I think my engine is dead

[roaniecowpony]

So this is a very long update. Of course my Jeep overheated again after I put about 50 miles on it. I called Jeep customer cares again and they advised me to take it to a different dealership. I towed my Jeep up there on a Sunday and on Monday around noon they contacted me to tell me I had a cracked oil cooler. It took about a month of back and forth with Jeep and the dealership (some of that was because of the dealership software getting ransom wared), but Jeep came through and I only ended up paying 100 dollars to get the oil cooler, thermostat, hoses, and coolant bottle replaced. I picked up the Jeep a couple days ago and there's still a bit of oil in the coolant. I let the dealership know and they stated that they could flush it 50 times and there would still be some oil. I've read that flushing with dishwasher detergent could solve this issue. Does anyone have thoughts on that?

You really care about the other way around, a lot more. If there's coolant in the oil, it's not going to keep getting more and more, unless coolant is leaking into the oil system somewhere. So, drain and send a sample to your favorite oil lab, then change the oil a few times in very short intervals (using an inexpensive oil like Walmart Super Tech or Kirkland), then send another sample. It should get less and less coolant in the oil. If not, you have a wounded engine. This is the process I used.

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[mwilk012]

So this is a very long update. Of course my Jeep overheated again after I put about 50 miles on it. I called Jeep customer cares again and they advised me to take it to a different dealership. I towed my Jeep up there on a Sunday and on Monday around noon they contacted me to tell me I had a cracked oil cooler. It took about a month of back and forth with Jeep and the dealership (some of that was because of the dealership software getting ransom wared), but Jeep came through and I only ended up paying 100 dollars to get the oil cooler, thermostat, hoses, and coolant bottle replaced. I picked up the Jeep a couple days ago and there's still a bit of oil in the coolant. I let the dealership know and they stated that they could flush it 50 times and there would still be some oil. I've read that flushing with dishwasher detergent could solve this issue. Does anyone have thoughts on that?

Have done it, worked well.

 

[mwilk012]

You really care about the other way around, a lot more. If there's coolant in the oil, it's not going to keep getting more and more, unless coolant is leaking into the oil system somewhere. So, drain and send a sample to your favorite oil lab, then change the oil a few times in very short intervals (using an inexpensive oil like Walmart Super Tech or Kirkland), then send another sample. It should get less and less coolant in the oil. If not, you have a wounded engine. This is the process I used.

Engine oil will dissolve your coolant hoses from the inside out.

 

[Stuffedbuffalo]

Engine oil will dissolve your coolant hoses from the inside out.

I'm going to take the thermostat out of the housing and flush it tonight.

 

[Stuffedbuffalo]

You really care about the other way around, a lot more. If there's coolant in the oil, it's not going to keep getting more and more, unless coolant is leaking into the oil system somewhere. So, drain and send a sample to your favorite oil lab, then change the oil a few times in very short intervals (using an inexpensive oil like Walmart Super Tech or Kirkland), then send another sample. It should get less and less coolant in the oil. If not, you have a wounded engine. This is the process I used.

Will definitely be doing some frequent oil changes with the cheap stuff. Time for new spark plugs too.

 

[roaniecowpony]

Will definitely be doing some frequent oil changes with the cheap stuff. Time for new spark plugs too.

Finish flushing the coolant system and adding antifreeze. By the way, the thermostat doesn't come out of the housing like a traditional thermostat. I never saw a way to remove it without destroying it.

I wouldn't bother with the spark plugs at the moment. Get, the oil sample off to a lab, change the oil about 3 times in short order (50-100 miles ea), then send another oil sample in. There should be a trend towards lower potassium.

When you do get around to the spark plugs, if you're still suspicious of the engine, do a differential compression test (a.k.a. "Leakdown" compression test).

 

[Soggybottomboy]

Trade it.

SBB

 

[mwilk012]

Finish flushing the coolant system and adding antifreeze. By the way, the thermostat doesn't come out of the housing like a traditional thermostat. I never saw a way to remove it without destroying it.

It comes out very simply. Just depress the spring and rotate 90 degrees.

 

[Stuffedbuffalo]

I ended up draining the coolant from the bottom of the coolant reservoir (the black one by the turbo), removing the reservoir, and flushing all the oil out of it. I then reattached the reservoir and filled with coolant. When i drained the reservoir I caught it in a clear jug. I'd estimate the top 3 or 4 ounces of the reservoir were oil. I've put about 500 miles on the jeep since then and i have a very thin sheen of oil on the dipstick, so I'm going to repeat the process, but It's a fraction of what it was. I'll probably continue to do this until it no longer occurs. It feels safter to me than running detergent through everything, but maybe i'm being overly cautious. I might remove the thermostat too and see if there's any oil there as well.

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