2005 crd liberty coolant in oil engine is not locked up

Yzeffer · **Joined:** Tue Jul 19, 2016 12:09 am **Posts:** 3

Hello. New guy here. I've always wanted a diesel liberty and I may have found one just wanted to get some opinions. There is a diesel liberty for sale about an hour from me I'm going to look at tomorrow and probably load on my trailer. It's in really good shape inside and out supposedly and he said it probably needs a head gasket because there is coolant in the oil. He said the engine still will turn over but will not run. What are the chances it could just be a head gasket and is there anything else I should look at. 175k miles and I think I can load it on my trailer for $800. I own a couple diesels now but I have no experience with the liberty diesels. Thanks for any input.

geordi · **Posted:** Tue Jul 19, 2016 1:21 am

A couple things... Where are you located?

At that mileage, this CRD is sadly a VERY strong candidate for having dropped a valve and trashed the head. That will easily rupture a water jacket and allow the two to rapidly mix... But that is the least of the problems. It usually also means that a piston has been munched and so has the bottom of the head. The clue is that it will turn over but not start. If it was just a head gasket, then it would start. If it was a few rockers, it wouldn't have water in the oil, and it would most likely start.

This diesel is NOTHING like a Cummins or Powerstroke or Sprinter. This is not really an engine to start to learn on, you could be looking at as much as an $5000 rebuild depending on what needs to be done.

I'm happy to help if you need it - I'm the travelling tech - and if you are handy with tools, much of the knowledge can be found right here on this forum. The service manual is freely available, which is nice, so if you are up for a challenge and have time on your side... Maybe this could be a fun project.

Yzeffer · **Joined:** Tue Jul 19, 2016 12:09 am **Posts:** 3

I figured if it was just a head gasket it should still run. I looked around on the forum after I posted and started seeing all the engines that dropped a valve I got a little concerned. I'm from NW Pa. I see these are pretty vulnerable little motors and all the parts seems to have a pretty heavy price tag. I don't mind working on it myself. I wonder if I get it and the engine is trashed is a 4bt to tall to fit in there I do have one of those laying around but that's a whole project that probably shouldn't get started. Now I'm not real sure if I should even waste my time with it. Thanks for your input

Ceearedeedriver · **Joined:** Fri May 06, 2016 8:44 pm **Posts:** 177

There's a few of us here that would be willing to take a punt at $800. Open it up and if it's too damaged you should be able make your money back parting it out.

Yzeffer wrote:

...I looked around on the forum after I posted and started seeing all the engines that dropped a valve I got a little concerned...

This is where people end up if they have problems with this vehicle so you're gonna find some real scary stories here.

Yzeffer wrote:

...and all the parts seems to have a pretty heavy price tag...

You've hit the nail on the head. If you don't mind a bit of wrenching, parts cost and availability is your #1 problem. There are a small number of vendors that provide for us real well but the prices are inherently high and some parts you just can't get.

geordi · **Posted:** Tue Jul 19, 2016 12:44 pm

Yzeffer wrote:

I figured if it was just a head gasket it should still run. I looked around on the forum after I posted and started seeing all the engines that dropped a valve I got a little concerned. I'm from NW Pa. I see these are pretty vulnerable little motors and all the parts seems to have a pretty heavy price tag. I don't mind working on it myself. I wonder if I get it and the engine is trashed is a 4bt to tall to fit in there I do have one of those laying around but that's a whole project that probably shouldn't get started. Now I'm not real sure if I should even waste my time with it. Thanks for your input

Unfortunately, there is no way that a 4BT would fit and it is WAY too heavy for the suspension anyway. The wiring would also be difficult to match up because the computer is expecting an electronically controlled engine.

IDparts has just about everything that you might need for parts, and there is a very inexpensive supplier available in England that can ship to the USA for just about everything else.

Yes, there is a good percentage of fear associated with reading on the forums, but bear this in mind: Happy users aren't on here posting. You will see posts from people looking for answers and talking about the problems, which can unfairly color it to look like all of them are trouble. That isn't the case, but it also isn't that important for right now. Let's just spend the time evaluating this CRD as an individual business decision. For overall value, $800 is not a bad deal if you decided to part it out, the injectors alone could be worth that $800. If the turbo is good, that could be another $300-$400, and then you still have the injection pump and all the rest of the parts.

So from that aspect, this could be a good deal if you have the space / time to part it out if you decided that it couldn't be fixed. In order to know whether it would be a good candidate to fix, the top of the engine has to come off. Disassembling to the top of the pistons will generate a lot of information and cost nothing other than time.

WWDiesel · **Posted:** Tue Jul 19, 2016 1:55 pm

No one mentioned it; it could just be a cracked head, there have been a few of them reported. Only sure way is like others said, buy it and pull head and inspect for any damage. If none is obvious, then head needs to be pressure checked. A replacement head can be obtained, some have bought one out of England... :wink:

Yzeffer · **Joined:** Tue Jul 19, 2016 12:09 am **Posts:** 3

I ended up passing on this one. I have a couple projects going on now that I need to get finished up before I bring another into the mix. Question about the reliability of the engine. I drive a lot, I put 60k miles on my truck in a little less than 2 years. Does the timing belt have to be done every 100k and if so what is the cost and what all parts need replaced and what else is a common problem?

geordi · **Posted:** Tue Jul 19, 2016 7:56 pm

Yzeffer wrote:

I ended up passing on this one. I have a couple projects going on now that I need to get finished up before I bring another into the mix. Question about the reliability of the engine. I drive a lot, I put 60k miles on my truck in a little less than 2 years. Does the timing belt have to be done every 100k and if so what is the cost and what all parts need replaced and what else is a common problem?

Yes, the timing belt needs to be replaced every 100k miles, and we would suggest some other mods for reliability that only need to be done once. The timing belt kit is available for $400 from IDparts.com and includes the water pump and all other needed components. If you are familiar with which end of a wrench points at the engine, there is a procedure you can watch to see how to change the belt. Search for the robot chicken videos on youtube to see the procedure.

flash7210 · **Posted:** Tue Jul 19, 2016 8:25 pm

Quote:

Search for the robot chicken videos on youtube to see the procedure.

Umm... Is that a typo?

I love Robot Chicken as much as the next guy but I'm not sure Seth Green is the master at servicing a Jeep Liberty CRD.

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Tue Jul 19, 2016 8:49 pm

I believe that's Colorado Robo Chicken....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o_FJpBEKjk

you know the scary thing was that I just typed robot chicken and he wasn't even on the first page of results????
there are some strange youtubes out there....

FYI - to the title of the thread - it's rare but possible to blow the oil cooler gasket which will definitely get oil in the coolant and should allow coolant into the oil without killing the engine.

geordi · **Posted:** Tue Jul 19, 2016 9:55 pm

flash7210 wrote:

Quote:

Search for the robot chicken videos on youtube to see the procedure.

Umm... Is that a typo?

I love Robot Chicken as much as the next guy but I'm not sure Seth Green is the master at servicing a Jeep Liberty CRD.

To be honest, I don't know - I've only ever heard them called the robot chicken and I've never watched them myself. If they are robo chicken, I guess that makes a difference!

jws84_02 · **Posted:** Wed Jul 20, 2016 7:09 pm

Where is this $800 jeep if your gonna pass :banghead:

geordi · **Posted:** Wed Jul 20, 2016 8:56 pm

jws84_02 wrote:

Where is this $800 jeep if your gonna pass :banghead:

Your sponsor called... :jester:

2005 crd liberty coolant in oil engine is not locked up

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