Novak Conversions Jeep Wrangler JK shifters

What all should be replaced when you do a head gasket

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Aarin208

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I’m going to be replacing the head gaskets on my 2018 JK unlimited sport currently I have about 52,000 miles on it. Is there any suggestions of other parts that I should preemptively change while I do the head gasket and any thoughts about aftermarket versus OEM?
So back story on this, my thermostat failed, it blew apart and and the retaining washer got sucked up into the water pump and made its way into the radiator and punctured a hole into it.
My wife wasn’t paying attention it over heated. She limped it home about two miles. I’m not 💯 certain the head gaskets blown I figured while I’m in here doing the water pump, radiator, oil cooler transmission cooling hoses 🤦‍♂️
I should just do the head gaskets now rather than put it back together to find it’s blown and have to tear it all back apart.
I’m a novice at this so any advise is well received!
Here’s the guy I found in the radiator

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Aarin208 said:
I’m going to be replacing the head gaskets on my 2018 JK unlimited sport currently I have about 52,000 miles on it. Is there any suggestions of other parts that I should preemptively change while I do the head gasket and any thoughts about aftermarket versus OEM?
So back story on this, my thermostat failed, it blew apart and and the retaining washer got sucked up into the water pump and made its way into the radiator and punctured a hole into it.
My wife wasn’t paying attention it over heated. She limped it home about two miles. I’m not 💯 certain the head gaskets blown I figured while I’m in here doing the water pump, radiator, oil cooler transmission cooling hoses 🤦‍♂️
I should just do the head gaskets now rather than put it back together to find it’s blown and have to tear it all back apart.
I’m a novice at this so any advise is well received!
Here’s the guy I found in the radiator

View attachment 128102
Click to expand...

It should have some form of fail safe cooling strategy for loss of coolant. Ford vehicles do but I'm not as familiar with how Jeep does it. Point being that you may be ok having driven only a short distance. Replacing head gaskets is a much larger task than replacing the radiator and other external accessories - especially with the engine in the vehicle. If your doing the oil cooler that starts getting more intrusive, however, you're still not going into valvetrain, camdrive, etc. Overhead cam engines are no fun when it comes to that stuff, relatively speaking.

Can it be done? Sure, but I would be more inclined to determine the state of the head gaskets first, before I dissected the engine.

When you get the intake off and have access to the spark plugs I would do a leak down test as an indicator and see what the results are. If you have some inconsistent cylinders then maybe you proceed with gasket replacement... Just a thought.
 
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I would wonder about the rest of the engine as far as if it is okay. But to answer your question might want to consider the following since it is apart.

1. Oil cooler housing to Dorman
2. Spark plugs since it is all apart.
3. Ignition coils?

I would OEM for any electrical components.
 
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If you do end up doing head gaskets get the heads machined flat . It’s an extra step but not crazy expensive
If engine was dramatically over heated heads can twist compromising sealing integrity of gaskets .
Fel Pro makes a great top end gasket set inc head gaskets
They also make head bolts which will have to be replaced
when taking off heads.
 
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Speartip said:
If you do end up doing head gaskets get the heads machined flat . It’s an extra step but not crazy expensive
If engine was dramatically over heated heads can twist compromising sealing integrity of gaskets .
Fel Pro makes a great top end gasket set inc head gaskets
They also make head bolts which will have to be replaced
when taking off heads.
Click to expand...

^^^^^^This^^^^^

But if it was mine I'd just repair what you know needs it and put back together without doing the HG's. You'll know shortly if there is more damage that could be the HG's or something even worse.
 
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Work had been crazy the last couple of months so It took me awhile to put it back together. I held off on the head gasket as suggested. So tonight I fired it up, started the purge process on the coolant. Everything was going fine until I turned the heat on. That’s when I heard what sounded like a light popping sound with gulping coming from the lower radiator hose. I figured that was the air purging from the radiator. Not long after the engine started to change pitch. I turned it off checked the oil and bone dry I had just changed the oil prior to starting it up. What I found was all that oil ended up in the radiator. So I pulled the upper and lower intake manifold off and there was no oil in the valley or antifreeze. I replaced the oil filter housing for an aluminum one (not Dorman) an Amazon off brand one. Is it possible that the seals aren’t making a seal allowing the oil to cross over to the coolant? If that is possible wouldn’t I see some evidence in the valley?
 
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Aarin208 said:
Is it possible that the seals aren’t making a seal allowing the oil to cross over to the coolant?
Click to expand...

Or the knock-off part has a casting or machining issue (core-shift, major porosity, breakthrough, etc) allowing the coolant and oil passages to cross-talk. I've experienced that even on a major brand (Edelbrock) so it is not an unlikely occurrence.

Have you pulled it off and inspected it?
 
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Work had been crazy the last couple of months so It took me awhile to put it back together. I held off on the head gasket as suggested. So tonight I fired it up, started the purge process on the coolant. Everything was going fine until I turned the heat on. That’s when I heard what sounded like a light popping sound with gulping coming from the lower radiator hose. I figured that was the air purging from the radiator. Not long after the engine started to change pitch. I turned it off checked the oil and bone dry I had just changed the oil prior to starting it up. What I found was all that oil ended up in the radiator. So I pulled the upper and lower intake manifold off and there was no oil in the valley or antifreeze. I replaced the oil filter housing for an aluminum one (not Dorman) an Amazon off brand one. Is it possible that the seals aren’t making a seal allowing the oil to cross over to the coolant? If that is possible wouldn’t I see some evidence in the valley?
tJKrider said:
Or the knock-off part has a casting or machining issue (core-shift, major porosity, breakthrough, etc) allowing the coolant and oil passages to cross-talk. I've experienced that even on a major brand (Edelbrock) so it is not an unlikely occurrence.

Have you pulled it off and inspected it?
Click to expand...

Not yet, I will be this evening after work. I’ll let you know what I find.
 
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So here are the pictures of the oil cooler. I’m almost a 99% certain it was internal.
There was zero evidence that it had been leaking from the bottom where the gaskets meet the valley. It was bone dry. I believe it was leaking/mixing inside the exchanger itself.
The quality of this cooler is atrocious the machining is next level bad. I ordered the Dorman it should be here next Wednesday. I also ordered the oil pressure sensor and temp sensor, fel-pro intake manifold gaskets and I’ve heard people talk about using mopar gaskets on the Dorman oil cooler; thoughts?
Also anything else I should replace I currently have 58k on the odometer.

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Aarin208 said:
Also any tips on getting the oil out of the cooling system and antifreeze out of the oil in the engine would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...

Fill, cycle, and drain several times. For the oil fill you can add a quart of ATF which has a higher level of detergent in the chemistry and will help to purge the remaining coolant. Drain everything, change the oil filter, add oil and coolant. Drain and repeat. You don't have to run it long the first go through - only let it run 10-15 sec. Second time let the engine come up to temp. When you drain the second time take note of how the oil looks. If there is any hint of a milky consistency you'll have to do it again. I would do the oil at least twice, regardless. The coolant will probably be fine with one cycle, just depends how anal you want to be. Definitely do two on the oil, though!
 
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