2012 Liberty-blown engine 65,000 miles

[Jeepkj2022]

Greetings all. Forgive me if this is not quite the right spot for this particular post. I’m not particularly a Jeep fan, but have a problem & wonder if someone can help here.
I got this 2012 Liberty around 9 mo ago. Loved it last year while it was all good: drove everywhere in the summer, did farmers market, even took a small vacation with it. Was great, AC worked fine, nothing really noticeable EXCEPT the heater never worked right. Wasn’t a big deal in the summer, but winter rolled around & wanted the heater to work. Used some of the whizz **** heater core cleaner that you buy to clean heater core. Was assuming it was clogged full of rust, etc. All of a sudden within a week my wife drive it & evidently it got HOT. Never been the same since: there’s pretty good evidence there are head gasket issues now. Blown gaskets or worse. All with an engine with around 65,000 miles on it? How does the problem go from a possible bad heater core to a blown engine?
I’m fairly versed at ripping out engines & fixing them if need be, if that’s what has to happen. I’m just unclear about why it got hot in the first place. This is a new car to me, the newest I’ve ever owned. So the question is: is there any type of warranty from Jeep/Chrysler that would cover this? An engine that gets hot & blows a head gasket after 65,000 miles is a lemon to me. Anyone that can help with this is truly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[lfhoward]

What’s the whizz stuff you put in? That has to be connected to the failure. It sounds like a coolant passageway got clogged and that caused the overheat. Overheats of course risk head gasket issues or worse.

Our Jeeps’ coolant is HOAT coolant, which is not compatible with other common coolant types (including the green “universal” stuff). Only Zerex G05 or Mopar are HOAT. Mixing a different coolant with HOAT causes gelling and obstruction in the radiator and throughout the cooling system. Could it be possible the Whizz cleaner caused this same issue? Did you flush the cooling system after using it or leave it in?

Note: I don’t know if Whizz is an additive or something you would flush the heater core with when it is disconnected. If the heater core was disconnected to clean it, it’s also possible an air pocket in the cooling system could have interfered with proper circulation, causing overheat.

 

[tommudd]

ANY VEHICLE, any can overheat due to a number of issues with either engine , clogged cooling system or even owner .
So for one to supposedly **** up or need new heads at 65,000 miles is not out of the realm of possibilties for again any type of vehicle
Without knowing the full service history on the KK who know what could of been done to it and when
Not making excuses or trying to paint a different picture but if you bought it used and not knowing the history then it is a shot in the dark
Sorry

 

[LibertyTC]

Title states blown engine. There is a big difference between blown engine & just head gaskets.
Is the Jeep still running ?
Has coolant mixed with oil? Pull dipstick & look for bubbles/ milky type substances?
It may be time to tear into the top end for inspections ? Post photos once inspected.
Closest Service manual I have is a 2008 here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lRzuVmEPFDUdX1FQ13efupBi-mVuQigP/view

 

[Jeepkj2022]

Perhaps I’m not being clear. We don’t need to talk about the endless possible maladies of what happens/what to check when a vehicle gets hot. Im simply looking for the Jeep agency to speak to about warranty work, if any warranty work exists for this vehicle anymore. If none exists, fine, I’ll proceed from there. In my mind since it has less than 100,000 miles warranty work might exist. Maybe I’m wrong, I’m just ******* & will start taking the engine apart. Just would
Like to know for sure before ‘surgery’ begins.
(BTW: I did the heater core flush with the heater hoses disconnected from the engine.)

 

[LibertyTC]

The USA factory 2012 Jeep limited warranty as far as I know is: Powertrain- 5 years or 100,000 miles which ever comes first.
Feel free to call a local dealer with your VIN number.
Or this may work to contact them quickly. https://gethuman.com/phone-number/Jeep

 

[tommudd]

(BTW: I did the heater core flush with the heater hoses disconnected from the engine.)

Still does not mean that it was totally flushed out at all
The way these heater cores are built there is a sort of bypass, so front section can or may be clear and other portion still full of crud
Love peoples first posts LOL

 

[Jeepkj2022]

Scratch all the recall/warranty info was looking for. Confirmed blown head gasket, I have the heads off now & getting them resurfaced. Anyone that has specs on ft lbs torquing everything back down (or website to find out) please email me @[email protected].
Thanks to all for trying, take care.
(PS: anyone that has an easy way/method of putting an aftermarket temp gauge on this car please email that as well:big part of problem is the factory temp gauge never went above 3/4, when instead it should have been jacked on H. That’s not going to happen again, thank you.)

 

[lfhoward]

You must be registered for see images attach

A Scangauge will tell you that and more. It reads the factory sensors and gives you the actual numbers. I have mine showing me MPG & Average MPG (left side) and Engine coolant temp and Transmission temp (right side). There are dozens of sensors it can read. Voltage is another useful one.

 

[Jeepkj2022]

Very bad news, machine shop won’t resurface heads: WAY too warped. Anyone has another engine, or BOTH heads please contact me. Hopefully I won’t have to junk the whole vehicle, thx.

 

[DadOSix]

Run a straight egde on the deck of your block before you just swap heads.

Unlikely the deck is warped, but i would want to be certain there

 

[Jeepkj2022]

To make a long story short, new heads are going on right now. I’m looking for the torque specs/sequence for this year engine, if anyone has it handy, thx.

 

[LibertyTC]

Factory service manual would be best. Try one of these links: https://www.jeepkj.com/threads/factory-service-manual-links-kk.74533/