Replacing Head Gaskets

[KingKJ]

So pretty much I discovered this last week that my Liberty is burning oil at a quick rate and it is most likely a head gasket issue. I had to drill holes above the cats after a vacuum line failed and I've been getting small amounts of oil leaking from the holes I drilled as well as when starting it spews smoke out the exhaust. Luckily the gasket is not completely gone and I'm not getting any coolant mixing with the oil. I'm just wondering any tips about how to go about replacing the gaskets and any parts that I should look into replacing, checking, or potentially upgrading while I have the heads removed from the Jeep. I don't plan on digging any deeper than the heads unless I discover problems with the pistons/piston rings which then I'll probably have to take the motor out in order to continue on the repairs.

 

[u2slow]

If the gasket has failed, you very likely need the head surfaced. It sux, but that is the nature of aluminum.

I used the felpro blue gasket. It was 1/4 the price on Amazon vs my local auto parts store. I also only did one side.

 

[KingKJ]

If the gasket has failed, you very likely need the head surfaced. It sux, but that is the nature of aluminum.

I used the felpro blue gasket. It was 1/4 the price on Amazon vs my local auto parts store. I also only did one side.

Alright, I'll have to see once I actually get it off how bad the gasket is, but I don't think it's all the way dead just because I'm not mixing coolant yet so I'm assuming the gasket hasn't completely failed, but it is starting to fail. Also I plan on doing both sides just because they are both 225k miles old and in order to get to the side that I think is the problem, I remove everything anyway so I don't see why I would bother with doing one side when I'll clear most of the stuff anyway.

 

[KJowner]

Are you sure this is a head gasket issue? Is one plug oily? Have you checked the compression and looked at the valve guides and stem seals?
At 225k you are probably looking at a very worn set of pistons and bores.