Did I warp my cylinder

SRAMAN

MEMBER
1998 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE
4.0L
6 CYL
4WD
AUTOMATIC
188,200 MILES

One morning on my way to work after having a little leak from my radiator I think my engine overheated. The heater started blowing cool air then warm air then cool then warm air. It's slow down on the freeway and didn't want to go any faster and then the whole vehicle started shaking like it was idling real high or my distributor might have went out of whack. Problem is my temp cooling sensor hasn't been working either so I never really know when my engine overheats.
I haven't been able to drive it ever since. Every time I start it it shakes really hard. The exhaust blows out white smoke when you start it at first but there's no water in my oil so I don't think I blew a head gasket, but there is oil all over the outside of the cylinder heads like the oils leaking from the valve cover gasket.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be very helpful thank you.

1 Reply

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
109,885 POSTS

Hi and thanks for using 2CarPros.

The idea that you get a lot of white smoke on start up indicates coolant is getting into the combustion chamber. That is usually an indicator of a blown head gasket or cracked head. Remember, coolant doesn't always make it into the oil. It can leak directly into a cylinder. Also, this model year, as well as 1999 and 2000 are known for cylinder heads cracking between cylinders 3 and 4. Based on what you described, I have a feeling that may be what happened.

Okay, with that in mind, I need you to perform a couple checks. First, follow this link that describes how to check for a bad head gasket.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/head-gasket-blown-test

Next, I need you to perform a compression test. Here is a link that shows in general how that is done. You can rent a compression gauge at most parts store.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-test-engine-compression

When you do the compression test, let me know the readings on all cylinders. Also, let me know if the head gasket test fails and what you find.

Do this and let me know the results.

Take care,
Joe