking, it's possible that it will stop with the retorque, but it won't have the sealing surfaces clean when it's retorqued. In other words, it will still probably wick fluids from one point to another. External oil leakage from a head gasket, means the silicone bead around the oil passage on the gasket has been breached. This won't reseal. It might slow down enough to have them call it "weepage" which is something warranty will say is "normal". Oil wicking out of things enough for dirt/dust to stick to with no dripping, is what weepage is. Not a great outcome, but it's up to the OEM.

If they think it's loose enough that torqueing it will stop a leak, then it's loose enough that coolant and combustion can migrate.

I realize that they're being told to do this by corporate, but it's not the "correct" fix.

If it's a valve cover issue, torqueing the cover might help, or putting a new seal on it would fix it better. It really depends on where the leak is actually coming from.

 

[Omarius]

If people can confuse a head gasket leak with a valve cover leak, how can you trust them to know the difference between valve cover bolts and head bolts? I can see a tech tightening down a valve cover to try and sort out a leak. Where tightening down a head bolt is not something even a bad mechanic would do, let alone a dealer tech.

 

[mwilk012]

O.K., I get what you are saying. Yep, oil leak most likely from the valve cover gasket. that makes sense, but it doesn't fit verses what the original post says.

Because nobody knows what they’re talking about. OP’s problem was always the valve cover

 

[mwilk012]

They're torque to yield bolts, you don't retorque them, you replace them each time. If it's leaking, it's possible that it will stop with the retorque, but it won't have the sealing surfaces clean when it's retorqued. In other words, it will still probably wick fluids from one point to another. External oil leakage from a head gasket, means the silicone bead around the oil passage on the gasket has been breached. This won't reseal. It might slow down enough to have them call it "weepage" which is something warranty will say is "normal". Oil wicking out of things enough for dirt/dust to stick to with no dripping, is what weepage is. Not a great outcome, but it's up to the OEM.

If they think it's loose enough that torqueing it will stop a leak, then it's loose enough that coolant and combustion can migrate.

I realize that they're being told to do this by corporate, but it's not the "correct" fix.

If it's a valve cover issue, torqueing the cover might help, or putting a new seal on it would fix it better. It really depends on where the leak is actually coming from.

This never happened. It was always the valve cover.

 

[bjm00se]

It doesn't seem to help the situation that the Mopar part name is a "head cover" rather than "valve cover."

Old school that I am, I'm still having trouble getting around the fact that the V6 has a single "head cover" rather than two "valve covers" one over each bank of three cylinders. But I digress.

Anyhow, in the game of "telephone" that is the service tech talking to the service adviser, the service adviser talking to the customer, the background noise, the abbreviated notes on the scrap of soiled napkin next to the phone, and typing stuff into the JLForum, it's just wayyyyy too easy for "head cover gasket" and "head cover bolts" to turn into "head gasket" and "head bolts."

 

[mwilk012]

It doesn't seem to help the situation that the Mopar part name is a "head cover" rather than "valve cover."

Old school that I am, I'm still having trouble getting around the fact that the V6 has a single "head cover" rather than two "valve covers" one over each bank of three cylinders. But I digress.

Anyhow, in the game of "telephone" that is the service tech talking to the service adviser, the service adviser talking to the customer, the background noise, the abbreviated notes on the scrap of soiled napkin next to the phone, and typing stuff into the JLForum, it's just wayyyyy too easy for "head cover gasket" and "head cover bolts" to turn into "head gasket" and "head bolts."

No, there are two valve covers.

 

[Traveller128]

This never happened. It was always the valve cover.

Good deal. I was going off an earlier post.

 

[bjm00se]

No, there are two valve covers.

Oh good. Sanity is restored. Of course, if my Jeep would ever just fricken' get here, I could pop open the hood and see these trivial details for myself.

But I'm not salty.

 

[Jsmeltz]

Hopefully it’s just the head gasket. My issue was finally fixed. If I recall, it was believed to be a hairline fracture in the cylinder head? They were never able to visualize diagnosis it. Anyway, they ended up replacing the gaskets, cylinder head cover and whatever else and it’s been fine since. Hopefully it’s an easy fix.

It's been in the shop for past ten days. FCA wants the head removed and inspected. Still waiting for info. Only thing I know is that the engine is apart at this point...

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