HELP Please 2003 Jeep Liberty Engine Light Flashing

[burn4u]

I have a 2003 Jeep Liberty. A few months ago, my engine overheated and steam started pouring out of the radiator. I found out that there was a small crack in the radiator. Since I don't have the money to replace it, my dad and I used some J.B. Weld to cover the crack. I always had to check the water level in the radiator after every trip. Almost everyday after driving to work and back from work(60 miles round trip) I had to add almost a whole gallon of water. I also noticed about this time that my Jeep started burning oil very fast(about 1 quart every 2-3 weeks). For this issue, I went to autozone and they recommended using Lucas Heavy Duty Oil Stabilizer. I added 1 quart of this, and 1 quart of oil. I am not using synthetic oil and I never have in this Jeep. That was about a week ago. Since the issue started several months ago with the radiator, the check engine light has been on. I had it tested at autozone and they told me it could be many things the most likely a bad gas cap. The day before yesterday, the engine overheated again because I was sitting in traffic, I managed to get it off the side of the road and let it cool down and add almost an entire gallon of water. Immediately after doing this, the car began to shake very hard(which it never did before). Also, when the transmission(automatic) would switch between gears, the car jumps. The car only shakes when the gas pedal is being pushed in. Then, about 15 minutes of driving after it started this problem, the check engine light began to flash.I started to head for home to try to get it to my driveway in case it died. I had to drive over an hour away. Over the course of the drive, I noticed the shaking got worse everytime I would push the gas pedal in. And, if I slowed down under 40mph, it was terribly hard for me to get the jeep going again, it almost felt like it was about to shut off. The other weird thing was after my hour drive home, I opened the hood with the jeep still on, and felt the radiator cap to see how hot it was, and to my surprise, it was completely cool to the touch, like the water inside wasn't hot at all. And the radiator was completely full of water. Any idea what could be wrong?

2003 Jeep Liberty Sport 4WD
124000+ miles
original transmission
automatic
V6 3.7L

 

[hectikart]

you need to stop driving it now! flashing check engine light means pull over ASAP and call a tow truck...who knows how much additional damage you've done by now. It could be a number of things, but my recommendation would be to have it towed to a dealer or trusted mechanic for diagnosis.

 

[yellocoyote]

It sounds like you've slowly been killing your jeep. Too many band-aid solutions for big problems.

 

[tommudd]

Agree with above
First you can't repair a plastic radiator like that and expect it to hold
Second adding that much water daily means you were more than likely overheating the engine every day
Third going to Autozone for advice,....well you get what you pay for
Fourth, if its not dead its close to it, take it to a good shop and have it checked out ( tow/haul/ do not drive )

 

[ridenby]

I have an engine. You can drive whole Libby home.

 

[martin_metal_88]

not long to say, the engine is most certainly dying from overheating. only thing to do is get it towed and have a mechanic take a look at it. I don't understand how people can have few thousand $$ toys and pay no attention to maintenance.

 

[tjkj2002]

not long to say, the engine is most certainly dying from overheating. only thing to do is get it towed and have a mechanic take a look at it. I don't understand how people can have few thousand $$ toys and pay no attention to maintenance.

They can't be bothered with stuff like that,they have been force fed that everything should be maintenance free which nothing is.They never learn either.