Head Gasket? Is this rust telling me some bad news?
1996 ZJ 300K (Rebuilt at 176K). Reaching out to the bigger 4.0L XJ knowledge base here. I tracked down an exhaust manifold leak using the shop vac/tailpipe with soapy squirt bottle. Def leak at #2&5 exh gasket and the mounting bolts were loose. The intake manifold shows the plume of exh gases. But when I took it all off to start over, I’m staring at this rust and drip. Could that be drips and spot rust from the squirt bottle or a head gasket starting to fail. Compression check, oil and coolant looks normal. Is a head gasket a more pronounced failure? Thanks for your input.
FYI: A P420 code set this in motion. I went straight to the Exhaust check vs back-probing O2 sensors and checking fuel trims. It appears that things all fall in place with over rich mixture caused be a badly leaking exhaust system and the black soot in the exhaust ports.