head gasket swap after P0301 code

[Odyssey USA]

Rolled 60kmiles on the maiden voyage off to work this morning. Officially out of warranty lol. Everything was good.

Not so on the ride home. I was enjoying toasty hot air from the HVAC ducts, then it went cold and i wasnt enjoying anything. As I was processing that, the temp gauge went from halfway to full red. I quickly decided to pull off into the grocery store 1/4 mile ahead. The center display said something like HOT plus some more words i forget. As i scrolled the menu to show coolant temp, i passed thru oil and transmission which looked normal. Coolant temp said -- which i took as no coolant, sensor is in air.
So I pull over, pop the hood, notice coolant bottle is empty. There were definitely signs of coolant leaking, but i was surprised there wasn't coolant dripping everywhere all over.
Especially when I found a heater hose disconnected. The hose clamp was still on the hard pipe, presumably where i left it, allowing the hose to blow off.

Pushed the hose back, on added the 1/4 gallon of coolant i had with me, then drove across the street to Advance Auto. Borrowed the worst slip joint pliers ever (I was missing my 3month old chinazon ratchet locking hose clamp pliers) and bought 2 gallons of coolant.
I got one full gallon into the Jeep, the drove it home (5mins). Let it sit during dinner, then got another 1/2 gallon in.

Im so glad I initially reused my old coolant!

Man, making me nervous I’ll miss something. lol I have the manual but still…as long as it’s taking to accumulate parts and have time to work on it…I’ll trust my memory less.

Hope all is ok with your Jeep there.

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[JeepinPete]

Well, that is one way to change out the coolant! Hopefully no damage was done.

 

[THAW]

The positive is a different story. The aux battery terminal has 2 cables. One goes up to the fusebox (#1positon), but the second cable seemed to go into the bellhousing area in a big fat taped bundle. So it seemed like if I removed the easy cable, I would need a jumper from the #1 terminal to the cable running into the bellhousing abyss.

Not being comfortable removing partial harnesses and possibly making a jumper, I opted to tape of the positive terminal to aux batt.

The AUX (ESS) battery positive cable goes from N3 to the PCR (on passenger lower firewall) to the AUX (ESS) battery positive post to N1 (i.e. PDC power input).

To avoid a loose cable/connector, the AUX (ESS) battery positive cable terminal connector can be attached to the CR[an]K battery positive cable/post clamp. That way, the CR[an]K battery is connected directly to N1 (instead of only through the disabled PCR and a taped terminal connector).

 

[RenegadeT]

The AUX (ESS) battery positive cable goes from N3 to the PCR (on passenger lower firewall) to the AUX (ESS) battery positive post to N1 (i.e. PDC power input).

To avoid a loose cable/connector, the AUX (ESS) battery positive cable terminal connector can be attached to the CR[an]K battery positive cable/post clamp. That way, the CR[an]K battery is connected directly to N1 (instead of only through the disabled PCR and a taped terminal connector).

Thanks! So in summary, take the positive terminal connector from the aux battery and attach it to the main battery terminal connector (red to red)?
I wish I did a little more electrical homework before getting to this reassembly. I'd like to take a little wrenching break, but will look at this in the future.
Curious...what's the "PCR (on passenger lower firewall)"?

 

[THAW]

Thanks! So in summary, take the positive terminal connector from the aux battery and attach it to the main battery terminal connector (red to red)?

Precisely.

Curious...what's the "PCR (on passenger lower firewall)"?

Power Control Relay. It opens up to very briefly run the Jeep electronics from only the AUX (ESS) battery while the CR[an]K battery engages the starter during an ESS restart.

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